Yesterday I decided to wake up and do a trail run up mt. prospect, a moderate hiking trail that I have done before.  This trail begins with a constant elevation and also has some very gradual parts. It has awesome footings the whole way up and about the first 8/10th of a mile the trail was actually part of an old road where they would bring people up from the hotels in the aread. This makes for a nice wide trail and it’s so old that you can’t even tell it use to be a road. Off the main trail there are other trails to explore. If you want to lengthen this run or hike this is a great way to do it, especially since all the trails eventually lead back to the main trail. After hiking for just under 1.5 miles you come to the summit of 2,064 ft; however, you only gain a little over 1,000 ft elevation from the trailhead. Once at the top you are greeted with some wonderful views. At this directional viewing area you can see to the east and south. Which, makes for a great sunrise run or hike (Recommended). And if you want different perspectives of the views you can explore some of the other trails because a couple lead to different lookout areas. When coming down it is easy on the knees since it is moderately sloped. Overall you can get up and down this hike in under 2 hours walking and under 30 minutes trail running depending on your pace.

 

Getting There

To get to this trailhead you take exit 25 off of I-93 and a left onto  RT.175. You only go about .4 miles on 175 till you take a left on Mt. Prospect Rd. near Holderness School. Continue up Mt. Prospect road for about 2-2.5 miles until you come to a big white farm house on your left. The trail is across from that houses yard and is marked by two big granite slabs laying flat on the ground.

FYI

A little more than half way up the trail it splits into two directions. It gives you the option of going LEFT or right. If you want to go to the summit and see the views take the trail to the LEFT.

You can tell you are at the correct split when you see the two trees marked with white on both where the trail breaks.

   This is where you want to go LEFT. The other trails brings you in a little loop part of the way down the mountain and eventually back to the trail you started on. Other than that the main trail is easy to follow to the top and you will see other trails on the way up which, I encourage you to check out if you have the time. Explore, enjoy and be inspired by nature!