I have hiked the Wantastiquet Mountain Trail only one time so far. It was on a beautiful spring day with a group of about two dozen hikers led by the Wantastiquet Monadnock Trail Coalition. They were celebrating the completion of a new hiking trail from Mount Wantastiquet to Mount Monadnock in southwestern New Hampshire.

This is an out and back hike or, better, place a car at each end. Fortunately the Chesterfield Conservation Commission provided a ride back to our starting point. Here is our group preparing to begin the hike.

A steady uphill hike of a bit over 1000 foot elevation gain on a broad path takes one to the summit of Wantastiquet in about an hour. Along the way are some interesting tree features.

It is amazing that the tree in the photo below managed to grow squeezed between those huge boulders.

We saw some vernal pools. One was directly on the trail.

A second was a bit off the trail.

We got a view to the west toward Brattleboro from the summit of Mount Wantastiquet.

We also had a view of mountains in Vermont, including Stratton Mountain shown below.

Here is part of our group at the summit.

Next stop was Mine Ledge where we had views to the south as well as east to Mount Monadnock. It might not look all that dramatic in the photo, but I was looking almost straight down at the boulders far below when I took the photo below on the left.

Below Mine Ledge we passed through a small beech forest. 

Around noon we got our first view of Indian Pond from above. The image immediately below is a composite of 16 individual photos.

We had lunch at Indian Pond. This is a beautiful spot. It must be great for swimming in the summer. It is an easy, slightly over 1/2 mile, walk from the eastern end of this trail.

The day we hiked this trail was beautiful and pleasantly warm, but the light was harsh and contrasty. This made the photography somewhat challenging.

Most people who know about a polarizing filter use it to darken blue skies. However I feel it is most valuable to cut glare from foliage. Here are two pairs of photos showing how using a polarizer cuts glare and allows the true color of the foliage to be revealed.

Near the end of our hike we crossed a small stream. It didn’t have much of a waterfall, but I love moving water so I couldn’t resist taking a photo.

That stream fed a small wetland.

We took a very short side trail near the end of the hike to visit the remains of Madame Sherri‘s Castle. There was a young couple photographing their dressed up young daughter. She did not appear to be very happy about posing.

You can read about Madame Sherri if you click HERE.

The western trailhead is at the end of Mountain Road in Hinsdale, NH just over the Route 119 bridge from Brattleboro VT. The eastern trailhead is in Chesterfield, New Hampshire at a parking area for the Madame Sherri Forrest along Gulf Road. The fastest drive between the two is through Brattleboro, Vermont, a town that often has a very busy Main Street.