Pack Monadnock offers sweeping views and something close to an alpine ecosystem for less than two hours of hiking within an hour's drive from Manchester, or two hours from Boston. This mountain, whose name comes from an Abenaki phrase for "small mountain that stands alone," lies in Miller State Park, the oldest state park in New Hampshire, on the eastern edge of Peterborough. It rises to 2,290 feet above sea level, but the entrance to the park is over 1,000 feet, so you don't have to climb very high to reach the mountaintop.
From the main entrance to the park, there are two hiking trails and a paved road leading to the summit. Each trail, the Marion Davis Trail and the Wapack Trail, is about a mile and a half from the park entrance to the summit. I would recommend the auto road only if you have serious mobility or stamina problems.
My favorite hike here is to go up the Marion Davis Trail and down the Wapack Trail. Even with young school-age children, you can make the round-trip hike in about four hours, but you should allow plenty of extra time for stopping and enjoying the view and the interesting natural environment.
The Marion Davis trail climbs gently up the heavily wooded southeastern side of Pack Monadnock. The forest, mostly beech and oak, is thick with woodpeckers and nuthatches, chipmunks and red squirrels. In late spring, you can see many specimens of our state wildflower, the pink ladys slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule), painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), and many other interesting plants. The purple trillium (T. erectum) smells like rotten meat! (Great fun for the kids.)
The Wapack Trail traverses the southwestern flank of the mountain, through dense hemlock forest near the summit, and out onto numerous open ledges lower down which offer tremendous views of majestic Mount Monadnock and the Peterborough area. There are virtually no large trees on the lower slopes of the western flank of Pack Monadnock. The knee-high juniper "forest" is vaguely reminiscent of scrublands you might see in parts of the intermountain West. This is a much more rugged and rocky trail, but not too difficult.
The summit is similar to the environments on the tops of New Hampshire's higher mountains. In late spring and early summer, it is splashed with color by numerous species of flowering shrubs, such as redroot (Ceanothus ovatus), high-bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia).
The boulders around the summit are coated with uncountable tiny lichens and algae, just like those on top of "real" mountains twice as high. There are even a few places that are similar to miniature alpine bogs which are home to some of the same bog plants you'd see in the Presidential Range above 4,000 feet.
They say that on a sufficiently clear day, you can see Boston from the top of Pack Monadnock, but I think it's a myth. There is no such thing as a "sufficiently clear day." It's a little easier to see Manchester, but even that is a little hazy.
The top of Pack Monadnock is an important observation point for the fall raptor migration, and the New Hampshire Audubon Society runs an excellent program there every year from September 1 through October 31.
The auto road is closed and gated in winter. It is open every day in summer, and on weekends in spring and fall.
The trails are passable most of the winter, except right after a significant snowfall. Also, in late winter, the melting snow re-freezes, especially along the Wapack Trail, turning much of the trail into a tilted skating rink. You can not hike the Wapack Trail without crampons in March.
Sometimes in late winter and early spring, there is a sign at the start of the Marion Davis trail asking you to "Please stay away during mud season." The trails are subject to erosion, and this is sensitive environment important to many early-breeding amphibians. So stay off the Marion Davis Trail until about mid-April.
To get to Miller State Park, take Route 101 west from Manchester for about 35 miles. The entrance is on the right, just after you pass Temple Mountain on the left. The park entrance is hard to see until you are passing it, so here's a hint. After you pass the town of Wilton, there are two places where there is a "truck lane" up long, steep hills. The park entrance is immediately after the second of these "truck lanes," just as you go over the top of the hill.
Admission to the park is $4 for adults; $2 for children ages 6-11; children ages 5 and under and NH residents age 65 and over are admitted free. There is no additional charge for access to the auto road, when it is open.
The trail heads are on the right as you enter the park. Be aware that the Wapack trail goes in both directions, so turn left from the trail head if you don't plan to hike to Massachusetts.
This is an excellent family outing, and a great way to observe a variety of ecosystems in a very short hike. Pack up the kids, pack a lunch, Pack Monadnock!
Author Resource:-
Chuck Bonner is a lifelong hiker and amateur naturalist, and webmaster of www.HikingWithChuck.com. For more descriptions of great places to hike, visit http://www.hikingwithchuck.com/Where/WhereIndex.htm
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