| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Uncanoonuc Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Unnamed trail, White Dot Trail, Blue Trail, Class 6 Rd Trail, Red Dot Trail, snowmobile trail, South Mtn Loop Trail, Link Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, December 21, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
There are several small parking lots along Mountain Road at the many trailheads. I missed the parking area for White Dot Trail and instead parked at the Link trailhead, at the junction of the side road that leads to Upper and Lower Reservoirs. There's a kiosk here. There's some ice here, but also plenty of bare ground. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns, and in fact at the summit I met a crew from the state who were clearing blowdowns on other trails. Drainage wasn't an issue. Signage was an issue though - there are plenty of trail junctions that are completely unsigned, and several places where unsigned but obvious paths branch off of official trails but there's no signage or blazing to indicate which way the official trail goes. A few of the existing signs are small and easy to miss. One sign near the end is very misleading - more on that below. I'd recommend bringing a GPS or Alltrails to help keep you on track. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
None. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
A micro-spike was hanging on a tree branch along Blue Trail. Not knowing if someone had left it there and intended to come back for it, I left it there as well. |
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 | Comments: |
From the parking area, I crossed Mountain Road and followed it downhill very briefly before finding the trail that was shown on Alltrails but wasn't on the map at the trailhead kiosk. This trail is blazed in orange and roughly parallels Mountain Road. Some sections are icy and have slippery snow, so after about 5 minutes I put my spikes on and that helped dramatically. Just before descending to reach the start of White Dot Trail, I passed another trail that ascended in the direction of the summit - this trail was well-trodden and shown on Alltrails but was unsigned and not mentioned in the SNHTG. I started up White Dot Trail, and it was a mix of icy snow, icy ledges, and bare ground. Sometimes the bare ground was dominant, but other times there was a lot of ice. I kept my spikes on for the climb, even though there were plenty of places where they weren't needed, just because I didn't want to be constantly taking them on and off. Recommend older spikes or rock spikes for this section. As the grade eased at the top, the ice mostly disappeared and the ground was mostly bare. As I mentioned above, I met a couple of trail maintainers at the summit, but they came up yet another trail that is obvious but unmarked, unsigned, and not on Alltrails. Navigation is definitely something to be careful about while hiking in this area.
After I summitted, I wouldn't need my spikes for the rest of the hike. I descended Blue Trail, continuing past the junction with Red Trail (this junction is signed, but the sign is small and it's easy to walk right past it). Some of the ledges on this section had ice, but it was always avoidable. After leaving the snowmobile trail, Blue Trail was almost completely bare ground, and I flew down it to reach Class 6 Rd Trail. Just before reaching it, Blue Trail forks - the right fork is the official trail and goes down to Class 6 Rd Trail while the left fork is yet another well-trodden but unsigned and unmarked path that isn't on Alltrails. I think this path is a shortcut to Red Dot Trail, since I saw what was probably the other end of this trail on Red Dot Trail. Class 6 Rd Trail is obviously an old road, and quite easy.
The junction with Red Trail is signed, and I ascended it. It starts off gradual, then gets significantly steeper, and then gets very steep right at the top. Luckily, there was practically no ice here - it was almost all bare ground. I met two other hikers here, one of whom had recently thru-hiked the AT - that is quite an accomplishment! Upon reaching Blue Trail at the top of Red Dot Trail, I descended the snowmobile trail to redline it. There are several twists and turns, and junctions with yet more unsigned and unmarked but well-trodden paths - definitely bring a GPS or Alltrails so you don't make a wrong turn. When I got back down to Class 6 Rd Trail, I did the out-and-back to Mountain Road to redline the southern bit, and then did another out-and-back to redline South Mtn Loop as well.
I then followed Class 6 Rd Trail to its northern trailhead on Mountain Road. This section had a little bit of snow in places, but it wasn't too slippery. When I got to the road, I crossed it and ascended briefly the trail on the other side to reach the junction with Link Trail, which led back to my car. Only thing was, I hadn't gotten very far on Link Trail when there was a sign that said "Dead End, No Turn Around". This was very odd, considering that the foot traffic clearly continued ahead on that trail. There were diamond-shaped markers leading to the left, but they didn't go anywhere, so I continued straight on the trail despite the warning sign, and my Alltrails confirmed that this was the correct route. There were a couple of slippery sections, but it let straight back to my car. The only explanation I can think of is that the sign was meant for snowmobiles, not hikers, but there was nothing on the sign to indicate that, so it is a very misleading sign that should be either changed or removed.
This hike redlined all the trails on North Uncanoonuc that are on the SNHTG Redlining Spreadsheet. A fun little hike! |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-12-21 |
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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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