Mt. Major & Straightback Mtn. via Old Stage, Jesus Valley & Blueberry Pasture (Belknap Range)

Mt. Major & Straightback Mtn. via Old Stage, Jesus Valley & Blueberry Pasture (Belknap Range)

Hike Type: Lollipop Loop

Distance: 7.82 miles

Elevation: 1,745 feet

Time: 3 hours, 56 minutes (3 hours, 32 minutes moving)

Parking: Limited parking for a few cars on Alton Mountain Road ("Straightback Trailhead" on Google Maps)
Hiking Challenges: Belknap Range Redliner, Belknap Range Grid, Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge, 52 Hike Challenge 2026

The Hike 

Time to drag Christien up north again! Naturally, I wanted to spend the day in the Whites. Naturally, it was going to be cruddy weather (with snow on the highest of peaks, NATURALLY). Instead, I decided to take him to Mt. Major via the south side (really just to mix things up for me). The plan was to leave at 5:30am, so he got up at 3:30am to get ready (which was WILD). I got up at 5:00. We slowly got our lives together, and we were off!

Skies were crystal clear in Boston, but there were going to be clouds in the Belknaps, which was fine - I assumed Mt. Major would be low-elevation enough to still give us a nice view. Christien was pretty nauseous for the drive - I felt bad for him. He was a tropper, though! We took a longer break at Hooksett for some food and not-driving, and we eventually made our way up to the parking area on Alton Mountain Road to start our adventure! Parking was nice and easy with space for just a few cars (and plenty of signs telling you NOT where to park). I booted up at the car - he came in his full hiking attire - and then we were off!

[8:21am - Blueberry Pasture Trail]

The Blueberry Pasture Trail starts about 20 feet away from the parking area kiosk on the right and is clearly signed. The Trail follows an old road to a very interesting area with... t-shirts on crosses? According to the Belknap Range Trails map on belknaprangetrails.org, they are Finnish Scarecrows (Silent People), and I can't find much information on them - WAIT. I found a Reddit thread that linked an article in the Laconia Daily Sun (found here). In essence, the landowners visited Finland and saw the original Finnish Scarecrows/Silent People, which were erected as a memorial to lives lost during a Russian/Finnish war in the late 1930's. The landowners were inspired to recreate it in this old field, partly as hommage to the original, but also to protest the 2003 war in Iraq. Kind of interesting that we stumbled upon them for the first time as the U.S. is dealing with another controversial war, now in Iran.

Anyway, here, the Blueberry Pasture Trail is joined by Old Stage Road, which is a colonial-era road with a neat history, detailed also at belknaprangetrails.org. Information below:

"The Old Stage Road (blazed red/blue) through Griswold Scout Reservation has a complicated history.  In colonial times the now Old Stage Road was an extension of the now Manning Lake Road and went east and ended at the farmstead, now a cellar hole, in the center of the Reservation, at what is called the logging camp outpost.   On the east side of the property, Alton Mountain road extended northwest to the farmsteads on the eastern boundary of the property in the area where the red trail crosses the now Old Stage Road and ended there.  So in the era of Stage Coaches, that road never went through.  Around the 1940’s a logging company punched a rough road through what is now the Reservation to move their portable sawmill and connected the then abandoned portions of the two roads.  That old road then became the red/blue trail for the boy scouts, but was flooded by beaver in one section east of West Brook and was quite wet in another section between that beaver swamp and the eastern boundary.  In 1977, the Scouts built a road from the Hidden Valley camp to the eastern portion of the now Old Stage Road and made it passable to trucks easterly to West Brook.  In the mid 1990’s, I set up a timber sale in the West Brook valley and along the red/blue trail.  As part of that sale, the loggers built a new road easterly across West Brook and around the north side of the beaver swamp and by-passed the other wet spot and ended the road where the gate is now located.  There was only a hiking trail between the gate and the eastern boundary.  The Gilmanton snowmobile club soon discovered the improved road and widened the hiking trail at the end of the road to accommodate their groomer and to connect with the old Alton Mountain Road section.  I have not been easterly beyond the old gravel pit on the east boundary of the Reservation for many years and do not know what has happened in that area of late. (I was able to drive a VW Rabbit to the red trail-Old Stage Road junction in 1995)  If the Alton section was once a public road, it is still the legal Right-of-Way to the Reservation.  I do not know when and if that section of Alton Mountain Road was abandoned, but I assume it was around the same time the farmsteads were abandoned.  Research on the history of now abandoned section of Alton Mountain Road may uncover something of further interest."

The two trails coincide, hiking past yet another curiosity - a sign that reads COUGAR IN AREA. I immediately rolled my eyes. I know there's a group of Mountain Lion enthusiasts that believe they're in New England. It wasn't until I read the fine print that my attitude changed...

