Crotched Mountain, Francestown New Hampshire

August 12, 2020

Crotched Mountain is a small mountain, but it is a lot of fun and the area around it is beautiful as well. It has multiple peaks and each peak offers up different views of the surrounding area.

I've been here multiple times which has let me explore the area a bit and take photos in different weather.

Powder Mill Pond is very close to Crotched Mountain and is worth the stop if your on the way there. This photo was taken on the side of Route 202 in Bennington. I stopped to watch sunrise over the pond before continuing on to the mountain. The fog over the pond before sunrise ended up looking really nice.

This photo was taken about fifteen minutes after the last one. Once the sun started to come up the fog began to break. I believe that this is Crotched Mountain (but I may be wrong) with the sun rising behind it. This would also be a great spot to paddle around in a kayak before hiking the mountain.

I've been accessing the mountain from a trailhead and parking area on route 136. Powder Mill Pond is the large body of water to the west of the mountain next to Concord Rd/202. From the parking area on 136 (which is listed as the Hardwich / Former Merill Property on Google Maps) I've been using the Summit Link Trail to connect the the Summit East Trail. Personally I like going up the East Trail instead of the West, but you could do either. Taking this trail you hit a few different peaks each offering different views. After the last peak you will meet up with the Summit West Trail, which you can take all the way back to the Summit Link Trail and the parking area or you can detour and take the Upper Link Trail to the last peak of the mountain.

The first time I went up Crotched Mountain was on a muggy summer day between thunderstorms. The trails around the mountain are beautiful and steep. All the clouds rolling through the forest helped me to get a good picture of this section of trail.

The next time I went up Crotched Mountain was on a hike with my wife and her father. The summit trail has multiple peaks along it, each with great views. This photo was taken on one of those peaks looking back towards a lower one. We just managed to get this hike in between storms and the rainy moody skies looked really cool that day.

This photo was taken on one of the lower peaks on a much sunnier day. In the distance in this photo are North Pack and Pack Monadnock.