Pawtuckaway South Mountain - 908 Ft.

Pawtuckaway (South) Mtn tower

STATE: New Hampshire
TOWN: Nottingham
DESTINATION: Pawtuckaway (South)
ELEVATION: 908 Ft.
SUMMIT COORDINATES: N43 06.114, W71 10.866
TRAIL: Tower Rd, Mountain Trail, South Ridge Trail
DISTANCE: 2.4 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 463 Ft.
HIKING TIME: 1.5 hours
SEASON: Summer
DATE: July 15, 2015
WEATHER: cloudy, humid, 80 degrees

PARKING: From Tandy road turn east onto Reservation Rd and follow Reservation road to the junction of Tower road. There are signs stating no vehicles permitted past this point. Roadside parking for 10-15 cars is available.

USGS QUAD: USGS Mount Pawtuckaway Quad

MAP: (Pawtuckaway South)

DESCRIPTION:
I chose a loop circuit following Mountain trail along the perimeter of a marshy pond and summited from the northwest side using Tower trail. From Parking head northeast on Tower Road for 0.16 miles to a spur trail leading east (right). After 0.14 miles you'll reach the junction with Mountain trail. Taking a left will lead you 0.8 miles following the perimeter of a small marshy pond-like area to the junction of Tower road and the Tower trail. There is a small outhouse here. The Tower trail ascends moderately 0.4 miles east over rooty terrain filled with granite boulders and cliffs. Just before the summit the Pawtuckaway South Mountain fire-tower can be seen through the trees. The summit is mostly open with several directional viewpoints. Climbing to the tower platform offers excellent views to the northwest and southeast.

Descend via the South Ridge Trail heading southwest over granite slabs and rocky outcroppings 0.5 miles back to Mountain trail. It's 0.1 miles north (right) back to the mountain trail junction and spur trail leading to Tower Rd.

 Middle and North Mountains

TRAIL DISTANCES:

HIKING DISTANCES
DESTINATION	DISTANCE	TOTAL DIST.
Tower Rd - Tower Rd spur trail	0.16 miles	0.16 miles
Tower Rd spur trail - Mountain trail Jct.	0.14 miles	0.30 miles
Mountain Trail Jct - Tower Rd Jct.	0.8 miles	1.1 miles
Tower Trail - South Mountain summit	0.4 miles	1.5 miles
South ridge Trail - Mountain Trail Jct.	0.5 miles	2.0 miles
Mountain Trail - Tower Rd Spur trail	0.10 miles	2.1 miles
Tower Rd Spur trail - Tower Rd	0.14 miles	2.24 miles
Tower Rd - Parking	0.16 miles	2.4 miles

HIKING TIMES:

HIKING TIMES
DESTINATION	TIME	TOTAL TIME
Tower Rd - Tower Rd spur trail	8 minutes	8 minutes
Tower Rd spur trail - Mountain trail Jct.	7 minutes	15 minutes
Mountain Trail Jct - Tower Rd Jct.	20 minutes	35 minutes
Tower Trail - South Mountain summit	15 minutes	50 minutes
South ridge Trail - Mountain Trail Jct.	20 minutes	1 hour 10 minutes
Mountain Trail - Tower Rd Spur trail	5 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes
Tower Rd Spur trail - Tower Rd	7 minutes	1 hour 22 minutes
Tower Rd - Parking	8 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes

NOTES / COMMENTS:

Approaching South Mountain tower

I took the kids on a hiking and geocaching adventure on South Pawtuckaway Mountain. This was a great opportunity to keep their focus with many stops to find caches, following the contour of the pond and identifying animal tracks in the mud along with some beaver activity and hike to one of NH's 15 active fire-towers. The tower platform offers many directional views and has waterproof maps on the tower underside ceiling to identify the local nearby hills.

Pawtuckaway Lake