Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition
| Trail Guide 11 |
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Winslow State Park to Kearsarge Valley Road
Total Distance: 6.1 miles Estimated time: 4 hours
Total Ascents: 1100 feet Total Descents: 2100 feet
Overview: This section traverses over the summit of Mount Kearsarge (elevation 2937), the highest point on the SRKG, and then descends to Kearsarge Valley Road in North Sutton. It uses five named trails, of which three and part of a fourth are in Winslow State Park, Rollins State Park, and Mount Kearsarge State Forest. The remainder is on private lands. The route lies within the boundaries of three towns: Wilmot, Warner, and Sutton. The USS Kearsarge, victor in a famous Civil War naval battle, was named after Mount Kearsarge. Its commander, Captain John Winslow, lent his name to a 19th century summer hotel, called the Winslow House, and subsequently to the Park. The cellar hole of this old resort is still visible in the Winslow State Park picnic area near the trailhead. On the bare summit are a fire tower and a tall communications tower. There is a 360º view, and when the weather is clear, mountain peaks may be seen in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Finding the Trailheads: The northern trailhead is accessed from Kearsarge Valley Road, which runs from NH 11 in Wilmot Flat to North Road in Sutton near I-89 exit 10. Signs on Kearsarge Valley Road give directions to Winslow State Park. There is a large parking area at Winslow; the trailhead is near the northeast corner. An entrance fee to the park is charged during late spring, summer, and early fall. The southern trailhead on Kearsarge Valley Road is 3.6 mi. south of NH 11 and 0.5 mi. north of North Road. Parking is in a sandy open area on the east side of Kearsarge Valley Road. Look for a Link Trail sign at the southeast edge of the young woods. An intermediate trailhead is the junction of the Lincoln Trail and the Rollins Trail at the west end of the parking area in Rollins State Park at the upper end of the toll road, and 0.5 mi. south of the Mount Kearsarge summit. It can be reached from Main Street (NH 103) in the center of Warner during spring, summer, and fall. Rollins State Park charges an admission fee.
Trail: Two trails rise to the summit of Mount Kearsarge from Winslow State Park. Built by the Trailwrights in 1997, the Barlow Trail (1.8 mi.) offers a more gradual and scenic climb than the Winslow Trail (1.0 mi.), which is not recommended in wet or icy conditions. Both trails begin at the east end of the picnic area. Marked with yellow rectangular blazes, the Barlow Trail departs to the left; blazed in red, the Winslow Trail leaves straight ahead.
The Barlow Trail is the primary SRKG Trail to the summit. It ascends gradually through a mixed hardwood forest as it swings clockwise around the northern slopes of the mountain. Passing through an impressive stand of tall hemlocks, the SRKG soon turns hard right after 0.6 mi. and climbs directly up the moderate slope to a rocky terrain of sparse vegetation. About two thirds of the way to the summit, look back from the open slabs to magnificent views of Bradley Lake and Highland Lake to the northeast and Ragged Mountain and the village of Andover to the north. The SRKG passes a spur to the right that leads to a lookout with excellent 180° views just before the trail ascends above tree line where near-tundra conditions prevail. The village of Salisbury and the distant Sandwich Range can be seen as the Barlow Trail swings to the west and then southwest where it joins the Winslow Trail for a short ascent to the summit.
The one-mile long Winslow Trail is the older and now alternate SRKG route to the summit of Mount Kearsarge. Some hikers prefer to ascend the less steep Barlow Trail and descend the steeper Winslow Trail. It climbs steeply from the Park, passes the Halfway Rock (good views), then on to the open summit of Mount Kearsarge. Beyond the communication tower, a cairn marks the highest point on the open slabs of this broad peak where views spread to Mount Monadnock to the southwest; Mount Sunapee, Mount Ascutney, Okemo Mountain, and Lake Sunapee to the west; Mount Cardigan, Mount Moosilauke, and Franconia Ridge to the north; and an occasionally visible Mount Washington to the northeast. On exceptionally clear days, the skyline of Boston may even be visible to the southeast.
Descending 100 yd. southwest from the summit cairn, the trail forks at a signed junction: to the right is the Lincoln Trail (primary SRKG route), and to the left is the Rollins Trail (the less steep alternate to a junction with the Lincoln Trail at the Rollins State Park parking area). The Lincoln Trail descends gradually through a lovely grove of stunted spruce, crosses a massive rock ledge, and then falls steeply down through a boulder field (where caution is needed) to a stand of birch trees west of the parking area for Rollins State Park. (In wet or icy conditions or to avoid a short section of steep descent, descend from the summit on the 0.5 mi. Rollins Trail. Just beyond the picnic tables at the west end of the parking lot, ascend a bank and turn left onto the Lincoln Trail.) From this point, the Lincoln Trail makes an easy to moderate 3.8 mi. descent down the flanks of Mount Kearsarge passing north and west of smaller Black Mountain. After you cross a small brook watch for the boundary marker of the State Park; it is on the south side of a tree on the right. From this point on the Lincoln Trail is on private land. About halfway down the Lincoln Trail, look for a small rocky ledge with views. The climb to the view passes through one of the largest displays of spring beauties (Claytonia) to be found in this area in late spring. To the south is Lovewell Mountain; to the northwest are Smarts Mountain, Mount Cardigan, and Mount Moosilauke.
The SRKG turns right and descends steeply, then turns sharply left. A stone wall is reached (3.7 mi.) which marks the Wilmot/Sutton town line. There is a softwood knoll (4.0 mi.) where a snowmobile trail comes in from the right. Two trails leave the SRKG at 40 yds. Further on the right. One is marked Scenic Trail (an incomplete trail to a viewpoint), and the other Baker Trail. The SRKG bears left at this junction. A gravel road (still the Lincoln Trail) is reached at 4.6 mi. and the SRKG turns right to follow this road for 1.0 mi. The SRKG leaves the gravel road (5.6 mi.) and turns right onto the Link Trail, which is also a snowmobile trail for a short way. From this junction one can follow the road, an alternate route, to Kearsarge Regional High School. The Link Trail soon turns right and then shortly left off the snowmobile trail and over some rocks into the forest. It then winds between a number of immense boulders, which are a field of glacial erratics from the Ice Age. The Link Trail ends 0.5 mi. later at the trailhead on Kearsarge Valley Road (6.1 mi.).
