Kearsarge North Loop?

[Hillwalker]

The last time I hiked up Kearsarge North I attempted to make a loop hike by coming down the Kearsarge Trail to Shingle Pond and attempting to hook up with the old Shingle Pond trail which I believe was or is used by mountain bikers. It is shown on my Mapsource US TOPO 2008, but not on any of my paper maps. After poking around near the West side of Shingle Pond for about a half hour, and despite finding some trail tools cached, I never found the Shingle Pond (bike) trail.

I then decided to hike down the Weeks Brook trail and ended up on the Green Hill road just about a quarter mile from where the Hurricane Mountain Road joins it.

Being of sound legs and a weak mind I then hiked up over the HMR back to my truck parked at the N. Kearsarge traihead. Let me tell you, that was a road walk I never soon want to repeat.

My US TOPO 2008 shows the Shingle Pond trail coming out onto the HMR about three driveways up from the Kearsarge trailhead. It appears that if you hike up the Kearsarge trail to just about where it gets steep (900 ft elev) you could whack .3 miles East and intersect the Shingle Pond trail to complete a loop going up Kearsarge North from the East. My TOPO shows that you would be within the NF and probably not on private land.

I particularly enjoy making loops rather than out and back hikes.

Any one have any information on this possible loop?

 

[peakbagger]

I would be very interested in this. I have heard reference to this bike trail in the past but havent been able to find any additonal information or anyone that knows about it first hand.

 

[audrey]

With bcborder's help, we hiked from HMR up to the marsh between Kearsarge North and Rickers Knoll around Christmas time. Here's a link to the 1934 AMC map, which he says is pretty accurate in relation to the actual trail. Being a follower that day, I can't say that I'd as easily negotiate the twists and turns.

http://www.franklinsites.com/losthikingtrails/viewtrail.php?id=55

Going up, we bumped into the Weeks Brook Trail near Shingle Pond without difficulty. Returning, we edged around the eastern side of the pond and very soon had to take a sharp right at the unmarked junction. This is the crux to attaining the SP Trail: the entrance is very narrow between evergreens, perhaps on purpose. It's fairly clear much of the way down, but the woods are open and there are some more turns that aren't obvious. Much of the hike is on wet logging roads that consolidate into one wide attractive one. You pop out near a house on the left and then a large house that is in a clearing. HMR is a couple of hundred yards further.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

 

[kltilton]

Timberline Drive is the "trailhead" for the Shingle Pond Trail. It is a short roadwalk from the Kearsarge trailhead. SPT does cross private land, but as you said is a maintained mtb trail. It's been a while since I've been on it, but I have never had any problems. I believe the owners of the last house are USFS employees.

 

[RoySwkr]

I've done a similar loop to the one you propose, but as we were bushwhacking to the bump S of Shingle Pond we headed W from the col to intersect SPT so didn't have to hunt up the entrance.

 

[1HappyHiker]

This is a great loop! I've done it a couple of times by leaving the Kearsarge North Trail at around 0.4 mile from the trailhead and then headed easterly. Within 15-20 minutes of open-woods whacking you hit the Shingle Pond Trail. It's well defined all the way to the south end of Shingle Pond. You need to trek along the eastern shore of the pond to pick up the Weeks Brook Trail.

I've never done this loop as a winter hike, but during the warm-weather months the treadway is well-defined and easy to follow.
There is one spot where the well-defined treadway splits. Take the right fork.

As Kltilton mentions, there is some private land at the beginning, however it is not posted. And, since the trail is used by mountain bikers, the landowner is probably okay with foot traffic. If you go to an online resource such as NH Granit Data Mapper, you can see that the vast majority of the hike is on WMNF land + there are a few parcels of conserved land in the general vicinity (however, bear in mind that conserved land is not always public land).

When I've bushwhacked from the Kearsarge North Trail to the Shingle Pond Trail, I've emerged at a spot on the trail that is within a few hundred feet of the sign shown below.

Also, at a few spots along the way, I've noticed some handmade signs such as shown below.