Climbing Mount Monadnock on the Marlborough Trail

October 13, 2020

Mount Monadnock is one of my favorite local hikes. It is just over 3,000 ft tall, but the top is completely bald and you get 360 degree views from the summit.

The Marlboro Trail is a great way to experience the mountain. It is located off of Shaker Farm Road in Marlborough NH beginning at a small parking area. The trail itself has some really steep sections and at points you have to scramble up using your hands and feet, but you are rewarded with some great views on the way to the summit.

The Marlboro Trail starts off as a relatively easy hike on a nice wide path that goes gradually up towards the mountain. You hit your first steep climb on your way to the first section of bare ledge and your first views. Stepping onto the ledge you are greeted with a view of gap mountain, shown here.

As well as Perkins Pond, which the sun was nice enough to light up for me in this photo.

Another view of Gap Mountain. This photo was taken early in the morning not to long after sunrise.

From the first set of ledges to the top you will be hiking in both forested areas and open areas of bare rock. This section of trail is fairly close to the summit and is pretty typical of the terrain on the hike.

Once you reach the summit you have 360 degree views. I hiked the mountain early in the morning in mid October and the weather was drastically different at the bottom than at the summit.

At the start of the trail it was a clear warm morning. At the summit the wind was constant and strong, the air was cold and the summit was in the clouds. When the clouds started to break up it made for some nice photos of the clouds blowing over the ridges of the mountain.

This shot shows just how open the summit is, with very little vegetation at the top. This mountain is very popular, so if you want to see the summit without being crowded definitely start your climb very early in the morning and on a weekday if you can.

Enjoy the climb and the views!