Around the Lake & Red Bench Trail | 5/8/22

I usually never want to leave the White Mountains when I get there. They're not far, but on a nice day I am always ready to lay down a sleeping bag and spend the night out there. However, with that option not on the table I decided to add an extra 45 minutes to the day by checking out the easy loop behind the Highland Center.

Evening sun coming through the trees

The Around the Lake trail begins right behind the AMC Highland Center, adjacent to the kid's play area where I got scared on the bouncy bridge shortly after walking this loop.

Start to the trail

We took the look clockwise and traversed the left side of the lake in about ten minutes before walking the red bench spur down to the overlook, which was worse than the view from the parking lot. This soon proved to be no problem for us as we found the real views were coming around the other side of the lake where I caught glimpses of nice wide herd paths, a duck house, and the setting sun perfectly lighting the trees that surround the lake. We even got to see a bridge that is half man-made and half beaver-made!

The Red Bench

1/2 Man, 1/2 Beaver!

The Around the Lake trail is a great little add on to a day hiking off of 302 and I can happily say it satisfied my need to stay in the mountains just a few more minutes after Cherry Mountain this past Sunday.

Obstructed view of Mount Washington from the bench

~Izzy, 5/10/22