Staying local during the COVID-19 outbreak to limit crowds in the Whites has been interesting. I’ve really enjoyed finding networks of trails everywhere. Lots of cool surprises.
One mountain I’ve always wanted to climb was Crotched Mountain. I’ve seen it many times from Mt. Uncanoonuc during sunsets and in the winter I’ve seen the lights from the ski slopes.
So after a little research I decided I would take Shannon’s trail up to the lookout and cut over to the Summit West trail and make a loop out of this trip.
| Date: | 4-25-2020 |
| Location: | Greenfield, NH |
| Distance: | 5.2mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 1,156′ |
| Total Time: | 3h 45min |
| Parking: | 30+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Easy/Moderate |
Parking was easy to find at the hight of land on Crotched Mountain Road. There was room for 30+ cars. When I got there only 2 other cars where were in the lot. When I left the lot was full.
I started out on an accessible trail called Gregg’s trail. I think “accessible” means that the trail is groomed and someone could push a wheel chair on it. This trail soon lead to an opening and started the hike with some outstanding views to the east.
I continued on to the first lookout where there were great views o the west. Then on up to the Lower Link trail and then started up the Summit West trail. This trail was the steepest section of trail on this whole trip.
Once at the top there was a ledge with panoramic views from East to South to West. The views are about a 100 yards up past the trail junction. Be sure not to miss them! The upper link trail is pretty easy going and runs the ridge between the west summit and the main summit.
At the main summit there were lots of views and ledges. Lots of great sports for lunch. Fining the geo marker “exact summit” took a little searching. From here I headed down the mountain via Shannon’s trail back to my car.
This was a great hike with lots of views. This would also be a good first hike to take a new hiker or child on because it starts off easy and has views most of the way up. I’ll be back to explore some of the other trails.
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