The Monadnock Sunapee Greenway | 5/25/26
- Izzy Risitano
- May 27
- 11 min read
Completing the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway was the perfect rebellion against my broken habit of "list hiking." 2 years ago, my friend Hannah floated the hike to me. While I don't remember what my excuse was- I suspect it was my old attitude of going off-list. One thing about me though, is that if I push something off I'll eventually come back. All I could be was excitedly grateful when Hannah agreed to spend Memorial Day weekend in quaint New Hampshire towns with me.
As we neared the trip, I read the 60-page spiral-bound guide and texted Liz & Dave, who'd completed the Greenway a few years ago, to inquire if I was missing something from a planning perspective. It's rare I don't feel an urge to over plan, yet between good markings, a surplus of shelters, and a few familiar sections, everything was straightforward.
Going into Saturday morning, I had a rough idea of daily mileage, expecting to do 22 miles on day 1, 18 on day 2, and 8 on day 3. We had opted to skip Monadnock as we'd each hiked the Dublin trail and didn't want to deal with post-Nor'easter conditions up there. Yet other than that, we kept packing simple and set off with no fuss.
Section 1: Mount Monadnock to Route 101
As we started north, the trail was stunningly smooth. We alternated between rolling trails & hilly dirt roads for much of the first section, where we kept ourselves entertained counting red salamanders and pink lady slippers. Hannah & I counted 20 of each quickly, then lost count due to the frequency. Otherwise, the main highlight of our first 5 miles was easily the several dams we passed through & over. Eliza Adams Gorge was spectacular, with a waterfall at the left and a high-flowing dam at the right, crossing the base bridge was more than picturesque. On the contrary, Seaver Reservoir was the home to some adorable ducklings and calmer waters, while Child's Bog had a unique infinity-pool-like design to take in.
Sections 2 & 3: Nelson Village to Pitcher Mountain
Saturday's mid-morning miles were heavy on the roads. But not any roads- washed-out stream roads! Retrospectively, I began to understand why some of the parties we saw later were only traveling from Sunapee to Nelson Center, the highlight of section 2. Like many of the quaint towns of Western New Hampshire, Nelson was a delight. The Center Church set a beautiful backdrop for the history that came along the trail. While the church was of course historic, its modern keep-up was not only impressive but bore a phenomenal comparison to the traces of homesteads past in the area.
A major characteristic of this trail is several signs explaining who lived at present-day cellar holes, which war they were involved in, their many children, and how one of their boys kept up the homestead for a while. I couldn't help but wonder (I am the Carrie Bradshaw of hiking), even though the homesteads were nothing but some rocks and artifacts now, did they attend the very same church we saw today? Did they use the same roads that are paved today? What did the washed-out roads we walked look like in the height of the homestead days? While there is undoubtedly so much history in New Hampshire's woods, it's infrequent there's accessible information surrounding then and now. That's part of what makes the Greenway so unique, it's a perfect mix of 200-year-old town centers, stories of old homesteads, and the mountains that have stood far longer than both.
Past Nelson Center, we journeyed way up to the shoulder of Felt and Tolman Hill, and then down to the Route 9 underpass. As I sit here writing this with over 15 blisters on my feet, I cannot emphasize enough to just cross Route 9. The brook crossing in the underpass is high, and the intended stepping stones sent my shoe right into the water. With my feet already drenched, we continued to add insult to injury by climbing Melville Hill and then splashing down to the Crider Shelter for lunch. Though there's no real point to it, waiting to eat at a destination is always a pleasure of mine. While we enjoyed our assortment of packaged snacks, Hannah & I listened for loon calls and enjoyed a tease of sunshine that soon turned to rain.
As we circled Center Pond on a driveable road, we saw some gorgeous lake homes and then dipped into the Andorra forest. The forest is home to a beautiful section of the trail that winds past cascades, blueberry hills, stunning footbridges, and according to Hannah, a perfect fairy environment!
Section 4: Route 123 to Route 31
As we left the land of homesteads & bridged cascades, we started to climb Pitcher Mountain on an access road. A quick 0.4 miles to the top brought on terrific views of hills to the south, backdropped by Grand Monadnock. We had a chuckle when Hannah stated what I otherwise would've, "It looks so far away!" Well, it was- about 21 miles away!
