"This was the first nice Saturday in months, so the mountain was predictably busy. Temperatures in the mid-70s and intermittent wind which kept most of the bugs at bay. There was a slight haze, but nothing nearly as bad as earlier in the month. We left the trailhead around 11am and started up the White Dot Trail. The trail starts off moderately-sloped for the first three-quarters of a mile, then becomes increasingly steep until culminating in ‘The Chute’ – a sheer rock slide that requires holding onto some overhangs and hoisting yourself onto the ledges. After this, the rest of the hike is fairly straightforward with only a couple steep rock slabs to traverse. The summit was packed, but we still managed to find a place to stop and eat. We took our time, enjoying a warm summit finally free of bugs (although there were some bees flying around). After a little over half an hour at the summit we began the descent down White Cross Trail. We flew down the mountain, returning to the trailhead just before 3pm." — JCalautti • Jun 21, 2025

"My first hike in winter conditions and first use of microspikes. Monadnock already had a base of a few inches of snow, but about 5 more inches fell the previous day. The Monadnock State Park Headquarters are open year-round, but in the winter you pay the entrance fee at the park store instead of at the front gate. I set off along the White Dot Trail just after 10am. The initial section of the trail was a compact mix of mud, ice, and snow so I bare-booted the first half-mile. I turned left onto the White Cross Trail and it was obvious I was the first hiker on this trail after the previous day's snow. I put on microspikes once the trail turned northbound and began climbing in elevation. There were some faint tracks from a few day's prior that served as a decent guide, but I was largely breaking in the trail (I probably should've brought snowshoes for some sections). This was a great trail to learn to trust microspikes as the few steep sections are not exposed. Unfortunately most of the stream crossings were not completely frozen over, so I did get unnecessarily wet a few times, but luckily the temperature was not so low that this caused a problem (high 20s - low 30s). I finally came ..." — JCalautti • Nov 29, 2024

"Super nice day for a hike, headed up the Marlboro trail. Some clouds caused a few nasty wind gusts when we summitted. Swung down to Monte Rosa and we knocked off the Marian trail for the red lining." — Alohabuffy • Nov 7, 2024

"If you do all this challenge in a day, you are a full-blown mountain goat. I did 2 and I'm exhausted. Up to Town, down white dot trail. This is not to be underestimated. Great trail. Great day." — puddlepirate • Oct 19, 2024

"If you do all this challenge in a day, you are a full-blown mountain goat. I did 2 and I'm exhausted. Up to Town, down white dot trail. This is not to be underestimated. Great trail. Great day." — puddlepirate • Oct 19, 2024