HockeyPucks hiking and highpointing: Mt. Roberts (2582 Feet), Mountain View (2782 Feet), Faraway Mountain (2730 Feet)

Mt. Roberts Summit

STATE: New Hampshire
TOWN: Moultonborough
DESTINATION: Mt. Roberts, Faraway Mountain
ELEVATION: 2582 feet, 2782 feet
SUMMIT COORDINATES: Mt. Roberts - N43 45.394, W71 19.556
SUMMIT COORDINATES: Mountain View - N43 45.690, W71 18.682
SUMMIT COORDINATES: Faraway Mountain - N43 45.405, W71 18.646
TRAIL: Mt. Roberts trail, High ridge Trail, Faraway spur, High Ridge Trail, Faraway mountain Trail, Road walk
DISTANCE: 9.0 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 1650 Feet
HIKING TIME: 3 hours 45 minutes
SEASON: Early Spring
DATE: April 8, 2017
WEATHER: 35 degrees, clear

PARKING: From NH 25 in Moultonborough turn onto Route 109 following it for 2.25 miles to the Y junction with route 171. Continue straight on route 171 another 0.5 mile turning onto Ossipee Park road. Drive up Ossipee Park Road past the stone house entrance to the hiker parking area with trail kiosk on the right.

Approximately 90 minutes drive time from Manchester.

Map kiosk at parking area

Mt. Roberts trailhead behind horse barn

USGS QUAD: USGS Tamworth Quad - Summits, USGS Melvin Village Quad - Trailhead

MAP: (Faraway Mountain Map)

In addition to the USGS Maps a hiker known as "Trail Bandit" has created a detailed Ossipee Map of the surrounding peaks and trails.

DESCRIPTION:

Follow the road adjacent to the trail kiosk through the gates toward Shannon pond. Continue up the hill toward the horse barn and follow signs leading to the Mt. Roberts trail which begins behind the fence. The trail is well marked with orange diamonds at regular intervals and begins along a wide carriage road before returning to the field follows the fence perimeter a short distance before turning right into the woods. Use caution at this junction as the trail is not signed and one could easily continue straight along the fence border. The Mt. Roberts trail ascends a knoll then levels off through hardwoods before reaching a rocky steep section. As you ascend, a short spur trail marked 'outlook' leads a short distance to the west and offers great views of Red Hill, Lake Winnipesaukee and the Belknap range including Gunstock Mountain ski area to the south. Both Red Hill and Belknap Mountain have fire towers on their summits. Once you've caught your breath the Mt. Roberts trail continues up a short steep section before the incline becomes more gradual over rocky ledge terrain. The last mile of trail ascends several open ridges with spectacular views in the southern and easterly directions towards the lakes and the highest point in the Ossipee range, 2990 foot Shaw mountain. After 2.4 miles and approximately 1 hour of hiking the Mt. Roberts summit is attained. The summit is marked with a sign and Faraway mountain is looming in the background. Return the way you came or continue along the High Ridge making a 11 mile scenic loop to Faraway mountain.

At the Mt. Roberts summit the High Ridge trail marked with blue diamonds descends to the north and follows a wide carriage road along the ridge. The carriage road was lined with very old grey birch trees providing the feeling of going back in time a hundred years. Look for signs of moose as you follow the carriage road 1.3 miles to the Faraway mountain spur trail. The spur trail is not marked but the a ATV path leading to the left and chain gate is fairly obvious to spot.

Chain marking the entrance to the Faraway mountain spur trail

Follow the spur trail 0.25 miles to the 2783 "Mountain View" summit. The summit contains some man-made cell towers bringing you back to the 21st century. There seems to be conflicting information on the nomenclature of these peaks as well as discrepancies on various map sources adding to the confusion. In this report "Mountain View" is considered the 2792 foot peak marked with the red pointer on the map below. Faraway mountain is the closer peak containing two summit bumps at 2730 feet elevation. It appears the southeastern bump may be a few feet higher than the northwestern bump marked with the blue pointer. I couldn't find the dotted trail leading over the 2730 Faraway Mountain summit bumps and chose to bushwhack to these summits from the High Ridge trail.

