North Uncanoonuc Double Loop (Goffstown Conservation Land)
Hike Type: -o-o- Loop
Distance: 3.47 miles
Elevation: 1,293 feet
Time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Parking: "Uncanoonuc Trails Parking" on Google Maps. 300 Mountain Road, Goffstown, NH. 10ish spaces at junction with gated reservoir access road.
Parking: "Uncanoonuc Trails Parking" on Google Maps. 300 Mountain Road, Goffstown, NH. 10ish spaces at junction with gated reservoir access road.
Hiking Challenges: N/A
The Hike
Spring Break is here! Naturally, I got started with a slow drive up near Manchester and then I dipped off the highway for a hike before continuing up to Vermont. The drive to the trailhead was pretty brutal until I got off of the highway, but that's just the nature of driving north on a vacation Friday afternoon. I had the Uncanoonucs on my mind for a while now, mostly just due to Facebook posts and knowing they existed, and after hiking South Uncanoonuc last Friday, I had to hike it's twin! I didn't want to spend too much time delaying my arrival to Vermont, so I was aiming for speed and fitness over leisure this afternoon. The official map had fewer trails than AllTrails did, and I didn't have much of a plan, so we'd see what happens! It was a humid afternoon in the mid 60s that felt pretty lovely.
From the parking area, I turned right onto the road and soon after made a left into the woods. This trail was not on the official map, but there was a clear footbed and orange blazes in various stages of age. The trail climbed up the embankment and then turned to follow the contour. I followed the trail as it undulated around the contour line while battling my third case of hiccups of the day, which was WEIRD. There was clear evidence that mountain bikers had been on this trail. I meandered along, crossing a few dried drainages until the trail split. Straight ahead was a lesser-used continuation of the orange trail, and on the left was a steep climb up to the summit.
I turned left to start the pretty brutal climb up. The one positive was that the climb alternated steep pitches with brief walking breaks. The steeps felt steeper than the Incline Trail up South Uncanoonuc, but the Incline Trail lacked any breaks. I could hear trucks down below as I climbed up past some young trees that provided highly obstructed views. I crossed paths with a downhill hiker on another steep before the trail began to moderate - I was equally sweating and dying. The trail moderated, then turned to climb truly straight up, and then moderated again in a denser coniferous forest. There were tree views to Manchester, and eventually the trail turned again and eased into the summit area, which was grassy and moderately open.
In summation, this climb had 10 segments: steep, flat, steep, flat, steep, flat, moderate, steep, moderate, easy. I was pooped, but fulfilled!
The summit area was accessed by the White Dot Trail, which continued where the Orange Trail ended, and it was quite lovely, with two viewpoints over to South Uncanoonuc and a bit of Manchester if you wiggled around a bit. There was a memorial bench, a summit sign, but no disc that I could find.
From the summit sign, I began my descent down the Blue Trail, which followed the ridge and made for some pretty hiking. A cairn marked a path to a grown-in scenic view and the Blue Trail turned from a nice footpath to a washed-out road. I caught a view to what I think had to be Pack Monadnock? There was also an old sign for the Pink Trail from the view, which does not pop up on the current official map.
The Blue Trail eventually turned off of the washed-out old road onto what felt like another old road, which was past the stages of washed-out and just plain slabby. It was dry, but footing was a little slippery from conifer needles. Further down, the trail rejoined the old road (or another old road...) in what felt like a snowmobile corridor (update from the future: I was right!).
The Blue Trail ended at the Class VI Road Trail, which I followed left. This trail/road was wonderfully soft underfoot as it followed peoples' backyard property lines. I decided to follow it all the way down to Mountain Road just to the hike legally counted as a double summit, since I was now planning on heading back up due to the low mileage.
After the junction with the Red Dot Trail, the Class VI Road Trail had a few green blazes, later passing a bunch of snowmobile signage as it descneded towards Mountain Road. Near the end, the actual trail left the road corridor and descended to the road. I took a swig of water, and turned around to climb back up! The climb on the Class VI Road Trail was easy to moderate, but I was moving fast so it got my heart pumping! I made a light goal at this point to finish the hike in under 1 hour, 30 minutes, but I wasn't too sure of the mileage for the White Dot Trail, so we'd see how it goes. Soon enough I was back at the Red Dot Trail junction!
I immediately noticed how well-signed the Red Dot Trail was, especially compared to the Orange Trail. The trail split a couple of times, but it was easy to follow (the other splits were on AllTrails). It was similarly as calf-steep as the Orange Trail, soon climbing up a neat little spine. Also, I was dying again. The forest changed higher up, providing a nice tree view to South Uncanoonuc, and I could hear gunshots in the distance (I'm guessing a nearby sportsmen's club, so I was in danger and didn't worry about it). Similarly again to Orange, the trail mellowed out near the top and I had a quick return to the summit on Blue! The sun felt HOT, but the air felt lovely. I could have dealt with lower humidity and more wind, but I'll take what I can get.
Descending on the White Dot Trail, I enjoyed the upper forest. I passed a woman training her dog to be a wonderful hiking dog, which was nice to see. Further down, the trail began to descend more moderately over slippery rocks, and then it plummeted down, providing a little view at the top of the shoulder. I really enjoyed seeing the springtime reds starting to top the trees. I passed a few Boy Scout plackards with numbers on it - I think they were marking mileage (I saw 0.5, 0.2, etc.). This trail was honestly just as steep as the others, but this one would be quad steep on the climb versus calf steep.
Futher down, I passed a neat little cave feature just before one final plummet. The White Dot Trail continue straight to the road, but I turned right onto the other fork of the Orange Trail, which was significaly less-traveled than the main trail, but stiill easy enough to follow. I did have to go up a little bit, but I persevered.
My final return on the Orange Trail kept my heart rate up, in part becuase I was looking to do the hike in under 1 hour, 30 minutes, and also because of how the trail meandered up and down. My burning lungs thanked me when I saw the road, and to my delight, I was back at my car in 1 hour, and 22 minutes!
I quickly changed back at the car and had a nice, but long drive up to Emma and Sarah's. I grabbed a pizza from Stone's Throw and started doing crafts with the two of them for our Anglerfish costumes for the Ski Patrol Banquet tomorrow night!
Step-by-Step
- Park at trailhead.
- Hike northbound on Mountain Road.
- Turn left onto Orange Trail and enter woods.
- At terminus, continue left on White Dot Trail.
- Follow White Dot Trail over summit and continue.
- At jct., turn left onto Blue Trail.
- At terminus, turn left onto Class VI Road Trail.
- At Mountain Road, turn around.
- At jct., turn right onto Red Dot Trail.
- At terminus, turn right onto White Dot Trail.
- Follow White Dot Trail over summit and descend.
- At jct., turn right onto Orange Trail connecting spur.
- Follow Orange Trail back to Mountain Road and car.
Photo Album
