Trails to Mt. Forist in Berlin?

I was in Berlin the other day driving south on Rt. 16, and took a good look at Mt. Forist. For whatever reason I'd never really noticed it before, but it looks like a nice peak. I know there's a somewhat boring atv trail off of 110 that leads to the top, but I was talking to a local and he mentioned that there used to be a trail leading from near the high school, and another leading from Madigan street. He hadn't been there in ages though, and wasn't sure if either of those approaches were still available. Does anyone know of more exciting approaches to Mt. Forist, or if either of those trailheads are still open?

There are some trails that lead from the high school, behind the athletic fields. They are snowmobile trails, and get you to the summit quite quickly. I only have gone up them in the winter, so they are easy enough to follow.

Just follow the path that goes behind the stands, with the fields on your left. After a half-mile or so, there are a couple of places where it branches off to the right. Pick one and follow. Great views.

I haven't gone up from Madigan St. before.

There may be some confusion on which mountain you want to climb. Mt Forist is the prominant mountain to the left as you drive North through Berlin on your left with a large set of ledges. If you take Rt 110 there is another mountain on your right, which is Mt Jasper which is accessed via the athletic fields at the High School. If you try to climb Mt Forist from the high school you need to cross the Dead River and will walk across railroad tracks and most likely have to cross through Issacson's Steel yard.

To get to Mt Forist.

The trail up hill from the Russian Church could be followed 15 years ago. I dont remember a trailhead as such, there was just an undeveloped lot near the highest elevation of the street. There were a couple of paths in the woods that converged and then headed up very steeply staying in a depression to the left of the open ledges. The main route was marked with ax blazes and old paint. The view from the ledges up top was quite nice. I would avoid this route when wet or icy as there are a lot of potential for slipping and falling. A sort of similiar climb would be Welch Dickey after the first viewpoint. We did it in the summer and the route was loaded with blueberries. One of the climbign guides in North Conway was reportedly using the ledges this summer so the route may have been improved.

I have heard about the trail to the east of the ledges starting in the area near the car wash but have never looked for it.

Mt Jasper has a new trail that was built this summer from the high school. I dont have any directions but would speculate that the trail starts aty the back of the athletic fields.

Peakbagger you are right. I got myself twisted around there. I had been up both peaks. Good catch.

Ah, okay, thanks peakbagger. I think my friend must have been getting the two peaks partly confused. Looking at the map I wasn't sure how it made sense to start at the school. I'll check out the church and maybe the car wash as well. From a satellite photo it looks like Haskell road might provide access as well. I'll be back after with a report. Jasper looks like it would be a fun hike too, I'll have to remember that for later.

Like PB we climbed For[ei]st a number of years ago from downtown using some sort of a herd path more than a trail. We then bushwhacked over to Jericho and Sugar and descended by logging roads. This brought us out over a mile from the car as it was getting dark, but there was a sidewalk with streetlights the whole way

The USGS map shows logging roads nearly to the summit from the back side, but I have no idea how that route is.

RoySwkr said:

The USGS map shows logging roads nearly to the summit from the back side, but I have no idea how that route is.

Click to expand...

It's a decent route. I did this with Jericho back in July, starting at the ATV park. There was scrappiness in the col, but the ridge leading up to Forest was wide open.

I started early and went mid-week, so I didn't have any ATV company until I was in the flat areas. Even startled a couple moose.

For Mt. Jasper park at Berlin High School parking lot on Madison Ave. and take the snowmachine trail a short distance and trail branches right (blue blazes)until one takes a left to go to summit. Mt Forist used to have a nice hiking trail with parking near the "Budweiser Plant," on Rt. 110. You can still park there but the trail is now a logging road, as it was logged heavily several years ago. Still it is a nice walk on the roads with a view worth it..also used to be trails accessing from the end of Second Ave. (Haskell St) and Madigan St. I think the Haskell St. end is on private property now.

I finally had a chance to do this a month or so ago. I stopped and asked for directions, and it turns out that the trailhead starts off of Madigan street, just north of 6th street. You'll know you're in the right place because there's a No Parking sign on the right side of the street. You can hear a little brook and walk through a small portion of the yard of the home at the end of the block, right past their swing. There actually was a trail sign at the trailhead, but so old and faded that it couldn't be read.

The trail was blazed in orange (nowhere near maintained, but better than a bootlegger's trail). It made for a nice climb up, maybe a half mile and 20-30 minutes. It definitely gives a good view of Berlin. Also has some nice cliffs on the way up if you're into rock climbing. Up at the top (didn't have my camera), there was a plain cross memorial which I would guess is probably from a teenager who had a fatal accident. There was also a small satellite dish which I would guess is some sort of cell repeater? Anyway I ended up just taking the ATV trails down and then walking through town back to the car, as the trail was slightly slick and too treacherous to go back down safely. Don't know that it's a trail I'll take again, but the ascent was fun.

Thanks for the update, it is usually hiked later in the season typically when the blueberries are out as they are quite prolific. The "dish" was in the local news, it is a broadband repeater that was somehow involved with the wind farm project north of there