Photo: Jonwmcinenrey / CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
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.
Others worth the drive in New Hampshire.
