NH – North Sugarloaf Mountain (Bethlehem, NH)
[Caution: This is not a trail guide. If you are planning to do this hike, consult a real trail guide (for example this one), have a map, compass, and other reasonable hiking equipment.]
We hiked both North and Middle Sugarloaf on May 27, 2022.
The Sugarloaf Trail leaves the Zealand Road about 1 mile from Rt. 302 and provides access to two peaks, North Sugarloaf and Middle Sugarloaf. Middle Sugarloaf is on the NH "52 with a view list" but surprisingly the North Peak is not (surprisingly because it provides great views of the Presidentials and Crawford Notch peaks (Zealand, Hale, Tom, Field, etc.).
We have done this trip twice before, hiking to the top of both peaks, but this time we just hiked to North Sugarloaf with our friends Waldek and Irina.
There is parking for the Sugarloaf trail just before the bridge at the end of the paved part of Zealand Road (the road turns to dirt after the bridge). The actual trailhead is on the far side of the bridge. It starts co-incident with the Trestle Trail along the Zealand River, but splits off to the left pretty quickly.
There are some interesting large rock formations not far in.
The hike to North Sugarloaf is about 1.3 miles and gains about 800 feet of elevation from about 1500 to about 2300 at the summit. After the Sugarloaf Trail splits off from the Trestle Trail, the slope increases and is a pretty steady slope up to the col between the North and Middle peaks (at about a mile in).
At the col, the trail splits and the Middle peak is to the left and the North peak is to the right.
We turned right. The trail descends a bit and slabs around the west side of the summit almost 180 degrees and then climbs briefly to the summit. The open part of the summit is actually looking southeast with Mount Washington almost directly straight ahead. It took us about 50 minutes to reach the peak, walking at a comfortable pace.
View of the Mount Washington and the Northern Presidentials and a telephoto shot of Mt. Washington. In the first one you can see the cog railway line.
Here Larry is sitting on a ledge looking farther south at Mt. Tom, Field, and Wiley.
And a bit farther south looking at Mt. Hale (Middle Sugarloaf is that small hump in the foreground).
It was a beautiful and clear day so the views were spectacular. The Sugarloafs are definitely on the list of good starter hikes for those looking to reach some peaks with views.
The map:
Rating (explanation of our hike ratings):
Bang for the buck: High
Length of hike: 2/5
Strenuous: 2/5
Trail Composition: 1/4
Ease of following trail: 1/3