| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
South Hancock, North Hancock, Northwest Hancock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail, Bushwhack, Cedar Brook Slide |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 5, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
3-4 spots open before 8am. Jam packed lot in the afternoon. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All easy to cross with clear rock paths for hopping. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Someone has done a boatload of work on the trails. Erosion is mostly filled in and the nasty blowdowns between summits have been cut up and moved. Drainages were obviously raked as well. Thank you!
Cedar Brook below the slide is a wet mess with some avoidable blowdowns, but nothing worth making a special trip for. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
We saw Echo who was having a great day! |
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 | Bugs: |
Swarms here and there but none were biting |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Two of us set out for a fast hike followed by a patient one since one of us needed the Hancocks for July and the other needed NW Hancock for Trailwrights. The trail is in good shape despite the ongoing erosion the climb up to south. Take it slow and you'll be fine.
The bushwhack from roughly the north summit (we actually went ~100 yards towards south then turned in) over to NW Hancock is an adventure. Sections have clear herd / moose paths that are easy to follow for decent stretches, but then you end up in thickets of spruce wondering why you are the way you are. Just as you're about to convince yourself that professional help is probably a good choice, you find a herd path again and laugh at the silliness your mind just went through. Do that at 1 mile an hour and you'll be at NW Hancock. Make sure to go further right than you think and keep an eye out for the very impressive cliffs on the north side of the trail.
At the NW summit you'll be rewarded with a stove door, telephone wire and canister with plenty of paper, pens and pencils.
To get to the slide we took the herd path back to the col then went hard right. Stay on the spongey stuff for a while and eventually you hit Cedar Brook slide. The top is loose and slow going. The middle splits into three fingers, the middle one being the most stable. And the bottom is faster going than the top sections. The views from the slide were stellar and worth taking in.
At the bottom of the slide, follow Cedar Brook to the trail that bares its name. Then go left through wet stuff for just under 2 miles until you pop back out at an intersection you never thought you'd see from this direction. From there march out and chuckle at the fellow hikers that only did the standard loop, and not your anxiety fueled version to check a box on yet another list. |
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 | Name: |
Chad |
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 | E-Mail: |
chadwik66@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-07-05 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.instagram.com/p/DabG6mEkdBc/?img_index=1 |
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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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