ABOUT THE PARK:
Castle in the Clouds Conservation Area - Lakes Regional Conservation Trust
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 43.731891, -71.324704
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| Hiker parking just before the entrance. |
TRAIL MAP:
Castle in the Clouds Conservation Area and Red Hill Conservation Area Hiking Trails Map
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HIKE DISTANCE: 9.8 miles
THE HIKE:
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| From the parking lot continue walking in on the paved road. |
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| Pass to the left of Shannon Pond. |
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| Then left to the orange diamond blazed Mt. Roberts Trail. |
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| It starts off nice and smooth. |
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| Wild turkeys in the field to the left. |
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| Some fall foliage. |
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| The trail becomes more rugged, steeper and rocky. |
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| Every time you climb up and think you are at the top ... |
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| ... the trail keeps going up ... |
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| ... to views from higher up. |
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| More climbing ... |
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| ... more views. |
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| More climbing ... |
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| ... more views. Two hikers coming up behind us (other than two hikers going the other way, the only others we saw the entire hike). |
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| Again more climbing... |
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| ... to the best views where the other hikers took our picture and I took theirs. |
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| Not all that much more climbing to ... |
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| ... the summit of Mount Roberts. |
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| The White Mountains in the distance. |
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| Descending Mount Roberts on the other side on the High Ridge Trail. |
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| From here on out it's mostly grassy woods roads that switchback down. |
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| One more view point along the way. |
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| Turning right on the Faraway Mountain Trail. |
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| Right on the Cold Spring Trail. |
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| Coming up on Cold Spring Road where a left would have brought us back to Shannon Pond in half a mile but instead ... |
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| ... we crossed Cold Spring Road and took the Settlement Trail... |
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| ... to the Whitten Trail ... |
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| ... to the Whitten Graveyard, |
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| Just as we turned back on to Cold Spring Road, the Copp Cellarhole a short distance off the road. Looks like porcupines have been munching on that sign. |
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| A short distance along Cold Spring Road, a left on the Pond Trail ... |
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| ... which brought us to the opposite side of Shannon Pond from where we started. |
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| Brodie saw some horses and didn't act near as badly as I thought he would. |
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| Back to the parking lot. |
