Pretty, Easy Hikes in the Upper Valley NH/VT

Hey All - I've got some friends who are new to hiking and not in tremendously good shape who I'm taking hiking with the girls and I on Sunday. I'm looking for an easy hike leading to pretty views that is in the Upper Valley area of NH/VT. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!

How about Mt Cardigan via the West Ridge Trail, which is located in Orange. I plan on doing that with Molly soon. It's an easy trail and it's the easiest route up the mountain. When you reach the summit, you could just wander around up there and even add some to the hike by visiting Firescrew, etc.
I believe there is a cave up there to which I have never hiked into.

You might already be familiar with this mountain. It's one of my favorites.

French's Ledges would fit the bill. You can make the hike as long or short as you want by route selection.

There are a bunch of others that would work, too.

Wright's Mtn in Bradford.
Bill Hill in Thetford.
Coburn Trail in Strafford.
Sleeper's Meadow in Newbury.

Descriptions can be found here:
http://www.uvlt.org/public-access/trailsuv/

Thanks Guys! Now that I've got some options, I just have to make up my mind which one(s) to do this weekend....

I tried to respond to this message before your weekend, and my computer was not cooperating. So this late reply may help for another trip:

Local favorites are Holt's Ledge and Lambert Ridge - both on the Appalachian Trail in Lyme. Mt. Cube or Sunday Mountain in Orford. Gile Mountain in Norwich. All are hikes of less than 5 miles with 500 -1,500 feet of climbing. I'd also second any of the ones mentioned above by Jason and Maddy.

Look to the Cross Rivendell Trail. It traverses several towns in both VT and NH and goes over a number of small mountains. The website has trail maps.

http://www.crossrivendelltrail.org/

Upper Valley Land Trust, also with maps:

http://www.uvlt.org/public-access/trailsuv/

Rain cancelled the plans with our newbie hiker friends, so the girls and I hiked Tecumseh instead

Maybe next weekend we'll try out some of these great suggestions!

Two other good ones for mellow hikes --

Quechee Gorge. Great for out-of-towners. You can hike down to the gorge to get to the water and play on some rocks (if the water returns to normal summer levels). Or hike upstream to the dam, and across a strip of land to Marshland Farm. Usually some beautiful wildflowers in that section.

Mount Tom. Parking at Billings Farm is the easiest way to go, and you can find some maps/literature there. There are many terrific walking/hiking trails on the mountain. The Pogue and South summit are the two highlights.

I don't know what you mean by upper valley but I loved Percy Peaks. It is a 5 mile loop that is spectacular. Way up in the Nash Stream wilderness. Mt. Monadnock in VT is another peak that is a petty 4 mile hike (2 miles each way) to a restored fire tower that I feel is worth doing.

Excellent choices askus3! Nash Stream Road to get to the Percys is usually closed until Memorial Day or so (anyone out there know the status ?) and Monadnock outside of Colebrook NH had a sign posted at parking saying the trail was closed til Memorial Day..I have not had a chance to check both lately..also another mt on the 52WAV is Sugarloaf in Nash Stream, great long distances views of the 4ks in ME, NH, VT plus lower mts. in all and Canada..a campsite on the Percy Loop is also an added benefit if you want to spend more than a day in the area...part of the Cohos Trail of course..enjoy someday!!!

askus3 said:

I don't know what you mean by upper valley...

Click to expand...

The "Upper Valley" refers to the area around Lebanon/Hanover/White River Jct. There's not an exact definition of it, but basically extends from about Ascutney Mtn to Mt. Moosilauke, and from Cardigan to Killington. This is a decent resource for local hiking/walking: http://www.uvtrails.org/

That being said, the Percys are a great hike, even if they aren't in the Upper Valley!

A couple of other easy hikes in the Upper Valley are:

Black Mountain or Blueberry Mountain in Haverhill. Both have westerly approaches off Lime Kiln Road, and both are in the Appalachian Mountain Club White Mountain guidebook. If you do Black Mountain from Lime Kiln Road, be sure to take the little detour to the lime kiln (early in the hike, just after the beaver dam on Chippewa Trail). Interesting historic structure. Photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32876400@N08/sets/72157624418914835/