Recommendations near Hanover

[Epic Shakedown]

A group of us are headed to Dartmouth's Nunnemacher Cabin(in Lyme, near Dartmouth Skiway) next month. This is my first time to the Hanover area and I'm looking to put together a Recreation Guide with options for everybody.

ANybody been to Nunnemacher who has some words of wisdom about the cabin?

Recommendations for xc skiing? ice climbing? alpine skiing? snowshoeing? ice skating?

Ideally nobody would be driving more than an hour. Most of the folks are into easier snowshoe hikes while a few of us would be looking for bigger days.

Many thanks!


Did a search and read about Cube Mt and Moose Mountain. Both look good - anybody know about Hart's Ledges?

 

[Jason Berard]

I think you mean Holt's Ledges.......It's part of the Appalachian Trail. In the summer the ledges are closed off for Peregrine's. That's a nice section of trail. If you follow it south, you pass a cool section with beaver ponds, and some old cellar holes just before you get to Goose Pond Rd.
The Moose mountain area is pretty cool. There is a maze of trails in there that make some nice loop snowshoe hikes, or backcountry skiing. There is a nordic skiing place near there, out Lyme- Dorchester Road I believe called the Greens. I believe its free. I don't know anything about ice, but I bet you could get e recommendation from DOC. For ice skating, you could skate on Occom Pond in Hanover, or Child's Pond in Thetford. Also Lake Morey in Fairlee usually has a BIG loop cleared for "wild ice" skating. I think that may be run by the Hulbert Outdoor Center, or Nordic Skater in Norwich. You could do a search for either.There are a lot of options in the area.
I would also do searches for Gile Mountain Firetower, Houghton Hill inThetford, and Black Mountain in Haverhill,NH. PM me if you'd like more.

 

[David Metsky]

The cabin is sort of up on the Skiway, so you're already a bit up there. A trip from their to Holts Ledge, either via the AT or the ski trails (watch for skiers) would work. The closest hike is Smarts, just up the road a bit. You can do a look with the AT and the Ranger trail. You'll probably need snowshoes. Cube or Moose are good, but longer drives. Cube is much more of an interesting hike then Moose.

Nunnemacher is a bare bones cabin, IIRC. Even in summer there's little water available, so you should haul in all you expect to use.

For alpine skiing, you're right there on the Skiway.

 

[Epic Shakedown]

Good stuff here. Many thanks.

David, can you say a bit more about Nunnemacher? We'll bring water and plan on melting snow, too. Sleeping area? Kitchen stuff? Anything to get a sense of what we need to bring or not bring would help. Thanks!

 

[Pamola]

Nunnemacher is huge. There's a loft with thin mattresses and room for 20ish. They're also stocked with pots and pans. Nunnemacher has a gas stove for cooking. Wood for heat is supplied.

Ice climbing on Holt's isn't always the best in the peregrine area. I always went off the side of the mountain about halfway up, off the left trail if you're looking up the mountain from the lodge. You can toprope or lead over there. There's a couple other good spots in the area with better ice, spac wall being one. pm me if you want directions.