Mt. Monadnock via Harling, Red Spot, & Old Ski (Monadnock State Park)

Mt. Monadnock via Harling, Red Spot, & Old Ski (Monadnock State Park)

Hike Type: O-O Loop

Distance: 6.70 miles

Elevation: 1,847 feet

Time: 3 hours, 57 minutes (3 hours, 15 minutes moving)
Hiking Challenges: Monadnock Redliner (2x)

The Hike

"Oh, Monadnock again?" YES. My friend, Sydney, and I had been planning to hike Mt. Moosilauke together on this date, but the weather said "hmm better not!" - so we pivoted back to my favorite mountain! Happy Labor Day Weekend! Naturally, I proposed we take some trails that I still needed for my second redline. We only wanted to pay for one car, so we dropped Sydney's car at the Gap Mountain south parking lot and carpooled over to Park Headquarters for our adventure! I didn't take any notes on this hike as I wanted to focus on time with my friend, so I'm sure I'll forget some things, but that's okay!

[6:25am - Start of Hike]

Our hike started by walking down Poole Road towards the Hinkley Trail. It was a cloudy and misty morning, so we didn't expect much in terms of views, but we were both happy to be out. Poole Road dips down and then rises easily, past a home on the left, to the Hinkley Trailhead.

[6:31am - Hinkley Trail]

The Hinkley Trail sign is a little hard to see as it's well off the road in the woods, but its followed by yellow blazes and a no-dogs sign. It has a lesser-traveled feel to it, and rambles pretty level with many roots. We rambled about, yapped a ton, and soon came to the Harling Trail.

[6:46am - Harling Trail]

The Harling Trail continues a similar lesser-traveled vibe, but now rises pretty easily, and more steadily toward the end. I don't think it would have caused me much huffing and puffing, but Sydney and I were catching each other up on our summers, and the added yapping took my breath away! The higher we climbed, the closer we came to the clouds, and once on the Cascade Link Trail, we were already in a light fog. 

[7:09am - Cascade Link Trail]

With the fog, the Cascade Link Trail had an ominous, spooky feel to it. It was nice to have the trails to just the two of us! I've gotten really lucky with the crowds these past four (four... oh my goodness) climbs in a row(!). We easily gained more elevation until we hit the Red Spot junction.

[7:21am - Red Spot Trail]

Personally, I was excited to be back on the Red Spot Trail, as it was the first trail I climbed this mountain on and the last time I had been on it was almost 10(!) years ago! The first leg of the red spot trail climbed easily over rocks, and then more moderately... over rock, with a few steeper pushes... over rocks. 

[7:35am - Red Spot Trail/Old Ski Path jct.]

After crossing the junction with the Old Ski Path we continued to climb over... more rocks. There were a few stretches that could be scrambly for some more vertically challenged hikers, but overall it was not overly difficult (and in my opinion, much more enjoyable than either of the white trails on this side of the mountain). Soon, we saw signs identifying cairns and we popped out above the trees fully in a cloud! We were totally soaked at this point from the mist in the air, but having an absolute blast with each other just being goofy!

The wind was blowing and the cloud was pretty dense, but we eventually found outself at the terminus fo the Red Spot Trail at it's famous cairn.

[8:02am - Pumpelly Trail]

Naturally, this led us onto the Pumpelly Trail for our final push 'n scramble. We had to pay closer attention to cairns and P's, since visibility was so limited, but we made it up without any real issue, and to our delight, no one was there! We weren't overly surprised, becuase it was a weekday at 8am in a cloud, but still a nice treat!

[8:15am - Mt. Monadnock Summit]

We layered up and found shelter alongside a rock where we continued to yap, enojy our summit snacks and beverages, and we took a few silly photos with my new magsafe clip-to-your-pack tripod, which was really fun (I was influenced from TikTok). I'm always nervous when hiking with a new friend (Sydney is not a friend that is new, but a friend who I had not hiked with before), but this was such a delight (as it usually is)!

[8:50am - White Dot Trail]

After a long break, it was time to head down. I was starting to get chilly due to being soaking wet, in a cloud, in wind. We started down the White Dot Trail just as a few clouds started to part - so naturally we stopped and stared, but there was no grant reveal tragically. We carefully made it down the wet slabs to the White Cross junction.

[9:01am - White Dot Trail/White Cross Trail jct.]

We continued down the White Dot Trail, which is not the easier way down, because I still needed the Old Ski Path. We carefully made it down the damp scrambles and in a flatter stretch, made it onto the Old Ski Path no problem!

[9:18am - Old Ski Path]

The old ski path was medium grown-in, very wet, and a little slippery, but we traversed without issue and soon were back on the Red Spot Path, completing our upper loop of our O-O loop.

[9:25am - Red Spot Trail]

[9:36am - Cascade Link Trail]

[9:49am - Cascade Link Trail/Harling Trail jct.]

[9:51am - White Dot Trail]

[9:56am - White Dot Trail/White Cross Trail jct.]

The lower stretch of Red Spot was easy and straightforward, and the rest of Cascade Link was even easier and straight forward-er. Only issue we came across was my foot getting caught on a root and ripping my shoe! I feel like this pair of Merrell's are not as strong as my last pair... It's a bummer, but I'm not overly upset, since they're not a waterproof pair and worst case they can just be my Blue Hills shoes. We kept on hiking, eventually making it back onto the White Dot Trail. We passed a red eft after the White Cross junction, and once back near Headquarters, continued on the connector trail to the Parker Trail - the last bit I needed on this side of the mountain!

[10:12am - Parker Trail connector]

The connector path was a lovely, wide, pine-needle filled road. It paralleled the drained reservoir and spat us out on the southern end of the overflow parking lot. I remembered I thought they got rid of the privy in this lot, but it was simply further down than I had thought. We followed the gravel lot to the main lot, and back to the car! We saw so few people on this hike - it was wonderful!

[10:22am - End of Hike]

Back at the car, I did my quick change and then we shuttled back to Sydney's car at Gap Mountain. Naturally, in my head I flirted with hiking up Gap, but I didn't have enough clothes. Next stop for me was Vermont! Emma and I were planning on hiking Camel's Hump tomorrow, go to a wedding on Sunday, and then I would finish my Labor Day Weekend with... something in the Whites!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike by turning right onto Poole Road.

- At jct., turn left onto Hinkley Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Harling Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Cascade Link Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Red Spot Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Pumpelly Trail.

- Summit Mt. Monadnock.

- Descend via White Dot Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Old Ski Path.

- At terminus, turn right onto Red Spot Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Cascade Link Trail.

- At terminus, continue onto White Dot Trail.

- At terminus, continue onto Parker Trail connector along reservoir.

- Loop back to return to car.

Map of Monadnock State Park

Photo Album