Belknap Gunstock Loop Trail is a 4.2 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Gilford, New Hampshire that features a river and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
February 28, 2021It was an incredible day today. Bright sun and no wind at all. Micro spikes required to traverse the snow.
February 4, 2021Trail was not packed. Went up orange to green to summit Gunstock, only one hiker had gone before us so we followed their tracks. After Gunstock took yellow. Where it changed to white there were zero tracks so had to abandon our attempt at the loop. Snow was knee-high and we did not have our snowshoes. Followed Blue back to carriage road. We were less than .8 miles from completing the whole thing.... disappointed but safety first!! Definitely would rate this “extra hard” after snow! Will be back in the spring to do Belknap, Whiteface and Piper together.
February 4, 2021January 31, 2021nicely posted easy to follow. plenty of views
January 19, 2021January 11, 2021December 16, 2020October 28, 2020Rain at the bottom and snowing lightly at the top! A perfect day!!!!
October 24, 2020October 23, 2020Definitely a hard trail but the view was worth it! It was foggy up at some of the peaks for us so we didn’t have the best day for views, but caught a good one on the way down. The rocks are slippery and the trails are steep so definitely wear hiking shoes. Trekking poles recommended. Overall good trail!
October 4, 2020Great hike! You can park all along carriage rd. after the gate It is actually a dead end rd. So if you want to park closer to the blue or green trail park at the end of carriage. We took orange up clockwise to yellow to white to blue then green and walked down the rd to our car. Highly recommend this way, much easier going down.
October 4, 2020well marked trails easy to follow. beautiful day skip Piper because we parked Faraway on Bickford not enough time took the Carriage Road cut off 12 mile round-trip day
October 4, 2020Going clockwise was great as you walk up the mountain clockwise. If you go counterclockwise from the trailhead the route has you on the road. I would disobey that and take the blue trail counterclockwise or come down from the top on the blue trail avoiding the street.
October 4, 2020October 4, 2020September 27, 2020September 27, 2020September 5, 2020trails are in great condition. we cheated and parked in the upper lot, but coming off a knee injury so it felt less like cheating than just being prudent... belknap has a fire tower for the view. gunstock view of the lake is spectacular
August 26, 2020Awesome trail, well marked, beautiful views from both gunstock and belknap. Will definitely do it again
August 1, 2020Very rough to go up the orange path, but a good wind down for the last half mile in the other direction. I might reverse my path next time. Also was disappointed that the top of gunstock was a ski area instead of just open views, but it was still gorgeous.
July 5, 2020The orange trail is just past the gate on the left The white trail dumps you on a dirt road and then pavement for a short walk unless I messed something up. All in all I enjoyed the hike
June 14, 2020Great trail, especially for dogs. Not super hard, but did it on a particularly hot day, so felt harder than it was. My dog hiked the trail off-leash the entire time without issue. There was a stream at the bottom for my dog to grab water, but no additional water sources on the way up, so would suggest bringing some with you!
June 10, 2020Just finished my hike and it was a great time. The trails were marked very and the view was incredible. Going back to do it again.
June 9, 2020Muddy beginning but dry otherwise. Nice, well marked trail. Despite this, I managed to accidentally wander onto a bushwhack up Gunstock after the lookout (the little "elbow" on the trail after it splits from the winter shortcut). Fortunately it seemed well established and was easy to follow. Carriage Road is a somewhat boring descent unless you really like ferns. If you have the extra time and energy for another ascent I suggest Old Piper to Piper Mountain trail instead. Bugs were only in big numbers at the summit of Gunstock. Lots of spiderwebs throughout the woods though. I'll take that trade-off.
May 31, 2020Well marked and some great views. Went up Gunstock and over to Belknap. Trails were easy to follow. There are some areas that are steep, so keep in mind for some hikers.
May 17, 2020April 19, 2020This was not my favorite hike, at least not in april. Most of it was very sunny because there arent many coniferous trees and the leaves havent come in yet. A huge section of the hike is on a steep paved/dirt road which doesnt make for the nature-immersion feel I like when hiking. It's also packed right now due to corona virus and being pretty close to Boston, not enough trail for people to spread out on. Also I didnt realize it was two summits, although theres opportunities to take other trails than the one planned out here so you can easily skip the second one.
