| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Owl's Head, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lincoln Woods, Black Pond, herd path, Lincoln Woods, herd path, Owls Head Path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, October 19, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Amazingly, for a prime, sunny, mid-fall weekend hiking day, the Lincoln Woods parking lot seemed less than half full just before 7am. At 5:20pm, it was perhaps less than 20% full. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The low water levels resulting from the drought persisted, and the three crossings on Lincoln Brook trail (one small, two tricky at times), were fairly easy, with ample choices or route across without any real "rock hopping" gymnastics or wet feet. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trails are in good shape, overall. Even the 15-minute stretch along the ridge from the "false summit" over to the actual summit was open with no need for brushing. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
We saw one, seemingly enjoying the outing. Ample water opportunities on the hiking, until starting up Owls Head itself. Nothing really on the Black Pond herd path, but that's only 45 minutes, or less if you aren't among us more senior hikers. |
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 | Bugs: |
None noticed |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Very nice hiking day for bagging this one, leaving me with just Jackson to close out round 9 and one of the women with just 10 left on her over-80 round. The head path from Black Pond up to the clearing where the Lincoln Brook trail has come across the river was generally covered in leaves, but all the foot traffic over it has ground up the leaves quite a bit, leaving the path visually quite easy to follow. At the very end of Black Pond, there is a muddy area to navigate, and immediately past that the herd path turns right (east), and the herd path again is visible after maybe 40 feet. I had thought that on a good weekend hiking day we would see a great many more hikers out there, but it was more like mid-week on a summer day. Coming down off Owls Head, we encountered a trio heading up, without packs or even a water bottle, as far as we could tell. One was wearing what looked like sandals on over wool socks, and this struck me as woefully inappropriate for such terrain. Perhaps they had backpacked into 13 Falls or camped close to Owls Head. Still going up and down OH is over two miles of steep trail. |
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 | Name: |
Pappy |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-10-20 |
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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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