Mt. Monadnock via Cliff Walk, Smith Summit (Monadnock State Park)

Mt. Monadnock via Cliff Walk, Smith Summit (Monadnock State Park)

Distance: 6.08 miles
Elevation: 1,706 feet

Time: 5 hours, 4 minutes (4 hours moving)
Hike Type: Loop
Hiking Challenges: Monadnock Redliner (2x)

The Hike

Back on my favorite mountain! Summer is starting to wind down - my August marathon of a bachelorette party in Atlantic City directly into a family trip to the UK directly into teaching band camp is finally over, so Sarah, Adam, and I decided to head over to Mt. Monadnock for a truly lovely morning on the rock. We originally wanted to hike Mt. Moosilauke, but the timing wasn't going to work out with that big drive. We dropped Adam's daughter off at daycare and were off!

We landed at the Old Toll Road parking area just after 9:00am and got hiking 20 minutes later (after a few trips to the bathroom... I saw Pink last night at Gillette which was AMAZING, but I was not feeling my best afterwards!). We started up the wide, gravel Old Toll Road and quickly crossed paths with a car from the home at the top of the road (I am so jealous of their home). 

We passed some recent logging activity and continued up until we reached the junction with the Parker Trail. My goal for this hike was to bring Sarah and Adam on a less popular route of the mountain with ample views. We turned right onto the Parker Trail, climbed for a short moment, and then turned right again onto a nameless spur trail to a nice view. There is a "Parker Trail" sign right at this spur and the footpath is medium grown-in, but still easy to follow. Last time I was here this view was in a cloud, so I was delighted to see what it actually looked like! A highlight for me was seeing the Wapack Range - from North Pack Monadnock to Watatic. I've always seen these mountains from Mt. Monadnock but never actually knew what they were until hiking the Wapack Trail - fun!

After a short standing break we backtracked to the Parker Trail and continued on, now descending slightly. The woods here are very pretty, relatively open, and filled with ferns. After passing a few wet spots, we hit the junciton with the Cliff Walk, where it was time to start exerising again.

Right away the Cliff Walk starts to ascend, eventually getting steeper with a few scrambles and a ladder. Slowly, the woods begin to change from decidious to coniferous - my favorite part of this switch is when the footbed gets soft with pine needles. The steep climbing continues, eventually reaching the lovely view point from Hello Rock. We took a nice sit here to take in the views and to have a little snack.

The Cliff Walk is one of, if not my favorite trail on this mountain. It varies from steep scrambles to soft walking through woods and cliffs with endless views, only getting better with each step. The next good view is from Point Surprise at the Point Surprise Trail junction, followed by What Cheer Point, Black-Throated Blue Point, Ainsworth's Seat, and then the signed Thoreau's Seat. 

Continuing on, the Cliff Walk passes junctions for Thoreau Trail, Do Drop Trail, and Noble Trail, and then passes the "Wolf's Den" - which appeared to be a series of boulders. The Graphite Mine was next, but I did not notice it (I only know it exists by looking at the AMC map as I type this). 

Soon enough the Cliff Walk arrives and terminates at the fantastic view from Bald Rock. We took a nice sit and snack break here, watching people at the top of the mountain. We saw our first people of the day here! I was incredibly grateful to have had such a nice, quiet morning with friends, and I had to slowly start preparing to be around many more people soon enough. 

Now we were on the Smith Connecting Link, which initially dips back into some beautiful woods with a few unique stream crossings, untimately leading back out of the woods with some nice views toward the summit and back toward bald peak. We could see MANY people climbing up the White Dot, which was a bummer, but good to mentally prepare for.

The Smith Connecting Link terminates at the upper end of the White Cross, which soon terminates as well at the White Dot. From here, there is a slight descend into a wet area and then straight up slab climbing up to the top! We scooted past a large group of people, who were only a small part of a much larger group (most the group was waiting up top). 

