Mt. Kearsarge via Lincoln Trail

I’ve climbed Kearsarge South many times. Mostly from the Winslow state park location and mostly for sunsets.

I’ve always wanted to climb this mountain from the longer Lincoln Trail. This is the longest trail to the summit at about 4.5 miles-ish one way.

My friend Joyce had lived in Warner and never got the chance to climb this mountain, so she was interested in joining me on this adventure.

We met up in the morning at Café One East in Warner for some coffee and to figure out what our plan would be.

We decided we were going to drop a car off at Rollins State Park, then drive back down to the Lincoln Trail head and climb from there.

When we got to Rollins, they didn’t open for another 30 min so we just sat and waited. After a while a park worker came down and opened the gate and we were able to drive up. We left the car in the parking lot. Winds up there were blowing pretty good.

When we got to the Lincoln Trail head there were already several cars there. I didn’t realize how popular this trail was.

The trail starts out in the field from the lot. Shortly after entering the woods, you go through a series of boulders and large rocks.

The trail climbs gently for a while. Much of the trail is overgrown with tall grass and there were ticks all over the place.

We came to a split in the trail that lead to a scenic overlook so we made our way down to check it out. Great look out!

Once we made it back to the junction there was a small viewpoint where we could finally see the summit through the trees. Still a little way to go.

The trail was in really good shape and the footing was fine the whole way. It weaves in and out around some of the smaller mountains and hills. There were a few moderate elevation gains but most of it was pretty easy-ish.

We finally made it to the parking lot where we left the car and only had .4 miles to go till the top. We kept on the Lincoln trail. This is where we start to have a little bit of steepness.

The trail turns into a large granite boulder field you must climb, that leads to some large rocks and some great views of the valley below.

Once on the top of the rock, we could see the towers at the summit. It was only about a quarter of a mile away.

We came to the end of the Lincoln trail and one small steep pitch to the summit cairn.

It was really windy at the summit. There were a few people up there, but no one stayed very long. We went down into the low area to get out of the wind and enjoy some lunch.

After a nice break we made out way down to the Rollins Trail. This is a very leisurely walk down. It is only about .5 mile and offers some beautiful views.

I really enjoyed the Lincoln Trail. Very gentle and lots to see along it. A beautiful walk in the woods. I did however find about 8 ticks on me. Note to self, use lots of bug spray!