The Cockermouth Forest came under the
stewardship of the SPNHF (Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests)
in 1991 when William
Wadsworth donated 1,002 acres of his property as part of his estate plan. The name “Cockermouth Forest" has
historical significance. The forest is
located in the town of Groton which was known from 1760 to 1790 as the town of
Cockermouth. For more information about the Cockermouth
Forest, click HERE.
As the crow flies, the entrance to the SPNHF
land is only about 8 miles west of Plymouth, NH. It's on North Groton Road where there is a sign
that reads “Cockermouth Forest: John F. Woodhouse Trail”. From there, you drive down a 300’ fairly
passable road to a small parking area.
The sign is only visible when headed northbound on North Groton
Road. If you are travelling southbound,
the entrance will be the first left after Orchard Hill Road. (You
can plug the following coordinates into mapping software, or to your GPS to see
the precise location: N 43° 43' 40.45", W 71° 50' 32.28".)
From the very onset of this hike I was
impressed! Just a few steps away from
the trailhead parking is a large sign (see next photo) with a canister that
contains trail maps.
Sign at trailhead |
Highlighted in yellow on the map below is
the route for the 5.2 mile counterclockwise loop that I did on
15-April-2013.
Map showing the route for 5.2 mile loop hike |
As I hiked the trail system, I continued to be
impressed. The trails overall are
generally in good shape. Also, they are well-blazed,
and well-signed. Some of the blazing and
signage appears to be relatively recent. The next photo is a collage of just a few of
the many signs that I saw during the hike.
A few of the many trail signs seen along the hike |
Also, on the portion of the hike that traverses
Bald Knob and Mt. Crosby, there are a number of old trail markers left over
from the days when volunteers from Camp Mowglis maintained trails on these
mountains, as well as other nearby locations.
Old trail marker from days when Camp Mowglis maintained trails on these mountains |
The majority of my hike was on snow-free
trails, such as shown in the next photo.
Majority of my hike was on snow-free trails |
However, there were several segments of trail
that still had some significant snow, such as shown in the next photo. Fortunately, these segments were short-lived,
and were easily negotiated with bare boots.
A few segments of snow still had significant snow |
Punch Brook (and its tributaries) weave its way
through the trail system. The next two
snapshots show a couple of different aspects to this attractive brook.
Punch Brook flowing gently |
Punch Brook flowing rapidly over a cascade |
So, up to this point I've not mentioned the
distant vistas that are available from the ledges on Bald Knob and on Mt.
Crosby. My first stop was Bald Knob where
there were views in all directions. However, my personal opinion was that the
vista overlooking Newfound Lake was the most noteworthy scene from this
location (see next photo).
Newfound Lake as viewed from Bald Knob |
After exploring the many ledges on Bald Knob, I
headed over to Mt. Crosby where the vistas were more impressive, in my opinion.
But before showing some examples of the
views from Mt. Crosby, I feel compelled to bring up Cervantes' novel entitled
"Don Quixote". There is an episode where Don Quixote fights
windmills that he imagines to be giants. An excerpt from this novel states:
"Just then they came in sight of thirty or
forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he
said to his squire, Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves
could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty
hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their
spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of
so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will
bless."
My point to the above quote is that the views
from the ledges on Mt. Crosby are marvelous, but there are wind turbines within
your line of sight. The next photo shows
the wind turbines in the foreground with an impressive lineup of high peaks on
the distant horizon that begin with Mt. Moosilauke (on left) to mountains in
the Sandwich Range (on right).
Lineup of high peaks on distant horizon Mt. Moosilauke (left); Sandwich Range (right) |
It is possible to get a few views from Mt.
Crosby that don't include wind turbines, but you need to work at it! Shown below is one such view.
View from Mt. Crosby without wind turbines |
At the summit of Mt. Crosby is a memorial
plaque which is shown in the following photo.
Memorial plaque atop Mt. Crosby |
After visiting Mt. Crosby, I headed westward to
do something called the Cliffs Loop.