While I wanted to break longer at Pitcher, a pleasant summit on account of the fire tower, the increasing wind had us keep on. Once we dipped back down to the woods road, it was quite monotonous until we topped out Hubbard Hill & hit the halfway sign. Just a short while later, we rolled into Fox Brook Tent Platform and made camp. I was quite relieved we'd reached our destination in good time.
As I slipped off my Altras and put on my camp shoes, my feet were unrecognizable. I joke about trenchfoot all the time because it's funny in WFR, but this was the first time I said trenchfoot with a straight face. I couldn't get back in my shoes, and my dexterity was so far gone that I had slipped out of my flip-flops limping around camp. With nothing to do about it, I finished my camp chores and texted my medically all-knowing friend Morgan to get blister-popping validation... she gave me a pass to pop. It does take a village because with her counsel I hopped to 26 more miles!
When Hannah & I set off on Sunday morning, we enjoyed a pleasant walk in the woods up to Jackson Hill, similar to Saturday's Hubbard Hill in its blueberry masses. We then swung left onto Barney Brook Trail, a significant 2019 reroute to King Street, home of the 1st Adventist Church. I loved Barney Brook Trail- it felt similar to some of the lowland trails in Baxter and had an unbelievable amount of wildflowers. At one point, we found a cluster of about 20 pink lady slippers! Did everybody else also learn that these were incredibly rare in grade school? Hannah and I sure did and were proven wrong!
As we walked north on King Street, we passed The Seventh Day Adventist Church and then our first SOBO hiker. Super exciting for a road walk! Soon enough, we climbed Oak Hill where my foot-taping job failed. Thankfully, the climb was pretty intense and there was even a small scramble up at the top to keep my mind occupied. I don't recall what our view was, but Oak Hill rose significantly over town to provide a nice perspective.
As we came down a long descent into Washington Center, the thought of breakfast kept me going like a cartoon character lifting towards a pie in the window. However, before I could fully get to that window, we passed some goats and the attractive General Washington Shelter. Despite being the oldest shelter on the trail, you wouldn't know with its trail-crew love & modernizations!
Section 5: Route 31 to Halfmoon Pond Road
Walking into town, I was taken back to a December day in 2023 when Liz & Dave took me bushwhacking, and I just couldn't wait to eat at the Washington General Store. Unfortunately though, after 12 miles & six peaks, we rolled in 5 minutes before closing and had to settle for chips and string cheese. This time I finally got to see the hype, from their hospitality to the 6 over-easy eggs I was so happy to consume instead of another bar. I can't recommend this spot enough, for through hikers it's a paradise, but the recently-showered folks enjoying breakfast seemed to be loving the atmosphere too!
After leaving the general store with a full stomach and fresh socks, we had a long road walk before starting our ascent of Lovewell Mountain. As we turned onto the OHRV trail before the real hiking trail, a whole bunch of ATVs pulled up, and each of them was also at the store for breakfast. One of the townsfolk said if we walked too fast we'd miss Washington, but I think we walked just slow enough to have met most of the town that morning!
In contrast to the road walk, pushing up Lovewell was enjoyable. Though steep, the trail had great footing past the off-road part and ascended through a beautiful evergreen forest that gave my blisters some relief. Before the summit, which isn't bare but offers some nice views, we turned right to look towards East Washington village, which was even smaller than Washington. I opted to take another nice break atop Lovewell, with my feet up to encourage a smooth trip down.
To my delight, the trail down was steady and beautiful. Similar to the Andorra Forest, the Max Israel forest had a far-away feeling, while still being fairly close to state highways. It's also home to the Max Israel Shelter, where we found the other half of a school group we'd seen up on Lovewell about an hour prior.
Section 6: Halfmoon Pond Road to Mt. Sunapee
Unlike the majority of the trail, the next several miles of the greenway were familiar to me but felt different with new greenery and 38 miles behind me. We made decent time getting to Steve Galpin shelter, where we would've stayed if we stuck to the original plan of finishing on Monday. However, between the urge to sleep in our beds & knowing I was running out of blister tape, we traded our night there for an hour of stretching & trail mix dinner.
In a classic Izzy fashion, I also ran out of water on a trail that had plenty of water. The water along the Pillsbury ridge wasn't awesome, but it was clear enough. I use a Steripen, which if you aren't familiar is a UV light rather than a pump. That said, it's pretty yucky if the water isn't flowing- and frankly, I don't trust still water with the pen. That said- I'd recommend filtering before climbing Kitteridge Hill if you can.
