Another southern NH hike, on the west side of the Merrimack. I noticed Rose Mtn during my recent Crotched hike and got interested. Sometimes I'm only looking for a few miles and some elevation gain , but I like views too. The AMC Southern NH Trail Guide and the Rose Mountain Preserve page were enticing. A short, little visited, hike, with views, that I was already curious about ! Woot!
There was a choice to be made: the Summit Trail from Scout Rd, or the longer Helen's Trail from Mountain Road? Dilly dallying largely made the choice for me; by the time I gave up on trying to decide, there was really only time for the Summit Trail.
The Summit Trail was a little shorter than I wanted, but the description of the trailhead in the SNHTG had me a little concerned. Helen's Trail sounded more accessible. But I decided to head for the Summit Trail anyway.
Lyndeborough is crisscrossed with small roads; some of these turn into class VI roads and some are not passable short of a four-wheeler. The SNHTG description sounded like the Summit Trail trailhead might be one such. Not to mention the numerous small roads to even get near the trailhead. Google earth worked well at getting me there, though.
I found the directions on the PLC page to be confusing. Now that I've been there .... yes, they're ok ( except I didnt see anywhere along Pinnacle Rd to park as the directions mention... maybe there's a wide spot I missed). Looking on the PLC map I couldnt get oriented. How is it that the trailhead that goes by The Pinnacle ( a knob in the east part of the preserve) is not on Pinnacle Rd? Instead, Pinnacle Rd takes you to Scout Rd ( which I couldnt find on google maps until I explicitly did a Search for it ), and The Pinnacle is reached by "Mountain Road" which, BTW, is signed "Old Mountain Road" 🤨. And the directions to Helen's Trail mention the "Greenfield Rd" - apparently a class VI rd, unless you miss it and see that Rt 136 from Francestown to Greenfield NH is also "Greenfield Rd" .... these are not questions easily answered while swirling around trying to figure out what you have time for if you hurry up and get going 🙄
It might have been a little easier to figure out if the PLC map hadnt cropped off Pinnacle Rd and Mountain Rd. Ah well, it's clear enough to me now. Hopefully for anyone reading this , too 🙂
Google maps shows the "Pinnacle Trailhead", the trailhead for Helen's. I found the pin for the "Rose Mountain Preserve" came and went on the map depending on the zoom level I was at. This is the trailhead for the Summit Trail. Though there were roughly 13 segments to get there, and I had more than a few moments of um, wondering where google maps was taking me, I did finally get to the summit trailhead. The only real confusion was the voiceover telling me "schoolhouse rd / new rd" . They sort of run together briefly , then split. I stayed the course and used New Rd ; but it might have been better to take the Schoolhouse Rd split to Mountain Rd. Mountain Rd is partly tar and the dirt part is in better condition ( I followed Mountain Rd on my return, I wanted to see the Helen's Trail parking - it wasnt very obvious, BTW, just a pullover).
Following google maps , I came to the 'pass at your own risk' section of Pinnacle Rd and, girding my loins, proceeded. The road at this point was rough, but no worse than the Green Hill Rd to Iron Mountain. A sedan might not be wise, but driving carefully and slowly, my pickup truck had no problem. I was grateful to come to Scout Rd, though, as there wasnt any convenient place to turn around on Pinnacle Rd. I really didnt want to have to back out. Really.
I decided to park at the Pinnacle/Scout junction, because the SNHG made Scout Rd sound so gnarly. It actually wasnt at all. I could easily have driven the 700 ft of Scout Rd to the trailhead , it was in better shape than Pinnacle Rd. There is room for 6 or 7 vehicles at the trailhead. I doubt that it ever sees that many at once , except maybe hunting season. And, in fact, there was a (squirrel) hunter just leaving as I arrived. He and I had a nice chat, he gave me some trail details, and we each headed our separate ways.
The hard part being over, there was nothing left to do but ...hike. And so I did. From the trailhead, the path is a well defined treadway, pretty smooth and cushy thru the woods. It crosses (IIRC) a snowmobile trail or perhaps just old wood road. There is one such crossing about 1/4 mile from trailhead , where the trail goes straight across but is not clearly blazed. I think if you go left here it would take you back to the washout section of Scout Rd, but I dont know. Going right probably wouldnt be good. Just go straight across and there should be a blaze before long. In any event, the treadway is pretty obvious. About a .1 mi after this the trail turns what I think is a snowmobile trail; it's like a carriage rd on the Castle in the Clouds trails, clear of brush and smooth. And not steep, ever.
The trail , except the one spot mentioned, is clearly blazed, with turns clearly marked. You can look at the PLC map to get an idea where Helen's Trail and the Cutoff Trail intersect with the Summit Trail ( you should have a map anyway, but the trails are well marked).
Walking up the rest of the way to the summit became a little more rocky with some ledge. The summit was pleasantly ledgy and open, but not a lot trees blocking views. Still, it was very worthy. Even worth the sting I got from some little flying critter.
Despite the sting I continued on the blue-blazed spur to the outlook to Crotched. Very nice. And a nice rock chair and fire pit to look at. But not too closely, there were wasps enjoying the view too ....
From there, it was back out the way I came. On the way out I saw a large cairn which marked another outlook, this one to the southwest, of Monadnock. Then it was onward and outward past the swamp on Scout Rd and back to the truck.
A pretty easy hike for a nice open summit and nice views of two lovely mountains !