While en route, I stopped to take a look at the remains of an old
homestead known as the Remick Place (circa 1830).
Remains of an old homestead known as the Remick Place (circa 1830) |
The Cliffs Loop was a fun scamper along a long
narrow ledge. It sort of reminded me of a miniature version of a place known as
The Hogsback (Benton, NH area) where I hiked about a year ago. The next snapshot shows a segment of the
ledge along the Cliffs Loop.
A segment of the ledge along the Cliffs Loop |
From various points along the ledges on the
Cliffs Loop, I could see portions of Little Pond through the treetops, such as
shown in the next photo.
A portion of Little Pond seen through the treetops from ledges on Cliffs Loop |
Also seen from Cliffs Loop was a view of Mt.
Cube (next photo)
Mt. Cube as viewed from ledges on Cliffs Loop |
However, the view from the Cliffs Loop that I
liked the best was from the backside of the loop. From here, I got a view of the two peaks that
I'd visited earlier in the day, i.e. Mt. Crosby and Bald Knob (see next photo).
Mt. Crosby and Bald Knob as viewed from the backside of ledges on the Cliffs Loop |
To sum it up, this trek to
Cockermouth Forest is something that has been on my list to do for a couple of
years. It was a pleasurable experience
and very worthwhile.
19 comments:
Excellent and very thorough report, John! That's a great little trail network. We had taken it out of the last (2009) AMC Southern NH Trail Guide because of the impending timber harvest at the recommendation of SPNHF. Now that the harvest is complete, we were planning to add it back in, and you report confirms that the trail system is in great shape. And now there are even trail maps provided. Too bad about those Don Quixote views. Thanks!
Steve
Steve, thank you for such kind comments!
As you say, that is indeed a great little trail network at the Cockermouth Forest. I wondered why it was not included in the current edition of the Southern NH Trail Guide. You’ve answered that question. Glad to learn that there are plans to add it back into the next edition.
As I reported in my Blog, the trails that I travelled in my loop were overall in very good shape. The segment of the High Pasture Loop between the Beeline Trail and the Eliza Remick Road could use some brushing. However, it is very well blazed and easy to follow.
John
Steve . . . just now ran across your Blog report for nearly the identical trek which you did in April 2009. Very nice report, and you received a great set of comments!
http://mountainwandering.blogspot.com/2009/05/cockermouth-forest-bald-knob-mt.html
Great report John. I love to see these reports of places such as this. These smaller state parks that probably get overlooked by the majority of the hiking community. Thanks to people like yourself and Steve Smith, we are much more informed and aware of these little gems.
Thanks for sharing,
Joe
Hey Joe . . . thanks for your kind words.
Steve Smith is “the man” when it comes to discovering these lesser-visited places. There are very few places that I’ve visited where Steve hasn’t already been there, sometimes even more than once! :-)
Anyway, as I think you’d agree, it is fun and invigorating to hike to places that are new to you personally, regardless of how many folks might have been there before.
John
John,
Another fascinating small hike possibility, thank you.
I love that old trail marker/sign...
Karl
Thank you Mohamed! The Cockermouth Forest is a great little trail system which offers quite a variety of hikes for its size.
Best wishes to you for a pleasant hiking experience when you visit this location!
John
Hi Karl,
Yes, aren’t those old Camp Mowglis trail markers unique! There are still quite a number of them up there on the trail that traverses Bald Knob and Mt. Crosby. I’m just guessing that maybe teams of volunteers were sent out on the trails with their backpacks filled with those signs. Don’t know if the trails were fully marked with those signs over a summer, or over the course of several summers. Regardless, really neat stuff!
John
John
You were pretty close to Sculptured Rocks geologic sight. I checked them out one time when I was in the area. They are just 0.1 mile from the road. That is quite an impressive gorge. Even a quick 15 minute stop is rewarding.
