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Mount Monadnock

Photo: Jonwmcinenrey / CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

⛰️ Mountains

Mount Monadnock

Jaffrey, NH · Monadnock Region, Southwest New Hampshire

About

Monadnock stands alone. Nothing within thirty miles comes close to its 3,165 feet, so the bare rock summit gives a full 360: Vermont's Green Mountains, the Berkshires, and on a clear day the Boston skyline southeast. Geologists borrowed the name for exactly that reason, a lone hill left standing after the softer rock around it wore away. The top is treeless for a messier reason. Settlers burned the slopes in the early 1800s, once for pasture and again to smoke out wolves, and the topsoil never returned. No road or lift goes to the top; every route is on foot. White Dot from park headquarters on Poole Road is the short, steep way, roughly two miles and about 1,750 feet of gain. White Arrow off the Old Toll Road is gentler and quieter. Day use runs $15 per vehicle; reserve parking online, because fall Saturdays sell out. Ice holds on the upper ledges into spring, and pets are never allowed.

Highlights

3,165 ft bare summit$15 per vehicle day useWhite Dot: 2 mi, 1,750 ftReserve parking onlinePeak foliage early to mid OctNo pets in the park

Getting there

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Curated guides that feature Mount Monadnock.

Best of New Hampshire7 places

Best of New Hampshire

Granite, notches, and one very serious mountain. Seven places that cover what New Hampshire actually is: the White Mountains and their passes, a lake with more than 250 islands, a bare summit standing alone in the southwest, and eighteen miles of coast anchored by a working 1600s port.