Hiking up to Prospect Mountain Fire Tower
It was a long drive for a short hike. This seems to be that keeps occurring to me in this year of COVID. But once I get on the trail it doesn’t bother me anymore. Especially when I’m hiking by myself and I don’t have to keep pace with anyone.
There are a couple of Mt. Prospects in New Hampshire and Vermont. But this one is located in Lancaster, New Hampshire and is one of 16 operational firepower’s in New Hampshire.
When I arrived at the trail head I noticed there was only on street parking and not a lot of it. The weather was gray and chilly. View would come in and out of the clouds.
| Date: | 12-14-2020 |
| Location: | Lancaster, NH |
| Distance: | 2 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 150′ |
| Total Time: | 30 min |
| Parking: | 2 cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Easy |
Temps were just above freezing and that made it hard to acclimate myself. I would be sweating for a few but also feeling the cold where on my clothes. Luckily this is only a mile or so up to the summit.
The trail starts out fairly easy and runs along an old logging road. It was leafy and overgrown with small pricker bushes. These prickers almost made me have to take my gloves out because they were right at my hands height.
After about 10 minutes or so I came to a junction with the “Around the Mountain Loop” Trail. This looked interesting and I will be back this winter to take my back country skies out.
From here the trail started to get a little steamer and muddier. I soon came to where the trail meets the auto road (Closed in Winter). From here I had to walk the VERY icy road to the summit. Luckily it was not steep and only about .3 miles.
At the summit there was some large “Swiss” like building and a large garage all closed up. Next to them was a beautiful stone fire tower (Closed in Winter). It looked very similar to a “Rapunzel” tower.
I walked around the property for a bit and took some pictures. I’ll have to come back in the summer when it’s open. There are a lot of nature trails up at the top as well.
I decided to take one of these trails and it lead to a beautiful opening with a platform facing North. What a great view. From here the GPS said I was close to where I came off the trail to the road so I bushwhacked back to the trial cutting off that ice road walk.
The walk back down was quick, smooth and muddy. Before I knew it I was back at the “Around the Mountain Loop” junction and from there just a few minutes from the car.
This trail was pretty easy with a few moderate sections. Very much worth the hike and drive to see the tower. This is truly a New Hampshire Gem! Highly recommend!!
