Bald Knob

"Also bushwhacked following game trails up to Columnar Jointing Hill off the Bald Knob Cutoff Trail. No real views at all. Further along the trail there is an informational display next to a vivid evidence of columnar jointing rocks, one of very few displays of this in the east! This was all before I even got to Bald Knob with its fine 180 degree views and the only breeze I experienced. Took the Bald Knob and Turtleback Mt. trails back down. I happened to see the Pine Lodge remains about 1/2 mile from the kiosk at the end. Very cool relic. There were more pesky mosquitoes than black flies on both my ascent and descent." — SteveM_StickMan • Jun 2, 2025

"Hike #1 Started at 9:55 and finished at 1:45. Lower parking lot Shannon Brook to Bald Knob cutoff to Bald Knob to Turtleback Mountain down to cutoff to Shannon Brook and finish. Very windy day. Hurricane levels at the summit. Started out mostly cloudy and finished mostly sunny. 43 degrees to start and and 52 degrees at the finish. No bugs! Averaged 41.07 MPM started at about 700'. Had 900' of elevation gain over 2 miles. Some steep spots but not very technical. " — GreggC • Apr 23, 2021

"Nice walk up Shannon Brook Trail where water was running well over small falls. Started bare-boot but quickly decided to put on light traction due to steep, long runs of ice on the road trail. Lots of areas of open rock and dirt, especially near the first overlook on the Bald knob cutoff trail. After the overlook, when trail descends slightly into a saddle before the junction with the Bald knob trail, snow was a little deeper. Trail itself was well packed but in the warming morning, off-trail snow did not support weight and I post-holed a little. In this same area, there were some stretches of standing water on the trail which can be hiked around. " — rjnick • Mar 7, 2020

"Today I hiked with my 9 year old...with a plan to hit Bald Knob and then Turtleback... I took her up a blue trail right after the christmas tree farm and it was a steep climb. She was exhausted and a bit whiny! Ill admit it was way steeper than I thought...but I guess the only way to get to 2195 in one mile is for it to be really steep! We went a bit farther to bushwhack to Turtleback but about halfway she complained she was dizzy...so we decided to save that one for another day. We ended our hike by cutting down our christmas tree! " — shay-shay • Dec 4, 2016

"Final peak of a loop hike hitting all five peaks on the property of the Castle in the Clouds for hiker challenge. A nice 15 mile jaunt with great views and only saw two other hikers toward the end." — Nimblefoot • Aug 30, 2016

"Decided to work on another mountain range that I always looked at when I was on the other side of lake Winnie in the Belknap Range. The Ossipee Mountain Range is within the Lakes Region Conservation Trust at Castle in the Clouds. There are 30 miles of trails and five peaks. Not all trails lead directly to summits but the requirement to be eligible for a patch is to do all thirty miles plus the peaks. Today I started at the Shannon Brook Trailhead." — StoneMan • May 10, 2015

"I've climbed Bald Knob a few times in the past, and it always delivers a great view. It is a little harder than it might look. It's about 1,800 straight up, constant incline. We took our dog up and he was beat by the time we got back down. " — Heald15 • Sep 11, 2011