| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Sandwich Dome, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Sandwich Mountain Trail, Bennett Street Trail, Guinea Pond Trail, Black Mountain Pond Trail, Algonquin Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, September 20, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at the Sandwich Dome trailhead off of Rt 49. Plenty of room. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Dry as punk everywhere and no problem with mud or brook crossings BUT on the Guinea Pond getting around the section flooded by beavers is difficult. A disorganized set of logs maybe possible to use but I did not want to try it. Used a bushwhack to cross on rocks on the upstream end of the pond. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A side path needs to be constructed around that flooded section of the Guinea Pond Trail that leads one to easy-to-cross rocks. The log mess is the remnants of a once decent bridge that got destroyed in hurricane Irene. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
None. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Sandwich Dome trail: From the trailhead off of rt 49 it passes a transforming plant and immediately crosses a brook. Easy crossing now! It then climbs up the ridge to a spur called Noon Peak. All the steep climbing on this trail is done reaching Noon Peak. There are some neat scrambles as one gets higher up and this one huge boulder sitting in the middle of a flatter section of trail. There is a great lookout over Waterville valley and all the peaks to the north. Mt Washington was reporting 130 mile visibility. After that one does a typical ridge run for quite a while; a lot of flat smooth rock or pine needle surface with the occasional sharp up or down scramble. Just before the trail enters the woods permanently for the rest of the way to the summit, there is a large open area of smooth rock with lots of blueberries (at least in late July). Great views of Jennings Peak and Sandwich Dome. After entering the woods one comes to the Drakes Brook Trail and the the Jennings Peak spur path. Take it! It has clearly become much more appreciated as that spur path is now well trodden compared to what it was like 20 years ago. Jennings peaks offers great views of Sandwich Dome and its Algonquin ridge and peaks to the South. Continuing back on the Sandwich Dome trail, it is fairly flat with nice pine needle surface. When one reaches the Smarts Brook trail, it starts the final climb up the summit dome. It is never steep beyond moderate and no bumbling rocks. An easy trail to come down. When one reaches the Algonquin trail, its a short stint to the summit. The summit is not totally open but there are great views over Waterville Valley and all the peaks to the north.
Bennett Street Trail: This trail goes down to the east side of the mountain to the Bennett Street trailhead. Just as one starts down, there is a blowdown clearing from where I could see the sun reflecting off the Atlantic Ocean. I did not know Sandwich was high enough for that. But now I know! This trail is wonderful for a decent. Very few patches of bumbling rocks and a lot of soft and smooth pine needle paving. It goes for stretches on old logging roads (I guess) that are very gentle and good rests. Near the bottom when deciduous trees start to dominate the falling leaves can hide some snags. The trail then crosses the Flat Mountain Trail which, every time I have come there, has been a mud bath in both direction with pools of water. Looks like one would be spending most of the time skirting around these messes. This day, dry as bone. In theory, this would be the fastest and easiest way to get to the Guinea Pond trail, but one would miss the cool waterfalls and swimming holes that the Bennett Street Trail passes. As stated, the Bennett Street trail continues down and this next section is about the roughest part of the trail. But it then parallels the main brook and passes cool waterfalls and swimming holes (too cold for that now). Even in this drought, it was still pretty good. The trail then levels out with a nice pine needle base for almost two miles before reaching the Bennett Street road extension. Very easy going but easy to get off the trail as there are so many herd paths around the brook from swimming hole enthusiasts.
Guinea Pond Trail: The Bennett Road extension (jeep path) continues for about 0.5 miles up to the Guinea Pond/Flat Mountain Trail junction. It rises about 500 feet. There is a jeep path that veers to left near the start which you DONT want to take. At the junction the Flat Mountain Trail goes to the right and the Guinea Pond trail to the left. Basically its the same trail with two different names. The next stretch is to walk the flat 2.4 miles of the Guinea Pond Trail to the Black Mountain Pond trail. In normal weather, there will be mud and water patches one will need to skirt around. They are not typically a problem but this day everything was bone dry. Made for VERY easy walking. Everything goes nice and rosy until one gets to the section where a beaver dam has flooded the trail. There used to be a side path to a bridge that was put together from large logs. An easy walk. Then hurricane Irene put an end to that. It was never fixed. Now the logs are strewn all over the place and if you have really good balance and are not carrying a heavy load, you can probably find a route across on the remaining logs. Its not obvious from the start that it is even possible. I did not do that. Instead I go back to the main trail and bushwhack around to the end of the beaver pond where it narrows. There is a swamp further that drains into the beaver pond. Here one can cross on a set of rocks. I think there is more than one possible set. Then one has to bushwhack back to where the trail picked up after crossing the old bridge. This bushwhack sucks on both sides; it's full of small bushes about 5 to 7 feet high, and its hard to see what you are stepping on. But I did not want to fall into that mud pond on the wrong side of the mountain! The solution is to make a new side path that takes one to the rock crossing. In any case, the old bypass on the other side of the pond is terribly overgrown and looks rarely used. My guess is that many get to that log crossing and turn back. However, once one gets back to the main trail, the rest of the trail is good. There once was a sign and spur path to Guinea Pond but I did not find it. The trail then comes to a brook crossing. Normally, one is going to get wet feet making this crossing. There is simply nothing to step on that is out of the water. It is never fast flowing or dangerous. But today no problem. So, in general, don't do it, because you only have to cross it again a short time later - also normally difficult. Instead one can take a side path to the right that avoids both crossings and then you arrive at the Black Mountain Pond trail. When this trail crosses that brook, it is much easier. Synopsis; This trail needs some work!
Black Mountain Pond Trail: This trail is the highlight of the Sandwich Dome trails. It climbs gently for a couple of miles to Black Mountain Pond. This place is like out of a story book. The pond is beautiful with a rocky shoreline and not at all swampy. The area is in a stand of huge pines with very little underbrush. From the pond shore there is a great view of the ledges on the Algonquin ridge. Actually, the pond was even better before something gave away and the pond level dropped several feet. I don't recall if that was due to Irene or not. But the new shoreline has begun to recover. This area is a popular campsite. The trail then passes what used to be a second much smaller pond that also vanished when the wall creating it broke away. This break one can see. At this point the trail makes the very steep climb up the ridge, full of extensive scrambles and outlooks. At the 'top' of the ridge there is only scrub pine with lots of open rock and views. The trail meets the Algonquin trail which then continues to the summit, some 1.5 miles further. I somehow missed the trail sign (but not the trail). The trail to the summit enters woods that become progressively taller as one moves toward the Sandwich Dome summit. There are several ups and downs. For the most part it is gentle on the feet with minimal bumbling rocks. The trail joins the Sandwich Dome trail just below the summit.
Going down: Going down the Sandwich Dome trail is easy. Very few bumbling rocks, soft pine needle surface, and a gentle mostly flat stretch between Smarts Brook and the Jennings Peak spur path. One then has the choice to continue on Sandwich Dome Trail or Drake's Brook. Drake's brook is far easier but also far less interesting and no views of any sort as I recall. The steepest part is at the start and it is not bad. It gets gentler and gentler ending with a long mostly flat walk back to the trail head. Take if your legs are killing you. Sandwich is much harder with the steep down all at the end, as well as having some PUDs. But it has a lot of views as it crosses the ridge. |
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 | Name: |
BRIAN REINHOLD |
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 | E-Mail: |
brianreinhold@lnihealth.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-09-21 |
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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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