| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Jeff’s Hill, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Longmarsh Road, Sweet Trail, Dame Road, Channell Loop, Jeff’s Hill Loop |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, January 27, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
We spotted a car at the parking lot for the Lubberland Creek Preserve which is just a tenth of a mile or so down the road from the nature conservancy (before you hit the conservancy if coming from Durham and it’d be on your right). The parking lot was soft and watery from the rain it FWD was okay. Just be careful and avoid the worst spots. Room for at least a half dozen cars here. We were one of three around 11am. Last one there at 3:30pm but another quickly came in. We then drove to the trailhead on Longmarsh Rd. The last mile or so of road is dirt but was in fine shape. Only parking for a few cars here. We were one of two at 11:30am. None on our return around 4pm. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
A couple small brook/inlet crossings. There were rock hops. Water is high from all the rain we got here on the sea coast Saturday night so while they aren’t large crossings, the water was still quite high and covered some of the rocks used to hop on at the inlet crossing around 2.8mi. There’s a bit of an obscure crossing at 0.5mi shortly after you turn right off of Longmarsh Rd and onto Sweet Trail. The trail crosses the brook (there’s blue arrows marking the Sweet Trail) right before it enters the marsh but we instead followed yellow arrows to the right which would have led us back to Longmarsh Rd. I was lucky enough to check Gaia at this time and realized we went the wrong way and were about to make a loop and we turned around. Where we did so the Brook was quite deep but the actual crossing downstream is much shallower and had well placed rocks. These crossings may have required wet feet had we done this trail Sunday morning. Unless water is very high you should be fine on this trail. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Not much in the way of blowdowns. Just a couple of insignificant step overs. Only one you really had to pick tour feet up for that was closer to the Great Bay end. There were some crazy widow makers (one of which I cluelessly stopped under) made by beavers right around the slightly obscure crossing at 0.5mi to watch out for. The trails are marked with white diamonds with blue arrows on them tacked onto trees. They are very frequent and make the trail easy to follow. The trail is signed where it needs to be although only a few of the signs have distances on them. Some intersecting roads/paths without signs but just pay attention to the blue arrows and you should be fine. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw two on trail. One very well behaved and unleashed. One very protective and aggressive dog but they owners had it on a leash and were up front about it. I appreciated the responsibility and courtesy! A bag of dog poop hanging from a tree along the trail unfortunately. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
I think there were a pair of glasses at each kiosk at the two ends of the trail. |
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 | Comments: |
My father and I were going to redline the Gunstock Mtn Trail and Winter Short Cut today in the Belknap but he wasn’t feeling up to doing something steep so we chose something nice and flat and in my hometown instead. There’s something very special about hiking in your hometown :) Although disappointed I only got one day on my three day weekend to redline in the Whites, it felt good to do a little redlining in the southern NH guidebook again AND do something in a tab other than the Belknaps.
This trail is mostly flat and has good footing compared to the Whites. There’s almost one wetland to at least one side of you and usually on both 😂 You’ll pass by LOTS of beaver dams and lodges and in summer I’m sure you see lots of herons and heron rickories. They really like this area :) There are also some benches along this trail (although not placed regularly) so I’d recommend this trail for elderly folk. If you’re redlining, you’ll probably find Gaia or so GPS helpful since there are a number of spurs, unmarked loops, etc although the most important ones are signed.
We started from the Longmarsh Rd trailhead. You need to turn right just before a bridge (bog bridges maybe?) over a wetland continues ahead. This is signed. Shortly thereafter you cross a creek/inlet to the wetland. There is an obvious path to your right though. Don’t take it as it loops back to near the beginning of the trail (the right hand turn off the trail for the start of this loop I noted, but is not as obvious - it’d be easy to walk by and not notice). You meet Dame Rd twice on this trail. The first time you cross immediately to the other side. The second time you turn left, walk along the road for 0.3mi and then turn left back on the trail (this just avoids crossing a large wetland I think). 0.3mi before you come to the road there’s a small clearing next to a parking area on Dame Rd for the trail with some info about the area. A stone bench/table is nearby. Just after the clearing, the trail turns right but if you continue ahead you’ll come near the wetland you can see through the trees at the clearing and there will be a nice boardwalk with a place to sit on tour left :) All the loops around Jeff’s Hill could be confusing. Again, if redlining, I’d suggest Gaia or something alike. The loop that actually goes to the top of Jeff’s Hill is called Channell Loop. A bench at the top (which is oddly split) is dedicated to the Channell Family. The Jeff’s Hill Loop coincides with the Sweet Trail and makes a complete loop around and offers a shortcut to the bay and parking area.
A mix of dry and wet trail. Some minor mud and a bit of standing/running water on trail but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. There is some ice so if you’re super cautious you may want to bring micro spikes but we never stopped to put ours on. It was very doable without them. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-01-27 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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