Best Early Season Hikes in the Northeast

AMC Outdoors, May 2007

It’s May. Mud Season in the Northeast. When snowmelt and spring rains turn many trails into soggy, easily damaged muck, especially farther north and at higher elevations. But it’s also the time of year when life explodes in green profusion and warming temperatures entice winter-weary hikers onto the trails. These seven destinations provide a solution to the mud-walking dilemma.

Burnt Meadow Mountain
Brownfield, Maine
A 1947 fire scorched the granite ledges of Burnt Meadow Mountain. It left superlative views in its wake. Today a calf-burning trail climbs 1,100 feet and past open views en route to the mountain’s 1,575-foot northern summit. Scrambling is necessary at times, but an outlook midway provides a breather and inspiration to complete the ascent. From the summit, views sweep across the rumpled landscape of western Maine, extending as far as the Presidential Range in New Hampshire. The unposted trailhead can be hard to find—look for it on Route 160, 3.1 miles east of the 113/160 intersection in East Brownfield.
Distance: 2.4 miles round-trip
Info: Maine Mountain Guide (AMC Books); USGS 7.5-minute Brownfield Quad

Welch-Dickey Loop
White Mountain National Forest, NH
May in the White Mountains has its attractions—painted trillium and hobblebush riot with flowers in the forest understory—but mud and snow still blanket many area trails. Mounts Welch and Dickey near Waterville Valley provide a delightful exception. Their south-facing slopes are often first to become snow-free and the low elevations of their summits (2,605 and 2,734 feet, respectively) make them ideal for an early season excursion. Climb Welch Mountain on a ledgy trail past unusual stands of jack pine, visit the view-laden twin summits, and then return down the flanks of Mount Dickey.
Distance: 4.4 miles round-trip
Info: White Mountain Guide, Map 4: Moosilauke-Kinsman (AMC Books)

Wapack Trail
Wapack Range, NH
This 21-mile trail traverses the Wapack Range, a low-elevation ridgeline running from Mount Watatic in north-central Massachusetts to North Pack Monadnock in New Hampshire. You can thru-hike the entire trail—spending the night at one of two shelters located midway—or just visit its best section: a long ridge walk over Pratt Mountain. Beginning from unpaved Binney Pond Road, the hike tours a sparse ridgeline with views of Mount Monadnock en route to the Windblown Cross-Country Ski Area on Route 123.
Distance: 5.6-21.4 miles one-way
Info: Guide to the Wapack Trail (Friends of the Wapack); www.wapack.org

Sandy Neck
Barnstable, MA
This six-mile-long spit of dunes lines the south shore of Cape Cod Bay and features a broad sandy beach along its entire length. A saltwater marsh divides the 1,500-acre peninsula from the mainland. Beach grass and twisted pitch pines nestle inland between rolling swales of sand. A series of trails link the beach with the Marsh Trail, which travels along the broad wetlands known as The Great Marshes. Motivated visitors can walk all the way to a lighthouse (off-limits) at the end of the peninsula. Come experience Cape Cod without the summer crowds.
Distance: 1.6-12.0 miles round-trip
Info: 508-362-8300; http://town.barnstable.ma.us/sandyneck/default.asp

Stepstone Falls
Arcadia Management Area, RI
In southwest Rhode Island lies a vast rolling landscape of streams, forests, ponds, open fields, wildflowers, and few people. The state’s largest protected parkland, 13,817-acre Arcadia Management Area beckons with more than 30 miles of early-season hiking opportunities. The Falls River—one of the state’s most pristine waterways—flows through its northwest corner, curtaining over bedrock at small Stepstone Falls. The Ben Utter Trail runs along the lush river corridor and connects with the park’s vast network of trails.
Distance: 2.6 miles round-trip
Info: Arcadia Headquarters, 401-539-2356, www.dem.ri.gov/maps/wma.htm

The Badlands
Sam's Point Preserve, NY
A forest of bonsai’d pitch pines blankets 4,600-acre Sam’s Point Preserve. Twisted into phantasmagoric forms, the trees thrive in arid soils that rapidly dry out in the warm days of spring. They are the defining feature of the Badlands, a broad area in the park’s interior considered to be one of the best examples of the globally rare dwarf pitch pine community. Nestled in the southern Shawangunks, the preserve also harbors an Ice Cave, where hikers can squirm through cold passageways; cascading Verkeerderkill Falls; and High Point, a remote summit that surveys the Badlands. A loop through the park tours it all.
Distance: 8.5 miles round-trip
Info: 845-647-7989, AMC's Best Day Hikes in the Catskills & Hudson Valley (AMC Books)

Saint Anthony's Wilderness
Appalachian Trail, PA
It is the second largest roadless area in Pennsylvania. Traversed by the Appalachian Trail, this rocky region was once the site of intense industry. Coal miners dug, railroads chugged, and small towns thrived. Today little remains. Three closely spaced ridgelines—Peters, Stony, and Second Mountains—compose the area, sheltering deep valleys laced with unmarked trails and forgotten remnants of history. Get a taste along the AT as it travels 14 miles between Routes 325 and 443 without crossing a single road. Rausch Gap Shelter offers an overnight option.
Distance: 14.4 miles one-way
Info: Appalachian Trail Guide to Pennsylvania, Sections 7 & 8 (ATC)

Contributors
Robert Buchsbaum, Author, Best Day Hikes in the White Mountains; Ann Chapman; Brenday Conaway; Mike Manes, Trails Chair, Delaware Valley Chapter; Christie Matheson, Author, Discover Rhode Island; Tamsin Venn, Author, Sea Kayaking Along the New England Coast

- Matt Heid is senior editor at AMC Outdoors.