Jazzbo
OMG I live not far from there, and haven't heard of it... or have I? I hiked Mt. Crosby YEARS ago, and can no longer recall which way we went. I think whichever way we went we returned another time and there was a no trespassing sign so we were unable to do bald knob. (This was a very long time ago). I'll have to show this to my husband and see if he ever recalls us being there and try to figure where we entered from. Pathetic that after hiking for 26 years you forget where you've been and I could probably hike a hike again and never recall being there!!! Sort of like re-reading a book you forgot you've read!! Great pics and report! I am on vacation next week, so I may hit this one up!!! Thanks so much for posting this, I can't tell you how grateful I am for your blog, it has opened my eyes to so many new places!!
Hiking Lady
@ Jazzbeaux: Thanks Ray for the tip about Sculptured Rocks! Very much appreciated! I’ll definitely stop by there the next time I’m in the area.
John
Your comments are always such a pleasure to read, and your feedback about my Blog reports is greatly appreciated!
I don’t know if this will be of any help in determining if you’ve ever hike to Mt. Crosby, but I’m told that there was (perhaps still is) another access point to the trail system from Tenney Road. I’m unfamiliar with that road, and so that’s as far as I can go with that! Regardless, I do know what you mean about sometimes failing to recall things done in the distant past. On the positive side, I guess one could rationalize that these forgotten adventures then become NEW adventures all over again! :-)
John
There are so many treats on this hike—the nice trail conditions, great signage, a wonderful little brook, Cliffs Loop ledge, old homestead ruins, and the scenic views. An all-around excellent loop hike! It's too bad about the wind turbines, but I fear that ever more and intrusive energy extraction on our public lands is THE way of the future. Even so-called "clean" energy is not without it's drawbacks—interfering with wildlife, wild places, and "viewsheds".
Luckily we can still enjoy places like Cockermouth Forest with its still-wild beauty, especially when you can manage to get a view from Mt. Crosby like the photo you took without the man-made distractions!
Great post, John!
Rita, your comments are so right ‘on-target’!
And, it’s terrific that there are organizations such as the SPNHF (Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests) who can craft together parcels of conserved land to create islands of wild-beauty for the public to enjoy.
John
Thanks for the great tour John! We visited with Clay and Sandra last weekend and this post was an inspiration for Clay to suggest that we duplicate your trip. Sunday was the perfect day for this and we truly enjoyed it! They have done a wonderful job on the new trails and it will be an even nicer experience when they've had a few years to naturalize again. We followed your route with one exception - we ended by taking the .3 mile spur to Little Pond, and it turned out to be the nicest spot on a hike filled with many nice spots. You're going to need to return to check it out. It looks like a perfect place to visit in the fall when the colors around the shore come out.
Thanks again for prompting our visit to somewhere we probably would never have otherwise discovered!
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thank you for not only taking time to read my Blog, but also for taking time to post your comments!
I definitely plan to make a return trip to that area and pay a visit to Little Pond. I might do it in conjunction with visiting the nearby Sculptured Rocks geologic sight (as suggested my Jazzbo in his comments to this posting).
Anyway, thank you confirming that Little Pond is well-worth a visit. A couple of factors stopped me from including it in my hike. Using my binoculars while on the Cliff Loop trail, it appeared that the pond was still frozen which I felt would diminish its scenic value. Also, as you discovered, there is so much to be seen at Cockermouth. Much more time than anticipated was spent lingering at several spots along the route. By the time I completed the Cliff Loop, I was concerned that doing the additional 0.6 mile (round-trip) to Little Pond would run me late for an evening commitment.
John
mt. Crosby & bald knob are worth the effort. unfortunately we cannot say the same for the cliff loop as heavy logging has all but ruined any sign of that trail. Unless we missed a sign we ran into fallen trees and so much logging debris that we eventually gave up, as we lost the trail completely. As I said, Crosby and bald knob are worth the trip! gps adress to 456 n Groton rd will get u there.
Thanks for the information you provided in your comments.
Also, it’s very nice to learn that you at least had a pleasurable hike to Mt. Crosby and Bald Knob.
John
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