Kidder Mountain: A Fantastic Wapack Trail Side Trip

Spur of the moment, into the woods we went

I didn't plan on hiking anywhere yesterday after having gone up Kearsarge with my wife and pup the day before for some fantastic late afternoon views. However, as I was outside in the morning cleaning out our cars, looking at the magnificent clouds in the sky matched against the fall colors with the unseasonably warm temperatures making it all feel just perfect, I knew it was too nice a day not to go hiking; so I settled in front of my computer after eating lunch the find a hike quick enough to fit into a spur of the moment afternoon trip. Eventually, I ended up at one of my favorite trails in southern New Hampshire, the Wapack Trail. Looking for a section of it I hadn't tackled yet, I found the spur trail off of it up to Kidder Mountain. At 3 miles round-trip, I knew I could fit it into the afternoon, so off my pup and I went!

I decided to start from the parking area for the Wapack Trail off of NH-123/124. However, as I quickly learned after arriving, there are two parking areas for this section of the trail. The first one I stopped at was directly across from the Windblown XC Skiing sign along the highway. When I pulled in I saw a couple other cars there, so I figured I was in the right place...except for the fact that I didn't see a trail or signage anywhere in the parking area. After looking a little harder, I found what looked like a small footpath at the back of the parking area, so we headed up that way into the woods. We quickly turned around, however, when I didn't notice any of the traditional yellow triangle blazes (the Wapack Trail has always been very well blazed in every other portion I've hiked) and the "path" I had first followed dissolved into nothing but overgrowth.

The correct parking area off of Old Rindge Rd.

Back in the parking area, the other folks who had parked there happened to have come back from their hike, and they informed me that the correct parking area/trail start was back down the highway directly off of Old Rindge Rd; so we walked out of the parking area we were at, turned left and started walking south down NH-123/124 until I saw the street sign for Old Rindge Rd. and, lo and behold, another parking area complete with yellow traingle blazes and a Wapack Trail sign. From there, we were on our way!

The yellow triangle blazes of the Wapack Trail

This hike kept us on the Wapack Trail for just over half a mile, with much of it just being a gentle meander through some gorgeous autumn woods. The trail was well-blazed as I expected, and very dry from having no rain in quite some time. A brief portion of the trail opened up into to what seemed like someone's backyard, but was back in the woods after some quick elevation gain up a short rocky stretch.

Turn LEFT here

At about a half mile, there was a T-junction, with a sign denoting a left turn to stay on the Wapack Trail, and nothing noting what a turn right meant. I knew from my quick research beforehand that we had a right turn around this area to go up the Kidder Mountain Trail, so we took this one...only to be wrong again! Thankfully I'd read we should have hit the power lines quickly, and once we didn't I knew this turn was a wrong one. Therefore, we backtracked, got back on the Wapack Trail, and shortly thereafter ran right into the power lines with a clear sign marking our right turn to head towards Kidder Mountain.

Kidder Mountain trail sign on the gravel road

Similar to the Wapack Trail blazes, Kidder Mountain blazes are blue triangles

From here, there was no more confusion from the signage and blazes and the path to the summit of Kidder was well-marked. It was a quick walk along the gravel road running alongside the power lines before another sign directed us to cross back into the woods. Once in the forest, the trail was much like the Wapack section had been, adding in several elevation gains I would call the easy side of moderate. The footing changed from a forest floor of pine needles, fallen leaves, and dirt to a rockier path as the trail climbed to small ridge for a good stretch. After a couple more easy climbs, including walking by what looked like some very fancy bird baths–especially for how far into the hike we were!–we arrived at the open directional views of the Kidder summit.

Interesting "bird baths" along the way

The summit was dominated by a long, low stone wall that almost sliced the mountain in half. There were several cairns all along this area that led up to a small one at what was the high point of the summit as far as we could tell. There were a couple smaller side trails that led into the woods at the top, but none of them led to anywhere in particular as far as I could tell. I had seen photos of people next to a summit sign for Kidder, but I missed it or didn't run into while I was there.

Fantastic views from the summit

The view from Kidder was fantastic, especially for such a small peak. Most all of southern New Hampshire stretched out in view. I had read that on a clear day folks have claimed to have seen the Boston skyline from the summit, but with a bit of haze on the distant horizon, I couldn't verify the claims. It didn't matter though, as the views of the nearby peaks set again the unbelievable sky were plenty enough for me.

Enjoying a cairn's-eye view

 For a last minute trip, Kidder very much exceeded my expectations. It was an easy hike that I thoroughly enjoyed with a huge payoff of a view at the end making the whole trip worthwhile. Knowing all the corrections now, I'm guessing I'll enjoy it even more the next time I get around to visiting. I can't recommend the Wapack Trail enough, as this hike made that path that much better. If you haven't gotten around to checking this mountain out I highly recommend it. It is a great bang-for-your-buck hike.