We heard from a friend that the cross country trails on the east side of Loon Mountain are nice for hiking during non-ski season and and snow-shoeing during, and decided to check them out.

From the entrance of Loon, we drove 1.5 miles, crossing the bridge into the ski area, driving past the Mountain Club and then along Black Mountain Road into the new The Landings development. At that point, the road dead-ends, and there is a 3-sided hut, which is used as a drop-off point by the Adventure Center shuttle. There isn’t really a parking area there, so we pulled over onto the grass by the road.

Here is the map on the hut wall. The hut is at the spot labeled “D".

We decided to walk out Serendipity (1) and back along Black Mountain (2). The walk is in the White Mountain National Forest. The sign needs a little work :)

The effects of Tropical Storm Irene in August, 2011 can still be seen on the far bank:

At about 1.2 miles, we got to the picnic table shown on the map, at which point we switched to the Black Mountain Trail.

Walking back along the Black Mountain Trail, we passed Von Ryan’s Express/Lower Bypass and then Hancock.

The trip back was 1.0 miles back. Here is the loop on Google Earth.

Eileen (and Larry) Samberg

November 9, 2014