"PLEASE STAY ON TRAILS. TRAVEL IN SMALL GROUPS AND DO NOT ALLOW MEN UNDER 30 TO TRAVEL ALONE."

Excellent. No notes, truly!

A bit further down the trail/road we saw a bright orange "Trail Information" sign, likely from snowmobile season signing "Little Avery Hill Loop" and "Secret View" - we mentally pinned this for later.

There was a light pitter patter of rain (IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO RAIN!) as we continued this easy stretch of our hike. We passed a sign (there are so many signs in the Belknaps) saying "TRAIL USERS. This trail is on private land is being made available through the cooperation of: Elise Arry... and has been developed through the efforts of: THE Mt. Major Snowmobile Club. Do not litter. Drive with Care. Respect Private Proeprty," followed by another sign for the other end of the Little Avery Hill Loop.

[8:32am - Old Stage Road]

Just after, we hit the intersection where Old Stage Road leaves Blueberry Pasture Trail. Old Stage Road continued on the right, while Blueberry Pasture Trail turned left. This officially began our lollipop loop! Christien had pivoted from feeling nauseous to having a bit of vertigo, he said "the trees are moving," and the trees were in fact not moving. I felt so bad for him! We were passing the time with me guessing the names of his family members, which I got most of within a few minutes, but there was one that really kept me occupied (well over an hour of guessing) - hopefully he didn't find it too annoying!

We hiked past a few pools with frog eggs, past a few wonderful glacial erratics, and then hit a junction with an unblazed trail that helped us avoid private property at the end of Jesus Valley Road.

[8:46am - Unblazed Connector]

The unblazed connector, signed with a wooden arrow pointing towards Mt. Major and Straightback, rose steeply with typical "road" footing, meaning it was calf steep. This is the first time we actually were hiking, so naturally I was immediately out of breath.

[8:49am - Jesus Valley - Beaver Pond Trail]

The Unblazed Connector came to a junction with the Jesus Valley - Beaver Pond Trail, which we turned right onto to descent back onto the lovely, flat corridor we'd been enjoying! We hiked through an open yard of sorts and turned left into the woods, continuing along over snowmobile bridges and eventually coming up Beaver Pond! 

[9:02am - Jesus Valley - Beaver Pond Trail/Beaver Pond]

I'm guessing Beaver Pond is named for the beavers that clearly had formed the pond - their lodge was a wonderful centerpiece on the pond! The pond was a nice spot to "stop and stare." It was delightfully quiet and still with grey skies above and just a few bits of drizzle falling. We each took sepearate excusions into the woods to take care of personal businesses, and then we continued on! The trail followed the pond for a bit before contuing through a beautiful birch-lined corridor. We even saw an eft!

[9:28am - Boulder Trail]

We took a quick break at the Boulder Trail junction, and Christien had some of my tums-coated Advil - he was thinking he was dealing with a sneaky migrane, which truly sounded likely. We had some water, he had his drugs, I took a quick potty break, we crossed paths with the first person du jour, and it was time to FINALLY climb up Mt. Major!

I was a big fan of the Boulder Trail. I had only ever hiked down it, and let me tell you it was MUCH nicer going up than down! Last time I came down this trail it was after a rain storm, I was grossly dehydrated, and I took a pretty hard fall onto my back, which was caught by my pack, but gave me some intense whiplast for the next few days. The trail alternated steep, rocky climbs with mellower stretches. This is also where I learned that Christien likes to mountain goat up the rocks with his long legs - my god! I had NO problem letting him get ahead, as I was plugging along slow and steady.

Salvation was near after a gravelley, scrambly pitch. We came to the first "DO NOT DISTURB THE CAIRNS!!" sign, and from this point on the trail was absolutely delightful. Mostly flat, trending upward, and walking along beautiful slabby, scrubby woods with moss-lined trails. We started to catch preliminary views towards Alton Bay.

[10:23am - Mt. Major Summit]

"Wow"s soon began, as we reached the summit! The view from here is always spectacular. Lake Winnipesaukee is really something cool to see. We could see Mt. Moosilauke in the clouds (turns out it was snowing!), the peaks of the Franconias and the Sandwich Range, and of course the Ossipees (where Sarah was apparently hiking! I told her on Strava that I waved to her!). There were showers rolling through the area, but thankfully they were staying above and north of the lake, with only wind and a few small drizzles hitting us at the top. We took a bunch of photos and meandered around the summit for a bit. I found two discs! There were two groups of hikers taking refuge from the cold wind in the old foundation, but once they left I jumped in. There were two friendly solo hikers chatting nearby - it was one's first solo hike ever, and she just ran a marathon. The other one was a chatty guy who read as a local and just happy to meet people. Very fun to eavesdrop!

