Hike Mount Monadnock Monadnock State Park, NH

Jul 09, 2023 — Mount Monadnock is a standalone high-prominence peak in southern New Hampshire, far from the more mountainous region of the state. This of course means Monadnock State Park attracts a plethora of visitors from near and far, and fortunately it's a beautiful peak with many trail segment options to support larger visitation. My assumption was that the most popular loop seems to be to ascend the very creatively-named White Dot Trail and then descend the White Cross Trail. I inquired with the entrance gate attendant who collected my preposterous $15 day pass fee, and he informed me as much too. My research suggested the White Dot Trail had some fun scrambling, so I wanted to at least check out that trail, but the White Cross Trail barely deviated from the former, so I decided to take the Red Dot Trail as a descent alternative to make this a slightly longer hike and to change it up a bit. This also meant escaping the crowds for a time. You can pretty easily get away from the majority of hikers and enjoy the landscape by taking one of the alternative trails to the summit, of which there are many. It's fun to note that Mount Monadnock was named for the geologic phenomenon itself; a monadnock is just an exposed hill of bedrock above the surrounding landscape. I appreciated the unadorned scientific naming.

I hiked from the developed parking lot past a snack hut, a particularly nice bathroom (state park entrance fees do have their perks!), and finally made it to the trailhead. The White Dot Trail is the steepest and most direct route to the summit of Mount Monadnock, but it starts off wide and gains very little elevation for the first half mile. Rocky and crowded through uninspired forest, I didn't much enjoy this short segment of the hike. I reached a junction with the Cascade Link Trail, where I'd be coming from later. A clear sign pointed left for the White Dot Trail, where the grade became significantly steeper and introduced constructed stone stairs as well as slabs of wet bedrock that added some light scrambling.

After some hiking through the forest, the trail reached the first bit of bedrock that offers some nice views since the rock blocks trees from growing. Alternating between forest and slickrock, the hike got much more interesting and introduced more scrambling. A couple of particularly nice short sections of Class 2 scrambling might scare some hikers not experienced with wet bedrock, including one part up a low-angle dihedral. A bit more ascending like this and I emerged onto a wide swath of bedrock that would compose the remainder of the hike to the summit of Mount Monadnock. Unfortunately, my views were obscured by thick fog, but this added to the vibe and I wasn't actually too upset. The surrounding views are just toward the relatively flat surroundings of southern New Hampshire anyway, so I kind of enjoyed being hemmed-in by the weather. The last half mile or so to the summit of Mount Monadnock was a gorgeous wonderland of bedrock interspersed with short forest walks, little shrubs trying to grow in any crack they can. The summit loomed ahead for much of this portion of the hike. The White Dot Trail concluded with a lovely ascent on significantly steeper bedrock and up to the high point. There are plenty of trail blazes and cairns to help keep the intended trail obvious.

I enjoyed whatever views I could despite the fog, then headed east along the Pumpelly Trail, which included more fun sections of bedrock. I reached a junction with the Red Dot Trail, and although I'd intended to continue east along the ridge originally, the lack of views convinced me to just take this option. I descended along the rocky Red Dot Trail, which had short spurts of wet slickrock that had me more alert than I normally might be. I soon headed back below tree line, where the bouldery trail became a bit tedious, so I sped up a bit to get through the rocky terrain. One amongst a group I passed aggressively exclaimed how she didn't understand how I could be going so fast. In an attempt to make her feel less self-conscious of her speed, I offhandedly said that I'm used to poor terrain and she should just enjoy the hike at whatever speed she enjoys. At that moment I slipped and almost toppled over. That'll show you and your inflated ego, nature said. I soon reached the Cascade Link Trail, which I followed back to the White Dot Trail and ultimately to the trailhead.