[BACKLOG] Pawtuckaway North Mountain Loop (Pawtuckaway State Park)

Pawtuckaway North Mountain Loop

Hike Type: Loop
Distance: 5.2 miles
Elevation: 1283 feet
Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge; NH Rocks That Rock

The Hike

After a great hike up Pack Monadnock this morning, we were less than enthused about hiking up another (albeit small) mountain. We followed the "well, we're already here" mindset and started our hike out of the parking lot on Reservation Road. Snow squalls were in the forecast, but we had a few hours until they hit. 

Spikes were mandatory for this hike, and we'll later learn that spikes weren't even enough traction, but that's getting ahead of myself. The North Mountain starts as a woods road/snowmobile trail, and without any recent snow it was a sheet of ice. This was consistent until the junction with the North Mountain Bypass, when we started climbing.

The climb had a few short steep sections, but never anything too hard. Ice was spotty. Gen had her spikes on most of the time, I did not. That was the theme for most of the hike from the junction to the summit. Some spots were snowier/icier than others, and spikes would have definitely helped, but I am simply lazy. The first climb rewards with a gentle view of the surrounding lands, but the best view was just past the summit. 

The party really got started as we descended the back side of the mountain. It was as if Princess Elsa took out her frozen fury along the landscape. We went from what resembled a shoulder season to the dead of winter. Extremely small steps were taken, lots of DIY switchbacking. Thankfully this area was beautiful, but it took us a long time to travel a very short distance. The poor guy in front of us fell and slid about 10 feet, and Gen was soon to follow (thankfully only landing on her bum). I was apparently too stressed to take many photos of this area, but the ice was impressive to say the least. At the very end of the descent there was some tricky rock/ice scrambling that took my feet out from under me, cut up my hand, threw my nalgene, and thankfully caused a good belly laugh. We were relieved to be done.

After a little more flat hiking we hit the junction with the Boulder Trail and North Mountain Bypass. We were going to take the Boulder Trail for some exploring, but wanted to get back to the car to hopefully miss the snow squalls. Thankfully the boulders were bountiful on the North Mountain Bypass! BIG boulders. We were delighted. 

The return trip on the North Mountain Bypass trail was long and tedious, but had nice scenery. It traveled through woods, on wide park roads, and through logged areas. We finally finished on that icy road back to the parking lot, and someone at their car joked that we sneaked up on them, which was a lie because of how loud our spikes were on the ice. We warned them about the sheet ice on the far side of the mountain and went on our way up to Vermont for some skiing. We drove through a bunch of snowsqualls which was a pain, but it was cool seeing the Cannon Mountain cliffs through the snowglobe!

Step-By-Step

• Park on Reservation Road at the North Mountain Trail (dirt lot).
• Start hike on wide dirt road North Mountain Trail.
• At junction, follow white-diamond-blazed North Mountain Trail straight-ish. Do not turn to the North Mountain Trail on the right, as that is the return route. Also do not turn left onto the unmapped woods road. 
• Continue to follow North Mountain Trail to summit and continue on the trail. Descend the back side of the mountain until junction with Boulder Trail. 
• Turn right onto North Mountain Bypass trail.
• Follow signs at junctions to stay on North Mountain Bypass trail.
• At original junction with North Mountain Trail, return on the woods road to the parking lot. 

Pawtuckaway State Park Map

Photo Album

Originally written and posted May 10th, 2022.