We then sat for a bit and bundled back up. I got some tortellini pasta salad from Hookset, which felt silly but was a WIN! I paired that with an Almond Joy and we both shared adult beverages (a Nutrl hard lemonade and this Blackberry Bramble canned cocktail, both were... fine) and enjoyed being out, even if it was cold!

Christien said he was feeling better (I bet it was the nasty Bramble), we finished up our break, enjoyed the view for just a bit longer, and then started hiking again!

[10:54am - Blue/Yellow Trail]

We followed the confluence of a blue and yellow-blazed trail, which I think was the Mt. Major Trail and Brook Trails. They continued along wonderful open slabs (similar the upper reaches of the Boulder Trail) before descending a bit steeply to a junction where the yellow-blazed Brook Trail turned right to descend and the blue-blazed Major-Straightback Link turned left to start the journey up to Straightback. We briefly crossed paths with the woman who was on her first solo hike, who was also playing music loudly, so we blasted off.

[11:04am - Major-Straightback Trail]

The Major-Straightback Link rose through pretty, mossy forests with occasional open spots at easy to moderate grades. There were a few older wooden blue diamond blazes guiding the way, but the footbed was always clear. The trail later evened out and opened up to the summit of Straightback Mountain!

[11:24am - Straightback Mountain Summit/Straightback Mountain Trail]

Mentally, I didn't realize that Straightback was higher up than Mt. Major, but my legs felt it! From the summit, we turned left and followed the sign for "to Jesus Valley Rd 1.5 mi," which was the Straightback Mountain Trail. 

The upper Straightback Mountain Trail was an absolute joy to walk across. It was very open with a small discernable footpath through occasional patches of dirt with occasional views - it reminded me of sections of Monadnock along the Pumpelly Ridge. I only wish there were blazes or cairns! The trail turned a corner and descended along a slightly wetter stretch before ocming to the junction with the Blueberry Pasture Trail.

[11:37am - Blueberry Pasture Trail]

The Blueberry Pasture Trail was a wonderfully pleasant old road with mostly good footing, save for a few wobbly rocks here and there. We descended with a few turns here and there, and lower down hiked across some snowmobile bridges and past some old artifacts. Some wheel/pulley thing and a few barrels. It was simply a lovely descent from Straightback down!

[12:01pm - Blueberry Pasture Trail/Old Stage Road]

[12:02pm - Little Avery Hill Loop]

Soon we were back on Old Stage Road and after a bit of waffling we decided to hit the Little Avery Hill Loop to check out the "Secret View." This was clearly a snowmobile trail with blegh footing, and it was a steep one at that! Christien was NOT pleased with our decision, but I was suffering along excited for a view1There wre a couple of old orange blazes, but this trail is not on either map on belknaprangetrails.org. We turned a corner, suffered up some more, and came to a grassy clearing with a view!

[12:10pm - Little Avery Hill]

There was a lovely view up to straightback, and it was really fun to see the open slabs up there, where we were not too long ago! Christien was NOT having it, he officially hated Little Avery Hill after that steep climb! There was a tree view behind to normal Avery Hill, which does have a trail in the old Dave Robert's map on the aformentioned website, but nothing on the current map.

The descent was quick and easy down a narrower snowmobile trail, and soon we were back on the Blueberry Pasture Trail to finish out our hike!

[12:13pm - Blueberry Pasture Trail]

We did forget about the Silent People, though. We had a quick, uneasy hike past them, but then soon enough we were back at the parking area, which had about four cars now.

[12:17pm - End of Hike]

We did it! Christien was feeling much better compared to the start of the hike, and was just wishing he felt fine for the whole thing. I'm really glad and grateful that he rallied - I had a wonderful time on these trails and hiking with him! I got changed in the parking area and then we set our sights on getting lunch on the lake, so we drove down Alton Mountain Road to Alton Bay and landed at Shibley at the Pier in Alton, and it was a great, easy lunch! Except for the fact that I basically drenched myself in my cocktail...

The drive home was nice and easy. I got BOGO popcorn from the Common Man and Christien had a nice nap. Best part - we were home by 3:00pm so I could keep delaying my Sunday scaries!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike on Blueberry Pasture Trail from trailhead.

- At jct., turn right onto Old Stage Road.

- Near terminus, turn left onto unblazed trail.

- At jct., turn right onto Jesus Valley - Beaver Pond Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto Boulder Trail.

- At terminus, continue onto Blue/Yellow blazed trail.

- At jct., continue to follow Blue blazes.

- At summit of Straightback Mountain (S. Peak), turn left onto Straightback Mountain Trail.

- At jct., turn right onto Blueberry Pasture Trail.

- After jct. with Old Stage Road, turn left onto snowmobile path to "Secret View."

- At "Secret View," continue to follow path down to Blueberry Pasture Trail.

- Turn left onto Blueberry Pasture Trail, return to car.

Belknap Range Map (2023)

Photo Album