Mt. Rowe & Gunstock via Bypass, Rowe's Revenge, Overlook (Belknap Range)

Mt. Rowe & Gunstock via Bypass, Rowe's Revenge, Overlook (Belknap Range)

Hike Type: Figure-8 Loop

Distance: 8.53 miles

Elevation: 2,228 feet

Time: 3 hours, 7 minutes
Parking: Park at main parking area at Gunstock Mountain Resort.

Hiking Challenges: Belknap Range Redliner; Belknap Range Grid

The Hike 

I was hoping to go hiking with Christien yesterday (the day after Lafayette), but New England weather said "you can, but you'll be soaking wet and cold," so we opted for a day home. Now it's Thursday of break, and I was heading back up to Jay Peak to celebrate Linnea's 30th birthday (Hannah Montana themed, naturally). Emma and I were going to see Pattie Gonia at the Higher Ground tonight, so I decided I'd leave at a moderately reasonable hour and get a hike in in the Belknaps on my way up!

My drive was relatively sleepy but I did the best I could! Thankfully, the weather was back to lovely with sunny skies, minimal clouds, and temperatures in the 50s. It felt weird to park at Gunstock Mountain Ski Area, especially post-season when the only folks there appeared to be doing spring maintenance, but it was all valid! My boots were still wet from Tuesday's hike up Mt. Lafayette, so I threw on the hiking shoes (Merrell Moab 3s) that I hadn't worn since last fall - apparently I have a big hole in one that I forgot about... Anyway, I got started just after 10:00am!

"GUNSTOCK MOUNTAIN RESORT

Formerly Belknap Mountains Recreation Area

Gunstock Mountain Resort opened in 1937 as the Belknap Mountains Recreation Area. It was the largest WPA project in New Hampshire, putting many men back to work and believed to be the largest four-season recreation area in the East. It featured one of teh first fully developed ski trail systems in the country, the first chairlift in the Northeast and a unique group of four graduated ski jumps; the longest was used for Olympic tryouts in 1938. The Main Lodge was the costliest WPA-funded building project built in the state. In the summer, the resort hosted national motorcycle competitions.

Listed on the State Register of Historic Places"

From Historical Marker in the parking lot.

I started my hike by walking the road around the pond, which had a duo of wood ducks swimming around. My true hike began across from the treetop course on the Ridge Trail, which doubled/tripled/quadrupled as the uphill ski route, cell tower access road, and the mountain coaster access road (oh, five-tupled, it is also the Belknap Range Trail).

The Ridge Trail crossed underneath the mountain coaster, which was cool, and started a gravelly climb up to Mt. Rowe. I took off my fleece now that I was climbing and turned left a fork near the top of the coaster (it was clearly signed). Just after, there was a smaller sign indicating the Road Bypass Trail was ahead on the left - my first goal du jour!

The Bypass Trail looked recently brushed and was quite lovely, especially compared to the gravel access road. It was nicer to be in the woods even if I had a heavier pack with moderate grades. The Bypass Trail soon crossed the access road and continued a truly lovely meander through the woods. 

I had a nice walking break through a denser forest and passed a small sign indicating the former Fletcher Hale Ski Trail, which was mostly grown in with young trees - still looked like a fun glade! With a rough Google search, it seems the Fletcher Hale Ski Trail was a part of the abandoned Alpine Ridge Ski Area, but still medium-used today? Definitely curious!

The Bypass Trail climbed through some steeper switchbacks, eventually revealing the cell tower through the trees. There was an older sign pointing to a view through the trees, but after a brief walk I did not see anything.

The trail came to a junction soon after with Rowe's Revenge, which I think is an old ski trail for Alpine Ridge, but now a mountain bike trail for Gunstock? The signage and online information is minimal. Just further down, there was a sign saying 'TRAIL MAINTAINED BY GUNSTOCK XC NO SNOWMOBILES" - so maybe it's part of Gunstock, but not on the cross country ski map? A mystery!

There was an unsigned spur to a view that was simply beautiful! I think was the signed view from the Bypass Trail that I missed. A handwritten sign said "FORMER WARMING HUT, ALPINE RIDGE SKI AREA." The view was to Lake Winnipesaukee and the Ossipees. 

I worked my way back to Rowe's Revenge, which was mostly flat and beautiful. I passed a junction for the "Alpine Slide Trail" by another big concrete footing, which created more questions for me. Rowe's Revenge followed a stone wall on the left with seasonal tree views to the lake and warm sun shining down. Eventually, it turned a corner and began to descend more steeply with gravelley footing, but nothing ever too horrible. 

Lower down, I did see an official Gunstock Mountain sign for Rowe's Revenge with a black diamond, but that was truly it for "official" looking signs. There were a few rusty artifacts of times past in the woods. Rowe's Revenge eventually dumped out at a large parking/maintenance area with a few trucks and old busses and large piles of dirt. I think this was the former base area for Alpine Ridge Ski Area? It's hard to find much information, but I'm so curious!

My initial plan was to out-and-back Rowe's Revenge, but I crossed paths with a guy hiking down from the Alpine Slide Trail, which I remembered met with Rowe's Revenge up top, so I decided to go for it!

To no surprise, the climb up started moderately steep and simply did not relent. Everytime there was a junction, it was well signed with the handwirtten signs. I wonder how official these trails area? Someone is for sure keeping them maintained? The trail got steep steep for a bit and then another trail branched off left to the "FORMER Alpine Ridge Double Chair Mid Station," which was cool to see. 