I am grateful for new shoes and going up these slabs because I remember descending this one time and I was sketched out by the lack of stopping points if I slipped (also reminded myself that the lived-to-death ratio of people on this mountain/trail is in my favor). We continued to push up, got a bit winded, but summit fever was present and soon enough we were up at the top! It was breezy and chilly but overall delightful, minus the swarms of people (which again turned out to be just that one group). 

We found a sheltered nook to make some hot chocolate (thank you Sarah!) and relax for a bit. There were tadpoles in some of the pools of water at the summit which was fun to see! After some eavesdropping, it seems like the large group could have been a chuch/temple group and/or a religious university group. Not sure, but there was a sermon once everyone was on top and they took a photo of the "freshmen."

After a nice long break it was eventually time to descend (also the large group was coming our way to take more photos and we were all done). We followed signs for the Smith Summit Trial (mostly white dots, sometimes with "S" or "SS") and eventually started our descent - it was tricky to find a footpath in the summit area, so we just made sure to rock hop and not step on any plants. 

The Smith Summit Trail is steep and beautiful - endless views towards Vermont. We had to be careful to follow the blazes, which were frequent enough, beacuse the upper reaches were just open rock. Our descent continued through some steeper spots, some of which required a sit-and-scootch, and we eventually caught up with someone we had previously seen on Bald Peak - fun! 

The trail works its way back into the woods for a moment, but continually pops out into more open/slab/scrub. It passes a junction with the Amphitheatre Trail/Black Precipice, but we continued on, eventually coming to the rock formation known as The Tooth and soon after (with a short scramble), Monte Rosa, with its weather vane looking better than ever. We also caught up to a couple enjoying lunch there.

From Monte Rosa, we followed the Monte Rosa and then Fairy Spring Trail down, which had a Jurassic Park vibe to it. After a steeper section, we came to the beautiful Fairy Spring area, which had trickling water coming out of many different rocks into the mossy bed. Really beautiful to see and hear.

Further down the Fairy Spring Trail was the Fassett House Site, which I famously and accidentally christened a few years back thinking I was far off-trail... oops. Afterward, we continued onto the White Arrow Trail, past the Halfway House Site, and then back into the woods for the last time on the Old Halfway House Trail.

The Old Halfway House Trail feels long (just over a mile), but is a nice alternative to walking the Old Toll Road. Not much to say about this bit of trail, besides it being a nice walk in the woods. At this point, we were tired and hungry (Sarah did point out that we were only on mile five so there was no need to be THAT dramatic about being tired and hungry, but I disagree! I will happily get tired and hungry on the last mile of any hike that I do, regardless of length!). 

Soon enough we could see the parking lot, got changed, and headed to the Wachusett Brewery for lunch and a drink! I am always a little nervous hiking with new people because I never know how hiking styles will match up, but it was super fun to have Adam and I'm glad Sarah's foot is finally on the road to a full recovery (after she popped it off in a climbing gym fall). Tragically, I did have to zoom home because I had the honor of seeing Kristin Chenoweth in the Queen of Versailles last night!

Step-By-Step

- Park at Old Toll Road parking area ($15).

- Start hike on Old Toll Road.

- At jct. with Parker Trail, turn left onto Parker Trail.

- At spur near height-of-land (Parker Trail sign), turn left to a view spur.

- Turn around at view.

- Turn right to continue on Parker Trail.

- At next jct., turn left onto Cliff Walk.

- Continue on Cliff Walk to terminus at Bald Rock.

- At Bald Rock, continue onto Smith Connecting trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto White Cross.

- At terminus, continue onto White Dot.

- At summit, follow sign for Smith Summit.

- Descend via Smith Summit to Monte Rosa.

- At Monte Rosa, turn left onto Monte Rosa Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Fairy Spring Trail.

- At terminus, continue onto White Arrow Trail.

- At terminus, continue onto Old Toll Road.

- At jct., turn right onto Cart Path.

- At jct., turn left onto Old Halfway House Trail.

- Return to car.

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Map of Monadnock State Park

Photo Album