Stinson Mountain Trail is a 3.4 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Rumney, New Hampshire that offers the chance to see wildlife and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
Gradual climb good for beginners, rated as a moderate hike
Remote trail-head, small parking area off a dirt road ( Doe Town Road, unplowed) A parking permit is required to park at White Mountain National Forest trailheads and parking areas. You can purchase a WMNF permit from the forest service and other vendors and can also pay-by-the-day using self-service kiosks located in many parking areas.
Take exit 26 off of I-93. Follow Rt. 25 west for 7.3 miles (Toward Rumney). 2nd Flashing light Turn right onto Main Street which becomes Stinson Lake Road. Follow this road for 5.0 miles . Just prior to the lake, floowing hiking sign, turn right uphill onto Cross Road (if you reach the general store and post office then you've missed the turn) Follow Cross Road for 0.8 mile and then turn right onto Lower Doe Town Road. When the road is clear, proceed 0.3 mile, bear left at fork and into a parking lot; on left
Thursday, February 18th Almost gave this trail 3 stars because of the road walk made for snowmobiles, but once you cross over back onto the trail, the trail is beautiful. The switchbacks lead you to an incredible opening with stunning 360 degree views. The pines at the top are so pretty and feel like you are in Christmas Town. I had spikes on, but most people I saw only had their winter boots. Overall, fairly easy 52WAV. Small area for parking.
Great winter hike. Trail was well packed down. Used micro-spikes but probably did not need them. Trail does cross snowmobile trail. At the 2nd snowmobile crossing go left up a slight incline for less than 2 tenths. The trail will be on the right with a sign for the trail. Great sunrise hike.
Great day catching this hike before the snow-micro spikes were enough; trail is well packed down; winter wonderland as it started snowing on the return trip.
Best to use the trail with snowshoes, I hiked with microspikes and they didn’t help much. The snow was very fluffy and not packed down. There is a snowmobile trail that crosses the trail and stops at the top of the mountain. They weren’t considerate when hikers were crossing the trail. That being said the view and snowy trail is beautiful and worth the hike!
Great trail for a slow day! The trail is not marked very well, but the trail is easy to follow. This, as long as you jog left/north at the second snow-mobile trail. The view is great for such a short hike. Even if it is a little fogged in. I broke the upper 2/3rds of the trail after 2/2 snowstorm.
A beautiful and easy hike! It took us 2 hours round trip with a break at the top and short breaks on the way up. We saw few people and had the summit to ourselves which was awesome! The snow capped views were beautiful. There’s parking in a small lot for like 5 cars and we got there at 730 with 1 car. By the time we left at 930/10 it was full. A nice easy hike!
Very pretty view! Be warned there are snowmobile trails crossing the hike in 3 places. which takes away from things a bit when the machines run through. Also when you get to 2nd snow mobile crossing take a left and go up the hill to reconnect with the trail.
Quick, easy and beautiful hike. Probably could have barebooted it, but spikes were great to have. Not many blazes. I think I saw 1, but Ken's description in the 52 WAV book was helpful and the trail was very clear with snow pack.
This mountain is so so beautiful! Didn't use spikes. My new favorite winter hike!
COLD and WINDY! 3deg at the bottom 20-30 MPH winds But wait there’s more! Beautiful views, however it was so cold I could only take my gloves off for a minute to take pictures. It was an invigorating hike!
Great hike, well packed down. Temps in mid 20’s, sun opened up for top third of hike and throughout our time on the summit. Magnificent views from every viewpoint.
A great winter hike! Not too steep so especially if you're new to snowshoes I think this is a great option. There is a sign asking hikers to park at the intersection of Doetown and Cross roads as of today. Wore snowshoes today, but the snow is pretty well packed and SS probably won't be necessary much longer. Not quite enough snow for snowmobiles to make it to the summit loop, but we saw one just below the loop.
Dec.12.2020: First hike up Stinson! Trail and surrounding woods entirely snow / ice covered. Microspikes needed entire way. Solid monorail being formed that has mostly covered all low lying roots and rocks. Starting to pack in the larger gaps between larger rocks even. Snow depth at start and up to the snowmobile junction is just a few inches, while above that the off-trail snow is 6+". A bit of slush and loose crunchy snow on trail near the top. Summit has layer of ice or packed snow mixed with some exposed windswept granite. With much colder temps coming this week, expect the trail to harden up more.