Checking Out Some Hikes for the Very Young (and Young-at-Heart): 19-Apr-2009

HikerCheri & I like to have a collection of hikes/walks in our back-pocket for those occasions when we’re visited by folks with very young children, or by folks who are young-at-heart but unable to do anything other than short hikes with minimal elevation gain. Some of the hikes/walks of this type that we’ve included in our “back-pocket” list over the years are places like Diana’s Baths, Sabbaday Falls, etc.

We decided to head south “below the notch” to check out a few more places to add to our collection of short hikes/walks. Our explorations might be of little interest, but I decided to post them anyway, just in case there might be a few who have not have visited these places and might be mildly curious about them. So, here goes!

One of our stops was the Chamberlain-Reynolds Memorial Forest where there are very easy to navigate trails that take you through a very nice hardwood forest, and also along the shorefront of Squam Lake. There is also a recently constructed boardwalk over a swamp (lots of tadpoles, frogs, birds, etc). The trails start on College Road in Center Harbor. Click HERE for a link to their website. Below is a snapshot taken from one of the shorefront viewpoints.


Another stop was in Wonolancet to check out the short 1.7 mile trek up to Mt. Katherine from the Ferncroft Road trailhead. As many might already know, this hike involves very little elevation gain, and there is a pleasant view overlooking the village of Wonolancet with Mt. Chocorua in the background. There is also a nice “through the trees” view of Mt. Whiteface. Below are a couple of snapshots taken from the Mt. Katherine trek.

We also made a stop at the Castle in the Clouds property near Moultonborough to check out the Brook Walk Trail. There are some picturesque waterfalls along this route. We met many folks who were doing this same walk, plus some others who were using this route as part of a loop hike to other destinations in this area. We came upon one hiker who had started at the Shannon Brook Trail and from there went to Bald Knob, then to Turtleback Mountain. She then headed west on various trails and eventually dropped south on some other trails, one of which was the Brook Walk Trail where we met her. (Mental Note to Self: Check out this hike!!).
Below is a photo of one of the waterfalls on the Brook Walk Trail.

So, now we have a few more hikes to add to our collection of “back-pocket” hikes to do when we are visited by people with very young children or young-at-heart folks who are only able to do short hikes with minimal elevation gain. I’m certain that many VFTT folks have their own collection of hikes like those in this Trip Report, and I’d love to hear about any that you’re willing to share for locations “Above the Notch”, plus any in the Lakes Region and Ossipees.

1HappyHiker

Excellent! Thanks for the great pictures, and the great hike ideas. I'll be taking my youngest on many such hikes this summer. Your info is much appreciated, and I look forward to suggestions from other VFTTers.

I'm planning on checking out the Brook Walk trail this summer. These are also good for when the kid isn't on foot but on my back!

That Ossipee photo is great - though I've been to every Ossipee 10 peak (shameless plug), I have yet to visit that waterfall - that photo is enough to inspire me to venture over to it sometime in the future!

Other Suggestions

Never been there, but I think the Rattlesnakes by Squam Lake would be good candidate for kid's of Trish and Alex's age I think. There's also a loop that goes around an island/penninsula called Five Finger Point. Intriguing names for the 5-6 year old mentality too.

Another good one is Mount Pemigiwasett near Lincoln. There's lots of brooks to play in on way up. Try keeping their feet dry though! Search for Sapblatt's TR about bagging that one with his kids. It's got picture links too.

Wonderful...always looking for these...big bang...with not too much effort. Lots to see keeps the little ones from being bored or thinking about the "work" too much.

Thanks everyone for your comments! It’s nice to hear that some found this info useful.

Just as a bit of additional info, our list probably already contains most (if not all) of the traditional “guidebook” hikes for folks who fall into the category of “very young, and young-at-heart”.

Occasionally, we’ll go on a “field-trip” to seek out hikes that sometimes don’t make the guidebooks (like the ones mentioned in my posting). And for our particular purposes, we look for hikes that could be done by very young children (like 3-4 years old), and by some of our “young-at-heart” relatives. So, this usually entails hikes that can be done in no more than 2 hours round-trip (preferably less), and with a very minuscule elevation gain.

Beautiful pictures, as always, John. Thanks for sharing!