| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Stratford Mountain, Stratford Mountain - South Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
ATV road, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 18, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I mostly thought this was going to be a scouting mission to confirm these wouldn't be reachable from the west, since I hadn't seen a successful TR since 2021. Turns out they are accessible in mid-clearance.
Followed Perham Rd to where an unnamed rd diverges NE, shortly before the continuation of Perham turns SSE. The first stretch of this road clearly doesn't see much traffic by the rampant leaf cover, and while rocky, was in OK shape - 5-10mph, but never was I concerned about bottoming out in mid-clearance. This road junctions with an ATV trail after about 1 mile at which point it has clearly seen plenty of ATV traffic. Road was OK for awhile, passing an logging road (that looked OK for walking) that I considered using to access South Stratford and a cool little ATV rest stop with a picnic table and a 'potable' water pump. From the rest stop is where the road got sketchy. There were probably half a dozen deep water bars that I help my breath on each time I crossed. They were deep but also wide so the angles were never awful. High clearance would be preferred for this stretch, but we made it to the logging landing (where Lady B and the Italian reached in 2021), where some maps show a split in the road and the ATV trail turns NE. There's a bridge that seems stable but not built for cars past this point, so we parked at the landing - happy to have a place to be able to turn around. Easier driving out of this one than in - but maybe that's just psychological? |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Had to scoop the Champ and Tucker out of the way of some respectful ATVs |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Pretty sure I lost a blue bandana on this one. |
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 | Comments: |
From the landing, we walked the ATV trail north, to the point where it turns sharply to the west, in hopes of finding a helpful road heading up the northern peak. Alas, there were some faint traces of roads here and there, but nothing helpful, so we mostly headed east, up the western spine. That said, the woods in here were just lovely. Found the summit no problem and decided to descend a bit more south of the spine to cut of some of the ATV trail. Woods were lovely here too, and we joined the ATV road in the col between the northern peak and the unnamed knob to the SW.
Back at the landing, we contemplated driving down to the logging road jct to ascend the southern peak, but realizing that was a few hundred feet lower and there weren't really any parking spots between here and there, we set out for the southern peak from the same landing. I figured we'd hook up with the drainage WNW of the peak and follow that up. We walked down the atv trail until we found a helpful old woods rood heading in the right direction. Followed that until there were too many intersections to keep straight and ducked into the woods, slabbing up, never really reaching the drainage until maybe 2100, at which point the drainage turned almost road like for a bit, we crossed and headed straight up in short/steep/open woods. Traversed across the summit cone and found the jar. Descending we crossed the drainage, but then just descended (rather than sidehilling), finally hitting the ATV road a bit lower than our entry point.
50 mins up / 30 mins down for both peaks from the landing, totaling 2:40, making this feel probably quicker than than approaching from the east - even with the extra drive time. |
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 | Name: |
Big Al Dente |
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 | E-Mail: |
bigaldentenh@gmail.com |
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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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