As we moved towards Sunapee, we had some pretty incredible viewpoints. First up was Lucia's Lookout, providing a great backdrop to meet up with Hannah's partner & knight in shining armor ride home, Nick. Due to a miscommunication that worked out well, Nick ran a whole 6 miles out from Sunapee base and then hiked it back with us. Considering how late into the night we went, it was favorably beneficial to have some positive morale, an extra headlamp, and a dog on our team to finish it out.
Rolling up and down from Lucia's, we got some outlooks of the increasing darkness. Despite a far earlier sunset, I didn't succumb to a headlamp until about 8:45, just past a glimpse towards the blinking South Uncanoonuc towers. I rarely hike into the night, but since I have been running in it lately, Hannah put me onto the Petzel Swift RL which was such a help along the dark evergreen ridge. I'm not sure how I lasted so long with a bad headlamp before this one!
With Nick updating us on how many miles we had left along the way because it stung too much to look myself, we held it together well until Jack and June Junction. Just prior, we had passed a climb that Gaia calls "Mt. Sunapee," whereas our much higher actual destination was called "Summit." That look and realization was exactly why I'd revoked my map-checking privileges, and I resisted looking for some time.
For the final climb to the summit, we exited the woods onto the Stovepipe trail and ascended 0.3 miles via the access road. Greeted with nothing but the low hum of an electrical box, we quietly stood atop the 2743-foot ski hill we'd all skied so many times feeling relieved, but still wary of our descent to come.
Though we acknowledged the finish with a celebratory picture, Hannah and I knew damn well the hardest part of this whole hike would be the final 2 miles. As we dropped onto the Summit Trail, it was a disaster. When Hannah first mentioned the horrid state of the trail, I foolishly tried to say it wasn't so bad to keep my head up but I was figuratively and literally so wrong.
Like any eroded and over-used trail, the Summit Trail had ankle-deep mud, slippery exposed roots, and smooth slime-covered rocks. With darkness working against us, I fell in twice covering my whole backside with cold mud. Even as the initial steep descent faded into a gentle one, every bit of my body felt it. The blisters on my both feet, pumped calves from walking on my toes all day, and the growing nausea was no longer overshadowed by finishing the trail. Instead, I was lamenting how it was still going to be another 2.5 hours before I could get home, and that I had to drive half of it.
As we got to Nick's car, I was even more thankful to have his help as I realized I probably couldn't press the gas at that time. We took an hour's drive through the most bizarre towns to Dublin, saved the pleasantries for a non-1 am occasion, and split cars to head home.
After-
Reflecting on this now, I do not regret the decision to combine days 2 & 3. Ultimately, my problem was blisters, the result of my historically unhindered choice to walk through rivers. Yet, it was harder to explain the "why" when both of my reps at work asked why I would ever choose to spend my weekend hiking 50 miles, only to end up with ice packs on my legs. While a logical question, I had to ponder for a moment- this one wasn't a list, I didn't do it for bragging rights, and Hannah & I certainly could've done something else in the Whites. Eventually, I answered that when you give yourself fully to a challenge, the memories of the trip are held closer. Though I took some painful steps up to Lucia's Lookout, I'll always remember it for how amazing it felt to make it there not thinking I'd see it so early into the trip. Or that even though Oak Hill was a battle, we felt even more gracious for the hospitality at the General Store afterward. Or that through a shared experience so memorable, Hannah & I strengthened a friendship by seeing each other through so many highs and lows in just 30 hours.
While the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway had the potential for a leisure backpack to open the season, it did so much more for me. Hundreds of hours lifting, climbing stair master to Rocky Balboa montages, and rediscovering running amounted to being the sort of hiker I've been admiring for years. Though I'm not the skinny trail runner I thought I had to become, I'm happy that making barely baggies form-fitting is my hiking superpower.
I cannot wait to carry this momentum into the rest of the season- special thanks to the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway Club. Your love & care for this trail is contagious.
Final Stats:
49.71 miles
9,317 gain
Unknown Pink Lady Slippers
Unknown Salamanders
Thank you for this amazing and very thorough write-up! It really felt like you were taking us along with you on this backpacking trip.