Mount Monadnock rises impressively above the gentler hills of southern New Hampshire. Though only 3,165 feet high (about half the height of Mount Washington to the north), it has a solitary grandeur that has attracted hikers for more than 2 centuries. The knobby peak was climbed by New England literary luminaries such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Today, more than 100,000 hikers follow their lead and head for the summit each year. It's not a place for solitary walks.
Some 40 miles of trails lace the patchwork of public and private lands on the slopes of the mountain. The most popular (and best-marked) trails leave from near the entrance to Monadnock State Park (tel. 603/532-8862), about 4 miles northwest of Jaffrey Center off Rte. 124. (Head west on Rte. 124; after 2 miles, follow the park signs to the north.) A round-trip hike on the most direct routes will take someone in decent shape about 3 to 4 hours. The park is open year-round (a ranger is on duty until 9pm in summer). Admission to the park costs $3 for adults and children 12 and older, $1 for children ages 6 to 11, free for children age 5 and under and senior residents of New Hampshire. No pets are allowed in this park. There's also camping at 28 sites in a small camp area, 10 available by reservation only, for $23 per night.
Just an 18-mile drive north of Monadnock, not far from Hancock and Peterborough, lies a smaller park, which is nevertheless a gem: Greenfield State Park (tel. 603/547-3497) on Rte. 136, open late May through Labor Day (Sat-Sun only until late June). The 400-acre park is great for both car campers and geology buffs. It was profoundly shaped by glaciers during the last Ice Age, and eskers, bogs, kames, and other intriguing geological formations can easily be spotted (ask a ranger to point them out). The park also maintains a small beach on scenic Otter Lake, plus a separate 900-foot beach set aside for campers who avail themselves of the 257 wooded, well-spaced campsites (most of them by reservation only); cost of the sites is $24 per night (no electrical hookups). On Saturday and Sunday, the campground bustles with activity, but Monday to Friday it's a peaceable oasis.
The day-use fee for the park, as it is at most New Hampshire state parks, is $3 per adult and $1 per child ages 6 to 11.