Mt. Roberts, Faraway and 'Mountain View' summit points

Once back on the High Ridge Trail the carriage road leads past a spectacular outlook offering 180 degree views to the south then gradually descends 1.2 miles to the junction of the Faraway Mountain trail marked with orange diamonds. From here it's a long 4.5 miles following the Faraway Mountain trail to the Cold Spring trail carriage roads that gradually descend switchback after switchback after switchback. These may be great for a horse and buggy but make for frustratingly tedious long walking conditions. You'll eventually pass the cellar hole of the Roberts homestead and the junction of Cold Springs Road. A 0.5 mile road walk will lead you back to Shannon Pond.

TRAIL DISTANCES:

*HIKING DISTANCES*
*DESTINATION*	DISTANCE	*TOTAL DIST.*
Mt. Roberts trail - Outlook	1.0 miles	1.0 miles
Outlook - Mt. Roberts Summit	1.4 miles	2.4 miles
High Ridge Trail - Faraway Spur Trail	1.32 miles	3.72 miles
Faraway Spur Trail - Mountain View Trail	0.2 miles	3.92 miles
Faraway Spur Trail - High Ridge Trail	0.2 miles	4.12 miles
High Ridge Trail - Faraway Summit bumps	0.10 miles	4.22 miles
Faraway Summit Bumps - High Ridge Trail	0.08 miles	4.30 miles
High Ridge Trail - Faraway Mountain Junction	1.18 miles	5.48 miles
Faraway Mountain Trail - Cold Springs Trail	1.72 miles	7.20 miles
Cold Springs Trail - Cold Springs Road	1.25 miles	8.45 miles
Cold Springs Road - Parking	0.54 miles	9.0 miles

HIKING TIMES:

*HIKING TIMES*
*DESTINATION*	TIME	*TOTAL TIME*
Mt. Roberts trail - Outlook	35 minutes	35 minutes
Outlook - Mt. Roberts Summit	1 hour 5 minutes	1 hour 40 minutes
High Ridge Trail - Faraway Spur Trail	30 minutes	2 hours 10 minutes
Faraway Spur Trail - Mountain View Trail	10 minutes	2 hours 20 minutes
Faraway Spur Trail - High Ridge Trail	10 minutes	2 hours 30 minutes
High Ridge Trail - Faraway Summit bumps	5 minutes	2 hours 35 minutes
Faraway Summit Bumps - High Ridge Trail	5 minutes	2 hours 40 minutes
High Ridge Trail - Faraway Mountain Junction	20 minutes	3 hours
Faraway Mountain Trail - Cold Springs Trail	20 minutes	3 hours 20 minutes
Cold Springs Trail - Cold Springs Road	15 minutes	3 hours 35 minutes
Cold Springs Road - Parking	10 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes

NOTES / COMMENTS:

The lakes Region Conservation Trust offers a patch to anyone who has hiked 30 miles along 19 trails (not all at once) over 5 summits within their property. Anyone interested in this challenge can find more information on the LRCT website. Mt. Roberts is ranked #48 on the New Hampshire 52 With a View list and worth the visit alone. For a longer adventure I'd recommend continuing along the ridge to Faraway mountain and a loop back to the parking area. Both Mt. Roberts and Faraway Mountain are on the Ossipee 10 list of 10 notable peaks in the Ossipee range.

This trail system is popular but an early start may provide the opportunity to spot some of the wildlife in the region. I was able to spot several different tracks in the snow such as skunk, deer, pine martin, moose and turkey.

Mt. Roberts is marked with a summit sign. Due to snow cover I was unable to search for any benchmarks. Mountain View has several man-made structures along with cell towers on its summit. and I was unable to locate any signage or markings on either of the two faraway summit bumps.

The cellar hole of Isaac Roberts former homestead can be found by following Cold Springs Road for 0.54 miles then turning right for a short distance on the Cold Springs trail. The homestead was built in the early 1800's and all that remains are a cellar hole. Look for apple trees surrounding the area. The cellar hole is marked with a LRCT sign and describes details of the Roberts homestead history. For the GPS friendly coordinates are N43 44.415, W71 19.085.