| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Halls Ledge, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Road walk, Halls Ledge Trail, Carter Notch Road, Hutmen's Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 16, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room for a few cars on the side of Route 16 at the trailhead of Hutmen's Trail. The pullout mentioned in the WMG would also work. Parking info given in the WMG for both sides of these trails is accurate. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Only one crossing, on the western half of Hutmen's Trail, maybe 0.5 or 0.6 from Route 16, above the steep section where the trail is more gradual. This crossing is probably pretty easy most of the time, but with the high water levels today it required some thought and the use of slippery rocks. Nothing terrible though. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Several blowdowns on the western half of Halls Ledge Trail. This section is also difficult to follow at times due to a faint footbed and lots of leaves covering the trail - more on that below. Several wet and muddy spots on the ski-trail portions. No sign for Halls Ledge Trail on the Carter Notch Road side, and the sign for Hutmen's Trail on the Carter Notch Road side is a bit obscured. More signs would also help at the ski trail junctions. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a few on the eastern (ski-trail) half of Halls Ledge Trail. They should be fine for this whole route though. |
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 | Bugs: |
There actually were some flying around - some sort of winged insects. I'm not exactly sure what they were. They weren't bothersome though. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Nothing. |
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 | Comments: |
This was a good redlining loop - the trails themselves weren't too difficult, but following them took some effort. I parked at Hutmen's Trail and walked up Route 16 to Halls Ledge Trail - I think this road walk is about 1.2 or 1.3 miles. It went by quickly. To find Halls Ledge Trail, get behind the guardrail on the east side of Route 16 on the south side of the bridge over Ellis River, and you'll see the sign. The trail is somewhat indistinct, and it's covered by fallen leaves as well - experienced hikers shouldn't have too much trouble following it, but newbies might struggle to find it. The trail climbs moderately as it parallels a brook with a cascade (that's tough to see from the trail), and then bears away from the brook and steepens, and then steepens some more. This section is tough on the legs because there aren't a lot of rocks or roots, so you really feel the steepness more and stretch your muscles more. Plus, the fallen leaves were slippery and made footing more difficult as well. Luckily, this section wasn't too long, and then the trail becomes a lot more gradual. There are numerous places where you really need to watch the trail carefully - with the light usage it gets and the leaves covering it, it's not always clear where the trail goes. One place got me turned around - right at a blowdown, the trail appears to go straight, but look to your left and there's a yellow blaze - the trail turns left there. Just after that, the trail comes to a fork - the left fork looks more beaten, but don't be fooled - it's a dead end. Turn right at the fork and you should see some yellow blazes soon. A little bit further on, just before the trail enters the spruces, there are a couple of other places where you really need to look carefully to follow the trail corridor, and it's not always straight ahead of you. This is why I don't recommend this trail for beginners.
Like the WMG says, once the trail enters the spruces, it becomes much clearer, and that section is actually quite nice. The view west to the Presidentials is somewhat obscured, but you can still see the mountains - it would probably be nicer in the winter when you're standing on several feet of snow. The view to the south just beyond is much grander and very nice. The WMG describes the turns accurately, but I still think there should be a sign for Halls Ledge Trail at the junction with Wildcat Valley XC-ski trail 0.1 past the southern viewpoint, telling eastbound hikers to turn right there. The rest of Halls Ledge Trail is a gradual-to-moderate descent down Wildcat Valley XC-ski trail, with a few wet sections. The only other hikers I saw on the trails all day were on this section. There's no sign for Halls Ledge Trail where Wildcat Valley XC-ski trail meets Carter Notch Road, but there is a sign for Prospect Farm.
The roadwalk on Carter Notch Road to the Hutmen's trailhead I think is about a half-mile. Hutmen's Trail starts out as a wide, somewhat wet old road that diverges from Carter Notch Road just past (south of) a large parking area. It continues on this old road to a T-junction with another XC-ski trail just after a bridged crossing of Marsh Brook - don't be fooled by a trail diverging left as the old road bends right (the WMG claims that this trail is blazed in orange, however I didn't see any blazes). At this T-junction, turn left - there is a sign for Hutmen's Trail here, but it's small and easy to miss. Don't rely on these signs - bring the WMG and read it since it describes the turns accurately. One turn that could very easily be missed is where Hutmen's Trail turns right off the wide logging road onto a much narrower path 1.1 miles from Route 16 - there's a sign, but again, it's small and easy to miss. The rest of the trail down to Route 16 is easy to follow, however the final steep descent down to the road is tough on the knees, and the footing isn't great due to all the fallen leaves.
This wasn't the most exciting hike ever, but I still had a good time. Foliage in Jackson is somewhat past peak, but there's still plenty of oranges and reds on the trees. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-10-16 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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