Monadnock - the Extraordinary Mountain Place
Monadnock is the large bare-summit mountain visible from all over southern New Hampshire. On a clear day, six states are visible from its summit. The summit was wooded until the early 1800s, when local farmers set the mountain afire in an attempt to kill predators such as wolves and bears living in the tangled woods near the summit. With the vegetation destroyed, the thin soil quickly eroded to bare rock. A few facts about Monadnock:
- Monadnock is an Algonquin Indian name. One interpretation is that it is from man-ahdin-auk or Extraordinary Mountain Place.
Allan Chamberlain in "Annals of the Grand Monadnock" lists 22 different spellings of "Monadnock" including 7 by the same Colonial official.
- Although most people call it "Mount Monadnock", the U.S.Board of Geographic Names says it is really "Monadnock Mountain".
- The official survey point at the summit is not the brass disk but the drill hole in the middle of the triangle next to it, and neither is on the highest rock.
- Land on the upper mountain is owned by the Town of Jaffrey, State of New Hampshire, and Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and trails are managed by Monadnock State Park.
- Monadnock is reputedly the second most-climbed mountain in the world (after Fuji near Tokyo), with an estimated 125,000 ascents annually. The busiest times are Memorial Day, Labor Day, and late October.
- While the shortest hike up Monadnock is about 4 miles round trip, it is possible to do a loop hike of over 15 miles using trails on the park map without coming to the same place more than once.
- Local resident Larry Davis has climbed the mountain thousands of times, including every day of the year for several years.
- Monadnock has a summit elevation of about 3165 feet, or roughly half the height of Mount Washington at 6288 feet, yet the first known ascent of Monadnock by white men was in 1725 or a century after the first white man ascended Washington.
- Henry David Thoreau camped for several nights on the mountain in leantos he built from trees and brush. If he tried that today, he would receive a citation from a park ranger.
- The first hotel halfway up the mountain was built around 1856. Various buildings at the nearby Halfway House location provided lodging from about 1860 to 1954. There is still a private residence just below this site.
- The trees are growing back, according to comparisons of present aerial photos with those taken in the 1950s.
- Monadnock has become a geological term for an isolated high point above a more level plain, often remaining after erosion.
- There is also a Monadnock Mountain in Vermont, just across the river from Colebrook NH, so if you buy a USGS "Monadnock Mountain" map make sure you get the right one!
Monadnock Trail Summary
Monadnock State Park
The major trails on Monadnock are maintained and patrolled by Monadnock State Park. Pets, camping, and fires are not allowed along any trail. In addition to private campgrounds in the area, there is a year-round campground at Park HQ at the end of Poole Road. Group reservations are required year-round, family camping reservations can be made through the central reservation number (603-271-3628) for the summer and fall and are first-come, first-served in the off season although the park rarely fills then.
A network of cross-country ski trails is maintained on the lower slopes. These do not utilize hiking trails except for portions of the Harling and Parker Trails.
The approved 2003 Master Plan suggests fee collection at all trailheads and moving summer family camping to Gilson Pond but it has not yet been implemented.
[State Park Fees]
Monadnock State Park Home Page
Park trail map
(online version)
Topozone.com live map
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