| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Surry Mountain - South Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Red Trail, Yellow Trail, bushwhack, unnamed trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 12, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Room for probably 8 vehicles at the trailhead on Old Gilsum Road in Gilsum. This is a dirt road, but it's in good condition for any vehicle. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Everything was either dry or had a stepping-stone dam that could be walked across. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few large blowdowns, including one place where several trees have fallen on top of one another. There's a nice sign at the first junction of Red and Yellow trails. No sign where the unmarked trail close to Lily Pond leads to the rocky gorge. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn't see any. |
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 | Bugs: |
None - too cold. I'm hoping we don't need to worry about bugs again until next May! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
This is a nice little hike for my friend's redlining of the Southern NH Hiking Guide. These trails have mostly gradual grades and generally good footing. There are a few places where the trail wasn't obvious due to the leaves on the ground obscuring it, but both the Red and Yellow trails are mostly well-blazed enough (with plastic markers on trees) to follow them. Soon after turning left onto Yellow Trail 1.4 miles from the start, a large hill appeared on our left, and we decided to bushwhack to its summit from the point on Yellow Trail where it bends away from the hill. This bushwhack was easy and in open woods the whole way, and started with a moderate climb up to the summit plateau, followed by a generally flat walk over to the highest point. Alltrails helped us find the highest area - otherwise it would not have been completely obvious. We found the canister and signed it, learning that this hill is called Surry Mountain - South Peak, and that it's on the NH 1,000-footers list (its elevation is about 1,500 feet). I noticed Zach Porter's name among those who had previously signed in here. The return bushwhack was easy as well, and we were able to pretty much follow the route we had taken up. The bushwhack is about 0.3 miles each way.
Back on Yellow Trail, we went over another bump that's a little bit lower than South Peak. This one had several large cairns at the summit. Right at the summit, the trail takes a very sharp right turn to start descending, and then a sharp left turn right afterwards. It was a mostly easy descent down to Lily Pond. Just before reaching the pond, the trail comes to a T-junction with the pond visible directly ahead. The official trail turns right here, but the unsigned trail mentioned in the SNHHG turns left and leads 0.2 miles to the top of the rocky gorge created by the pond's outlet brook. This trail is relatively easy to follow, and becomes blazed in white once it crosses the property line into land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers (which built the dam creating the reservoir in the valley below). The white-blazed trail crosses the outlet brook (very easy on the rocks today), descends easily for maybe 100 feet, and then becomes much steeper. We turned around right where it gets a lot steeper, not wanting to have to climb back up. The view of the gorge was nice, but it would've been more impressive if there had been more water flowing down it.
Upon returning to the main trail, we headed around the pond to the northern junction with Red Trail, and from then to the shelter. This is in a nice secluded spot on the shore of the pond, however I should note that the shelter is quite small - it fits a maximum of three people, who would all be close together, and anyone taller than about 5'6" could run the risk of their feet hitting the back wall (anyone close to or over 6 feet tall would definitely be too big). The Red Trail was a nice trail to return on - several sections were clearly on old roads, and one portion ran along the top of a very steep slope. It climbed back up to the junction with Yellow Trail, and then we followed it back to the trailhead.
We noted several spots along the trail that would probably be wet and muddy in normal years, but due to our current drought they were dry and easy to walk through. We saw just two other people on the trails. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-10-12 |
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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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