The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway

[fastfoxengineering]

Anybody here hike this trail? I'm thinking about hiking it end to end in the early spring depending on how the rest of the winter goes here in NH. Would be nice to get out on this trail before the bugs, albeit the trail a little wet.

fastfox

[rafe]

Yep. Nice trail. Slo and I walked this trail back in June 2015. Photos here:

http://terrapinphoto.com/wp/galleries-3/hikes/summer-2015/

[eblanche]

I hiked it in June of 2015 as well! Pics and blog post here:

http://ericadventurehike.blogspot.com/2015/06/monadnock-sunapeegreenway-6-26-2015to-6.html

[Slo-go'en]

It was an interesting hike, a bit different. Having two cars helped. I drove to the Sunapee end the night before and camped at the campground there. Rafe meet me in the morning and we took his car back down to Monadnock and hiked up in a cold rain - worst hike up Monadnock I ever did and I've climb that hill a 100 times.

After that we had decent weather which was a good thing, otherwise it would have been a real soggy trail. I would like to go back and do it again in the fall during peak leaf peeping season, that would be the time to do that trail. I think we did it in 3 nights, 4 days?

[fastfoxengineering]

Fall foliage would be real nice. Maybe I'll put off doing this trail till the fall. Is it better to plan on staying at the shelters or camping outside the shelter. I'm assuming that if I do it mid week then I'll probably have the shelters freed up. Wouldn't mind doing a fast pack with just my tarp planning on staying at the shelters. No bugs either.

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[rafe]

A lot of the trail is on private land so the shelters are pretty much your only (legal) option. The good news as that they are all (except one) very new and in good shape, with plenty of tent space. The only one I'd avoid is the one that's just outside the town of Washington NH -- it's an older structure in poor condition and very unappealing site. Too close to town, in any case.

Washington NH is right on the trail, there's a decent little grocery store/lunch/sandwich place. We took advantage of that in packing our food bags.

[fastfoxengineering]

Excellent I prefer sleeping in my own shelter over the lean to. Don't mind sleeping right outside one though.

I'll deff plan on stopping in the general store for whatever I'm craving food wise and a good lunch.

Now the million dollar question. Logistically this trail is easy for me when it comes to getting to and from the trail. I don't live far away.

Nobo or sobo?

Sobo seems like a better ending, finishing up on monadnock.

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[Slo-go'en]

There's a real good chance you'll be the only one at the shelter. Not much traffic on that trail. We only meet 2 other hikers one afternoon and they were going the other way. The campsite just south of Sunapee is just tent platforms, so you need a tent or something if you stay there.

NOBO or SOBO? Hard choice, I'd look at the shelter spacing. Rafe and I decided on NOBO due to shelter spacing.

[1azarus]

I have hiked it. Fun to hike it south bound to finish at monadnock. I hitch hiked from monadnock to sunapee...loved the trail, and got a kick out of the hitching as well.

[1azarus]

I am really interested in the section to the south of monadnock that connects to the New England Trail. Anyone hike that?

[rafe]

I am really interested in the section to the south of monadnock that connects to the New England Trail. Anyone hike that?

I seem to recall the NET intersects or joins the Tully Trail near Royalston MA. I was on the Tully, and got turned around at that spot and briefly lost the trail. It was a road walk section. Royalston is eight or ten miles south of Monadnock State Park.

I've hiked the Wapac, which goes from Mt. Watatic (on the MA/NH border) to Pack Monadnock. Watatic marks the northern end of the MA Mid-State trail. Photos of both these hikes at the link in my previous post.

Supposedly Watatic is one of those mountains that Benton MacKaye climbed frequently as a youngster, while growing up in Shirley, MA. When I ski at Mt. Wachusset I often get good views of both Watatic and Monadnock.

[eblanche]

I've hiked the Wapac, which goes from Mt. Watatic (on the MA/NH border) to Pack Monadnock. Watatic marks the northern end of the MA Mid-State trail. Photos of both these hikes at the link in my previous post.
I've also done the Wapac trail as a day hike out-and-back. I am a big fan of the stretch from North Pack over Temple and skyline/ridgeline following (forget who it is named after). Great variety of hiking that sees less use than most trails in the area.

[MamaBear]

Late to the party, but I hiked it in 2016, too:

https://nh48.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/monadnock-sunapee-greenway-7-21-23-16/

I had shelters to myself both nights and in excluding Monadnock and Sunapee, I saw only 8-9 hikers in the three days. Three on the second day and 5 or 6 on the third.

It was easier for me to go NOBO as Sunapee is closer to home, so my daughter was able to help me drop off the car there. Sunapee lets you leave your car in their lot. I then got a ride from husband down to Monadnock, luckily he had business in the area.

[rafe]

You can leave car at Monadnock SP as well, no issues. Just let the guy at the gate know.

[Sparkeh]

I hiked the MSGT in 2013 in early Sping and had a great time. Hiked Nobo leaving my car at Monadnock and hitched back when we finished at Sunapee. Took 4 days 3 nights but I would make it a 5 dayer if I ever hiked it again. It is a perfect beginner backpacking trail.

[pesphoto]

.. thinking of doing this as my first multi day trip late spring, are there any shuttle services from one trailhead to the other?

[fastfoxengineering]

I just picked up the trail guide/map at EMS and one of the employees had hiked the trail a few times. He gave me some good insight. Was gonna wait till fall, don't think I can wait that long. Got the hiking itch.

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[1azarus]

I just picked up the trail guide/map at EMS and one of the employees had hiked the trail a few times. He gave me some good insight. Was gonna wait till fall, don't think I can wait that long. Got the hiking itch.

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Fastfox, I think you will like it. I describe the trail as a perfect miniature of the Appalachian Trail. A real mix: lots of easy walking, some good climbs, fair number of great views, a fire tower, shelters, some poorly blazed areas, a road walk or two, a chance to buy a hotdog at a ski area, and if you squint and finish at Monadnock, well that would be little Katahdin. Gonna go now? I was just out for the weekend in Connecticut. No snow, no frost even... weird winter. I'm not sure what the conditions in southern NH will be, but it does sound like fun.

[iAmKrzys]

There is a campground at Rand Pond just west of Mt. Sunapee: https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#?map=17!43.314!-72.1108 - I wonder if anyone tried to leave their car at this campground and get a ride from there to Mt. Monadnock to hike NOBO?

[Thinspace]

There's a series of videos on YouTube, Monadnock-Sunapee greenway trail by Trekking On that are pretty informative.