The Alpine Slide Trail climbed steeply again with occasional artifacts off-trail and occasional bolts sticking out of the ground on-trail. The climb was brutal, but much better than the road walk I was considering. The trail had a hairpin turn at a neat cliff wall and then finally flattened out with lots of artifacts, possible the high point of the slide? I passed the view spur to the warming hut site and noticed the footings for the old chairlift! I was really glad I took this side quest - I never even knew about the old ski area until this!

Finally getting back on the Bypass Trail, after my adventure, I continued my climb up Mt. Rowe. The Bypass trail skirted around the fenced-off cell tower complex in the woods and rose gently to the summit, which was marked by a hand-written sign and a cairn. 

Just after the summit was the beginning of a stretch of wonderful views of the Ossipes, Lake Winnipesaukee, Gunstock Mountain, and Belknap Mountain. I crossed paths with a few people here, including a mountain biker truly fighting for his life and another hiker with their dog. Along the first view, there were two fenced-in items of machinery that read:

"EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory Station

This station is part of a network of over 875 stations installed across the western United States to study movement of the Earth's crust. The receiver and antenna are used to track signals from satellites that are part of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Data recorded here are used to calculate the position of this antenna to within a few millimeters (1/8"). Because the antenna is attached to the earth, the change in its position records movement of this plate which makes up part of the Earth's crust.

EarthScope project scientists are studing: * How and where the Earth's crust changes shape, * where and when earthquakes occur, * ho wmagma moves in the Earth and erupts in volcanoes, * how to reduce hazards from earthquakes and volanoes."

Funny enough, the photo also only pictures the western united states - no mention of New Hampshire at all!

The Ridge Trail descended back into the woods and then I took another smaller detour onto the Mt. Rower Trail and then North Spur Trail. The North Spur Trail was clearly less-used than anything else I had been on, but still a nice, descending walk. This brought me to the Benjamin Weeks Trail, which climbed back up to join the Ridge Trail. I had a fever dream of also hiking the trails up Mt. Rower from the Gilford Elementary School side, but I still had a lot of hiking to do and I wanted to get a nap in before the show tonight - onward!

The Benjamin Weeks Trail terminated near a ski trail with a sign indicating 1.1 miles to the summit of Gunstock Mountain! The Ridge Trail continued to parallel the ski trail with occasional switchbacks in steeper spots - the ski trail still had some larger disconnected snow patches. After the junction with Marge's Trail, the Ridge Trail began to steepen and get rougher, wiggling up the ridge and eventually hugging the back side of Gunstock Mountain.

It was colder, shadier, and windier on the back side of Gunstock with some cool iciles uphill. I came to a surprise wonderful view to Moosilauke, Franconia Notch, and the Sandwich Range with a little bit of South Presidentials - I was in awe!

Soon after was the Ledges-Iron Mine Trail and a cute little bird that was posing for me - a red-breasted nuthatch according to Seek! Things started to pick up afterwards. I soon hit the Bypass Trail, the Gunstock Mountain Trail, the viewpoint (not as good as the one between Marges and Ledges), and then just a little wiggle to the summit - Yay! There were a few people doing work at the top, so I took a quick photo and started my descent down. 

The woods along the Brook Trail are always super pretty and I almost always lose the trail because of some unmarked glades (I think). There was a slight breeze, but I was back to being very comfortable. The trail got muddier once on the Saddle Trail, but thankfully it was short-lived. I later turned left onto the orange-blazed Overlook Trail, which marked a long 3.2 mile walk back to the car!

The Overlook Trail was clearly less-used than the other trails I had hiked today, with a footway of mostly just leaves. It started by descending on leaves and zig-zagging across a dry drainage that turned into a trickle as I descended further. I veered away from this drainage and crossed another lightly flowing stream and admired extremely obstructed tree views to the lake. There were some logging road cuts a bit further down again, and the trail later paralleled a larger section of logged forest. 

I passed by a little cascade off of a tiny ledge and then climbed up a little before turning a corner and hitting the overlook that I assume this trail is named after - it was lovely! Scrubby understory with views to the northern slopes of the Belknap Mountains. I had a nice flat walk around this area as the trail mellowed for a while. All good things do have to come to an end, sadly, and the trail then dipped back into the woods and descended a bit more ruggedly, meandering down to cross a lovely brook.

The hike got a little confusing in this lower section, which was entirely on wide dirt and gravel roads (a part of the cross-coutnry skiing network). The orange blazes continued, thankfully, because it was a bit confusing. I followed the Oak Trail and eventually the Maple Trail, which is where the Round Pond Trail joined in on the fun. There were tree views to nearby hills on this basically flat walk. There was one medium-steep descent near the Maple Birch Cutoff, but then it flattened again. After one final slightly confusing intersection, I followed the orange and red blazes back to the parking lot, which was full of gusty wind and a sense of satisfaction! I only have one more hike to close out the Rowe side of the Belknaps, which comically has an enormous amount of trails. Now, time to get back to Vermont!

Step-by-Step

- Park at main parking area at Gunstock Mountain Resort.

- Walk along pond clockwise, then continue on road.

- At mountain coaster, turn left onto Ridge Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Ridge Trail Road Bypass.

- At jct., turn right on Rowe's Revenge.

- At terminus, turn right onto Alpine Slide Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Rowe's Revenge.

- At jct., turn right onto Ridge Trail Road Bypass.

- At terminus/summit of Mt. Rowe, turn right onto Ridge Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto Mt. Rowe Trail.

- At jct., turn left onto North Spur Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Benjamin Weeks Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Ridge Trail.

- Follow Ridge Trail to summit of Gunstock Mountain.

- Start to descend via Brook Trail.

- At jct., continue straight/right on Saddle Trail.

- At terminus, turn right onto Overlook Trail.

- Follow Overlook Trail to road and car.

Belknap Range Map (2023)

Photo Album