Also on this trip

Trails Used

Orange Road, Knowles Hill Road, Church Hill Road, Skyland Trail, West Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

I wanted to check out the longer, more difficult approach to Cardigan and Skyland definitely fit the bill. After the short road walk up Knowles Hill Road, turn onto Church Hill. There is a gate with a "Private Turnaround" sign on it, but hikers are ok. After a steep little climb past the camps along Church Hill Road, you will see a sign on a tree for Skyland Trail, which leaves the road going left. Even being pretty remote and lightly used, the trail is very well blazed with white paint and cairns on the open ridges. There is very little undergrowth and for the most part you are moving through fairly open woods. There is plenty of moose droppings along the trail and I woke up a cow on the backside of Grafton Knob on my way in. The area was clearly farmed and you cross stone walls and cellar holes - including on that still has it's front steps. The views across the open summits of Crane and Orange get progressively more beautiful. There are some slabby sections along the way covered in pine needles, which are a little slippery. Take care especially on the back side of Orange, where the trail is right along a 20'+ cliff. I did not see anyone until Cardigan Rimrock and then more people once I hit the West Ridge trail. Views from the summit were excellent, being able to see all the way to Washington. After that I followed Skyland back to my car, for a 10 mile round trip.

Parking

Parking is probably the trickiest part of the hike. Per the AMC guide, I parked in Alexandria Four Corners. There is just enough room on the side of Orange Road, before the first driveway on the right, to get 2 maybe 3 cars. These are the coordinates of where I parked: 43.60827753976946, -71.87922105774295. You have to pull pretty far into the ditch to be off the road. The edge is fairly flat though, so you should not get stuck, but might be harder with a low-clearance vehicle. There is a big turn around further up Knowles Hill Road (43.61195066312928, -71.87768818298541) which also looked possible, but there were "No Trespassing" signs across the street, so didn't want to risk it.

Water Crossings

Only one is the tiny footbridge on the West Ridge Trail

Wildlife

ALL of them were out, but was moving fast enough to avoid most of them.

Trails Used

Holt Trail, Mowgli Trail, Manning Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Holt Trail is as tough as advertised, but made for a good adventure.

Parking

Plenty of space at the AMC's Cardigan Lodge

Water Crossings

No issues,most crossings were dry or had minimal flow

Wildlife

Mosquitoes biting down low. A nice breeze kept them away on the summits.

Trails Used

Manning Trail, Holt Trail, Mowglis Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

A few patches of mud but mostly dry trail. Rock scrambles/slabs were all dry but that will probably change due to rain forecasted during the weekend.

Parking

Parking is free at Cardigan Lodge

Wildlife

Got eaten alive and swallowed a few despite it being windy on the summit

Trails Used

West Ridge Trail, Clark Trail, South Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Great short hike on a beautiful sunny day.

Parking

Large nearly empty lot at the end of Cardigan Mountain Road for Cardigan Mountain State Park.

Water Crossings

Nothing significant

Wildlife

None

Trails Used

West Ridge Trail, Clark Trail, South Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Great short hike on a beautiful sunny day.

Parking

Large nearly empty lot at the end of Cardigan Mountain Road for Cardigan Mountain State Park.

Water Crossings

Nothing significant

Wildlife

None

Trail Conditions

Notes

Rain, sleet, and snow at summit. Positive experience with good group dynamics.

Trails Used

Manning, Holt, Clark, Mowglis, Manning Loop

Trail Conditions

Notes

50 degrees, sunny, some wet areas after rain the day before. Very windy on Cardigan summit, Yellow trout lily in bloom, impressed to see trail runner and his dogs on steep uneven terrain. Slick conditions on the steep part of the descent on Manning. Trekking poles helpful.

Parking

Parking at Mt Cardigan Lodge

Wildlife

No bugs

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Road walk, West Ridge Trail, South Ridge Trail, Skyland Trail, Clark Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Awesome hike today-Orange is such an overlooked mountain with Cardigan stealing all the glory. The Skyland trail is a real gem and the summit ledges of Orange have a magnificent view of the entire 18-mile “superloop” hike that is an annual pilgrimage. We encountered minimal snow/ice all day. Didn’t carry traction and wouldn’t have thought to use it if we did. Saw a few early Trout Lily’s getting ready to bloom:) Five minutes up from the summer lot two older gentlemen descending asked if they were almost at the AMC lodge. These two bozos had no packs, no map or map phone app, and had descended the entire mountain the wrong direction. They also ascended the notorious Holt trail with no traction. They reported the entire steep part was covered in ice and they had to bear crawl and bushwhack through the trees to make it up. When I asked the guy if he knew what he was getting into today he replied he has hiked the Holt trail at least ten times?! I went over the map with them in detail and texted them Gaia screenshots and they were still acting clueless. It was a textbook case of being wildly unprepared and making repeated poor decisions. Saw multiple hikers later in sneakers with no packs and bluejeans. I thought the short bus didn’t start dropping people off until summer time but I guess it’s open season on Cardigan!!!

Parking

Gate still closed. Road walk adds .6 miles and 250’ vert.

Wildlife

Nope

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

First time hiking in New Hampshire. Bare booted the whole hike. Some icy sections but nothing too bad. One of the 52 with a view.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Dump Run mountain bike trail, unofficial logging roads, bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Early April bushwhack in wild region north of Rumney's Rattlesnake Mountain. Thin patches of recently fallen snow in shaded areas, already melted in sunny areas. Found old snow on descent to col, approximately one foot deep in spots. Visited talus field and multiple ledges with views. Discovered summit register placed in 2010. Located hardwood glade on east side of summit. Noted Eight-Ball Mica Prospect site in area for future exploration.

Parking

Buffalo Road

Water Crossings

Crossed nameless brook below cascade

Trails Used

Manning Trail, Mowglis Trail, Holt Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

We hiked Sat, 3/21 before the recent snow (not sure it snowed there on Sunday). If you hike upper holt ice axe and crampons are essential until the ice melts. Trail started with some packed snow, spikes until the real ascent on holt. Then crampons. Ice axe was needed on the slabs but we used a shortened hiking poles in the pinch we found ourselves-- not recommended. Summit was bare rock with sporadic black ice. We took off spikes but you have to keep a focus on where you step. Spikes back on the way to firescrew and down manning. It required extra navigation focus in this section but you can see the paint markings and very short cairns where visible. Alltrails/gaia helped. There were very sketchy, very icy trail heading down from firescrew but we kept spikes and worked around the sections. We took spikes off, no snow or ice on manning before the trail junction near the accessible outhouse. Then it's snow again but soft enough to bare boot it.