Wapack Trail/Marion Davis Trail is a 2.7 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Peterborough, New Hampshire that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from April until November. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
dog friendly
birding
hiking
nature trips
rock climbing
snowshoeing
trail running
walking
forest
views
wild flowers
wildlife
rocky
scramble
Parts of the Marion Davis Trail and Wapack Trail pass through The Nature Conservancy's Joanne Bass Bross Preserve, 501 acres of wilderness conserved in 2001. It's part of a 2,700-acre swath of contiguous conserved lands, including the Wapack National Fish and Wildlife Refuge on North Pack.
Great trail. Very quiet and perfect workout!
I did the Marion Davis Trail up. Very muddy from the rain the night before. If you're hiking anytime soon, make sure you wear some good hiking boots. I ended up just walking down the road instead of the trail due to the mud and slippery rocks. The summit has some nice views. Just try to ignore the parking lot, at the top
good warm up trail
Fun moderate hike. It had my gf and I stopping to take breaks but we aren’t that in shape lol. We live about 10 minutes away and it’s great to do after work. We did some geo caching that made it take a little longer. Altogether it took about 3 hours with the searching for caches. We did not mind the parking lot up top one bit. The fire tower was cool to get some good views. Will be frequenting this mountain!
This is a challenging hike for the novice. The summit is great and there is a fire tower there.
Excellent hiking trail! Went up Marion Davis and down Wapack Trail. The weather was beautiful and we got some amazing views of Mount Monadnock and could even see Boston. The bathrooms were very clean. The only reason for 4 stars....I don’t like coming off the trail at the summit and walking onto a parking lot. And, I would rate the hike as moderate.
Overall great trail, however the top is a disappointment due to cars being able to drive up. I took the blue up and the yellow down, I would reverse it next time. The yellow was pretty rocky near the bottom, and I would rather climb up that in the beginning, than down at the end. The also yellow had a couple nice overlooks to stop and get a view. Bring cash to park.
Rating should be changed to moderate
Awesome hike! It’s Memorial Day, cool, cloudy, and still wet from the rain last night...I’m not sure how that affected the traffic but it was a perfect crowd. We didn’t feel alone but it wasn’t so packed that you have to hug a tree to let people pass every few minutes. My 10 year old daughter and I found the hike up Wapack too easy so we took the loop trail around the summit before heading down. It was our first time hiking on wet rocks but there was enough soil on the Marion Davis trail down that we didn’t get into trouble. I would not want to do that on Monadonock!
Only reason for a 4...didn’t love the parking lot at the top.
Views at the top were awesome even though it was a bit hazy. This was the first time I had done this hike. Went up the blue trail and came down the yellow trail. Don’t think I would do it in reverse. Yellow trail involves a lot of climbing near the bottom before it eases up a bit. Make sure you have good shoes. Only issue were the bugs. They were out with a vengeance.
Beautiful day to see these views! My only complaint was the bugs were out with a vengeance. Took the yellow trail up and blue back. The way up involved a lot more climbing. Wear good shoes.
For an inexperienced hiker its a pretty nice hike, but if your experienced this hike is a breeze and you can do it fairly quickly. If your able to hike this on a day with little to no clouds you can actually see Boston, Massachusetts from the top of the fire tower.
The trail starts off by steeply ascending a rocky slope with decent views. The grade then moderates, and reaches the summit at about 1.4 miles. From the fire tower, there are great 360 degree views of southwestern New Hampshire, the Green Mountains, and–on a very clear day–the Boston skyline and the White Mountains. The return route steadily descends over rolling terrain before reaching the parking lot.
Lynda B.
This was my first time doing a winter hike and the challenges were outstanding. Once we got up to the summit, the views were magnificent. And then the walk down was beautiful. Thank you Jeanne Blauner and Rick.
Solid up hill right from the start to the peak of Pack Monadnock. Some craggy sections early on. There were people counting the migration of raptor species of birds which is cool, made for some interesting conversation at the top of the hike. Continued on the Wapack Trail up to the North Pack and back before continuing down the Marion Davis trail. Fun descent can be made quick tip toeing and dancing across rocks. There was some surface coming down so spots where slick. All in all a good fall hike.
Wonderful! Would describe as moderate-to-hard. Lots of rocky sections, sometimes slippery. Next time, I want to bring binoculars to get in on the birding action. I continued on the Wapack Trail to North Pack summit, the spot with the cairn, which took me about 1.5 hours. Wish I had continued onto Cliff Trail but was worried about the woods getting dark.
I hiked the summit road in the dark, a bit spooky & arduous with a 20 lb pack full of camera gear. Well worth the hike. See my uploaded shots of the sunrise. Although not on the All Trails list of trails it's a good climb
Wonderful, slightly challenging hike. very friendly staff and beautiful views from the summit. please note that that before 5 pm there is a $4 per person charge but they do take plastic.
Mike M.
Staff at parking lot were great!
A bit disappointed to see cars at the Summit. Great hike after a day of rain. Rocks weren't too slippery and you can hop from rock to rock and that way not destroy the trails. Up Wapack, down Marion Tr.
Awesome hike, dog friendly is a big plus!
One of my favorites! Definitely take the Wapack up, and the Marion Davis down. Great views of Monadnock early on (not so much at the summit). I went on a weekday and literally saw 3 other people. Went more recently on a weekend, and it was busy, but not overwhelming. I was fortunate enough to see the Boston Skyline and snow covered Mount Washington both times! Fairly easy hike, and would absolutely recommend for new hikers!
Loved this hike. I hike this every other week
Loved this hike. I hike this every other week
After a warm spell the last couple of days I thought I would give this a try with my dog. It was a nice work out scrambling up boulders and searching for a path through the large patches of ice covering the trail. Took about an hour and fifteen min stopping a few times for water and to let people pet Marley. After we got to the top we jogged down the access road to finish the workout. Crampons needed for this trail right now.
Scott B.
lots of access points. well maintained. good views
The hike was just the right amount of challenging and the beauty along the way with the winter icing was gorgeous! The trees protect you from the wind on the trail but not at the top so dress warm if you go mid winter! The hike heats you up but once you stop moving and are out in the open brrr! Have fun
Wasn't prepared for the rockiness but it was a great hike. Fabulous views and the fall colors were beautiful! And my Setters loved!
great views throughout the hike!
Nice easy kid friendly, dog friendly trail. Great for a short morning hike before lunch.
This is a great hike for a reasonable investment of time. It's listed as hard which is appropriate at certain stretches but at other times it's moderate. The view is quite good at the top and you have the option of the auto road if you want another option straight up or down. Not as visually breathtaking as its close neighbor Mount Monadnock but well worth the time. For the best circuit I recommend going up the Wapack and down the Marion Davis trail.