Pumpelly Trail On Monadnock In Winter

Is the Pumpelly Trailhead accessible/plowed in winter? That is a tight place to park even in the summer. Would like to do this trail this winter and was curious if there would be problems with plows, neighbors, etc. If anyone has done, or can suggest the best winter route, I'd appreciate the info. I like Pumpelly because of the length and the numerous exposed areas for views. A lot of trails from the main park are short and crowded.

I believe the road is plowed, but I'm not sure about any spaces for cars there in the winter. It might be a take-a-chance-and-see kind of thing. The trails from the main park entrance and Halfway House are used far more often in winter than Pumpelly.

Dingo said:

I believe the road is plowed, but I'm not sure about any spaces for cars there in the winter. It might be a take-a-chance-and-see kind of thing. The trails from the main park entrance and Halfway House are used far more often in winter than Pumpelly.

Click to expand...

The road is plowed, just don't block it. People park next to the bank.

I've brought a shovel with me in late winter to make more room if I thought I needed it there. While it's longer and limited parking, the trail is still pretty popular so there will probably be room.

One of my favorite routes up the mountain in winter is the Cascade Link to Pumpelly just after a fresh snow. The Cascade Link is a beautiful snowshoe hike in my opinion, plus it gets you out of the crowds for most of the hike. Then you can pick one of numerous routes back down, maybe even Cliff Walk to Parker Trail for a larger loop and avoiding the White Dot and White Cross.

Its a quiet road next to the lake. I've parked there in the winter with no issues. There is also a boat launch down the road that has a little more space, if the road at the trailhead is tight, you could try there, it would only be a 5 minute walk.

Thanks. I've done the trail several times in the summer and remember the road being pretty narrow. Didn't know if snow banks made it impossible to park there in winter.

I've hiked it twice in the past few weeks, but I parked at HQ and did the Cascade Link up to Pumpelly. It has become one of my favorite hikes- nice views, variety of terrain, and relative solitude on a relatively busy mountain.

BooZiggy said:

I've hiked it twice in the past few weeks, but I parked at HQ and did the Cascade Link up to Pumpelly. It has become one of my favorite hikes- nice views, variety of terrain, and relative solitude on a relatively busy mountain.

Click to expand...

RELATIVELY busy mountain? Common lore is that it's the most-visited hikers-only mountain in the world -- Fuji held the title until they disqualified it by completing a road to the summit. Location, location, location...

I agree with you - great both as a loop with one of the central trails or as an out-and-back in itself.

Alex

alexmtn said:

RELATIVELY busy mountain? Common lore is that it's the most-visited hikers-only mountain in the world -- Fuji held the title until they disqualified it by completing a road to the summit. Location, location, location...

I agree with you - great both as a loop with one of the central trails or as an out-and-back in itself.

Alex

Click to expand...

Haha. Yeah, I was being a bit tongue in cheek. I didn't know that Fuji has a road now. I've often quoted that fact, of Monadnock being the 2nd most hiked mountain in the world. I never had any indication to the validity of the claim, but even if it was totally erroneous, I figured the consequences were minimal.

BooZiggy said:

Haha. Yeah, I was being a bit tongue in cheek. I didn't know that Fuji has a road now. I've often quoted that fact, of Monadnock being the 2nd most hiked mountain in the world. I never had any indication to the validity of the claim, but even if it was totally erroneous, I figured the consequences were minimal.

Click to expand...

First time I did Monadnock was on a Saturday and I'd guess there were 250-300 people on the summit, radios blasting, etc. Not what I had in mind for a hike. I only do it occasionally now, usually as a "tune up" hike in the Spring. But now that I've started winter hiking regularly I'd like to revisit it and skip the crowds (well the bigger crowds).

DayTrip said:

First time I did Monadnock was on a Saturday and I'd guess there were 250-300 people on the summit, radios blasting, etc. Not what I had in mind for a hike. I only do it occasionally now, usually as a "tune up" hike in the Spring. But now that I've started winter hiking regularly I'd like to revisit it and skip the crowds (well the bigger crowds).

Click to expand...

Or hike it at night. You are still unlikely to be alone at the summit, but at least you won't need to elbow your way to the top.

We used to hike Pumpelly Ridge on nights with a bright moon. Part of the game was to see if we could do it without firing up our headlamps.

Doug

Many ION's ago for about 1 year, I lived in Milford, NH. I worked a normal job back then. I would get up at 200am and drive over, run up Monadnock and watch the sunrise, then run down, go home shower and go to work, it was nice. I used to run into that dude who climbed the mountain everyday for many years. Not sure what became of him, it was odd to me, but whatever floats your boat, you know.

sierra said:

Many ION's ago for about 1 year, I lived in Milford, NH. I worked a normal job back then. I would get up at 200am and drive over, run up Monadnock and watch the sunrise, then run down, go home shower and go to work, it was nice. I used to run into that dude who climbed the mountain everyday for many years. Not sure what became of him, it was odd to me, but whatever floats your boat, you know.

Click to expand...

That guy is Larry Davis. In fact Windows to the Wild is doing an episode on Larry which will air 1-7-15 at 7:30 for anyone interested. After a hiatus of a few years in the early 2000's Larry is back and pretty much hiking it daily again. He does or did adopt one or two trails in the Whites which gets him away some, but when he's in town you can find him at M most mornings, very early doing the White Dot.