Signal Mountain Millsfield NH

[peakbagger]

After the construction of the wind farm up in Millsfield/Phillips Brook area, I finally decided to visit the "abandoned" fire tower on Signal Mtn. I looked it up on Google Earth and my maptech program and decided that either a southerly approach or a northerly approach would work. I havent been in Millsfield area for many years and was impressed with the road signs and ATV signage. I expect I could have turned off RT 16 and went north via the "superhighway" built for the windfarm but decided to go in via Seven Islands to get a better view of the Signal Mtn. I got going late and it was quite hot out when I drove by the potential south approach so I decided to head up the Northside and look for the old trail head. My USGS quad showed a couple of old roads heading in the right directon so by turning off the Signal Mtn Road onto a side road that ran East West to the north of the summit, I did a bit of looking and saw a fairly large logging road heading in the right direction. I followed the well built road for awhile before it started slabbing a bit towards the east side of the mountain, so at a large logging clearing I got a good view of the high point and took a compass bearing. This side of the summit was logged extensively several years ago and the trade off is good sight lines up slope but plenty of young raspberries plants. I had shorts on so my legs got a fair share of scratches despite trying to parallel the cuts. The whole area must have been in timber management for many years as there was an extensive network of drainage swales almost all the way to the top of the merchantable timber.

Eventually I got to some open softwoods near the summit cone and within a couple of minutes I picked up a well worn ATV/tractor road. I hopped on it and within a few minutes, I was at the tower site. I had heard that the tower was quite beat up and couldnt be climbed and was quite surprised that the the tower is in remarkably good shape, there are some missing wooden treads and some who look marginal but with some care I climbed to the top of the tower into the unlocked cab. The other big surprise is the amount of new hardware on the tower. There are several solar arrays, one windmill and a brand new equipment building that obviously was dropped in via helicopter as it was too big for the roads going up. It appears that there is at least one antenna, a microwave or similiar receiver and a couple of tranmitters. By the looks of the place, there was one temporary system that has been superceeded by a more robust one. While looking for recent info on the mountain on the web I saw a 2011 application for a radio antenna so I expect this site will be more active than previously.

The views were unfortunately a bit hazy but they are quite extensive. The mountains sits away from populated areas and is screened from others by mountains, so in general the views are mostly of remote north country. The cab's windows are mostly boarded up but there is an open section on three sides. Alternatively the view just underneath the cab is 360 with the exception of some solar panels and the wind turbine in the foreground. Many of the wind mills are visible but they are a few miles away. I didnt mind them but everyone has their opinions.

The area of the summit does have a lot of older remnants of long term fire tower use. There is a ATV trail that heads south from the summit, that appears to be newer and has more actvity on it so I expect someone coming from the south may encounter the trail.

After roaming around I headed down via the former ATV route back to my truck but soon it veered east so I headed down through the hardwoods. That worked until I came out in the cut area but luckilly I missed most of it, Once i hit the landing for the cut I cut over and picked up the same ATV path and came out right at the truck. I was solo so didnt do much exploring but I expect if I followed the fire road/ATV path that slabs the east side it eventually will cut west and to the top. See post update
The total hike was only about 3 hours with 20 minutes spent at the tower. Driving up from Berlin was close to an hour so its definitely not an all day hike. It definitely has view of the north country unlike anywhere else and I expect on a clear day, the views into Maine and Canada will go on for quite a distance. I didnt see any water sources but I expect the cab would be a fun place to camp out in.

 

[peakbagger]

A quick update, I havent been there to check it out but a local campowner mentioned that there was a now a sign indicating the parking and trailhead for the Signal Mountain Trail.

 

[Andrew]

Thanks for the tips for access. I have been wanting to check this mountain out for awhile, and finally did on 10/20. I figured I would add some info, but hopefully I'll eventually have time to write a full blogpost.

My GPS says the 'trailhead' coordinates are N 44 46'06.1" W 071 14'34.2" (NAD 27), but it was not much more than a grassy spur that can fit a few cars and is only held off of the muck by the sod layer. I could not find a sign for the parking area, but did find a snowmachine information sign at the far end for the trail. A helpful hiker happened to just get off the trail, and assured me this was the route. This is about .3 miles south of the trail shown on USGS maps on the WNW side of the peak.



The trail is basically an atv track on an overgrown old woods road and there were 2 trail junctions on the way up that gave me pause, but I stuck to the more heavily used route. I came onto the summit on the trail that peakbagger describes as coming in from the south, since the trail starts from the northwest, wraps around the north to the east, heads south of the peak, and turns north to the summit.

Unfortunately I only attained limited views despite a partly cloudy day with only scattered heavy clouds. The tower is easily climbed by a person using a little care, but by the second platform my fear of heights crept in to an unreasonable level. I did get great views north and east to Umbagog, but my favorite was just underfoot to the northeast- Signal Pond, and the rugged run-out of ridge to the Androscoggin Valley to the east.



On the way down I turned left at the upper of the trail junctions and found myself on a much nicer atv track that brought me back up to the summit from the northwest, the trail peakbagger hit just below the summit. I headed back down this fine track and again onto the route I had ascended to head back to my truck. I left heading south and then out by Seven Islands on a very nice road. Great moose country but of course saw none since they were all hiding for opening day.

 

[Lefty E]

Thanks guys this will be on the list soon!!

 

[peakbagger]

I had a day off yesterday and did a return trip to the mountain. The easiest approach is to drive to Errol NH then go west on Rt 26 to the Errol Millsfiled town line, Take a left on Signal Mtn Road (note my older Delorme calls this the "Pond Brook Road" ). Drive south 3 miles staying on Signal Mtn Road, do not take a left on Aspen Road (which is where I had approached the mountain previously). As described by Andrew, the parking lot is on the left. There is a prior grassed in pull off a quarter miles south which you should drive by.

Before heading over to the main trailhead I did take a walk up the the old fire road I had previously visited off Aspen Road for 20 minutes, I confirmed that it appears to slab well east of the summit and I would not recommend this approach unless you head up through the logging clearing that is to the right about 10 minutes up from Aspen Road.

As described by Andy the actual trailhead has room for several cars but I wouldnt recommend it during mud season. I followed the old road which despite being signed as a "no ATV trail", has ATV use. There is orange flagging at most junctions and points of caution. There are two spots where the ATV path goes around wet spots in the old road. Other than these diversions, the road is very well graded and it basically slabs to the east while gaining elevation. As I was nearing the transition from maple to white birch and softwoods, the ATV path bore left while an unused route bore right. I followed this up through a stand of white birches with plenty of dead limbs and then came back out on the ATV route. From there the ATV route tends to head south on the East side of the summit and starts to descend a bit as you most likely pass the actual summit even though you cant see the tower. The ATV route then turns in a small clearing then climbs steeply to the tower. The tower is missing several steps, I had no issues getting around them but some folks may. The electrical gear in the tower cab has been cleaned up substantially, but be aware there are some unprotected DC connections that could be hazardous. For most folks I would recomend stopping at the platform down below the cab and enjoy the view which is 360 degrees and exensive over into Maine.

On the descent I took the north route down, it appears to have been used in the past by ATV's but there is no current use. It does come out on an east west fire road that would be easy to confuse with the fire road you came up. At this point take a right (east) and in about 300 feet you will connect back up with the route you took up.



I took me about 2 hours of hiking.