Mount Rowe

"This hike completes the Belknap 12 for me. Cool with slight breezes over 1500'. Encountered just a few other hikers out today. After summiting I stayed on the Ridge Tr. past Marge's Tr. until reaching the 1980' level, where I heard and saw a Pileated Woodpecker flying around the trees as I approached! Unfortunately it wouldn't let me get close enough for a picture. Since I had already done the remaining part of the trail to Gunstock, I ducked over to the nearby ski trail for the awesome views of Lake Winni and the Ossipees. Also picked up the North Spur and the BRT "bypass" on the way back for redlining. The sun broke through occasionally keeping the temps from getting too chilling. Now to concentrate on finishing redlining the rest of the trails!" — SteveM_StickMan • Nov 14, 2025

"Quick climb up Mt. Rowe to try and finish my Belknap 12. Very nice out considering how muggy it was yesterday and today. Only one other person on the trail. Not too buggy, but quite muddy. The view at the top isn't great, just a radio tower, but the approach down the way a bit is spectacular." — danielmartin • Jul 21, 2021

"Via Ridge Trail. This one was boring and steep. We saw a Porcupine in the trail and got pictures of it. No views at the summit. The trail basically crisscrosses the road that goes to the cell phone tower. The tower is about 200' away from the summit. There was a lookout at about 1575' and you could see Mt. Shaw and Winni. " — GreggC • Aug 24, 2020

"Molly and I teamed up with Nick for a red-lining hike up Rowe and Gunstock. We did the road walk up Rowe first. Then dropped down the base of Belknap before climbing all the way up, then heading over and tagging the summit of Gunstock. We then came down the Brook Tr. Afterwards, we went to Lone Oak Ice Cream in Rochester for the Scoops and Loops." — newenglandwarrior • Jun 7, 2020

"Took the ridge trail up to Rowe, nice views along ridge. Headed over to Gunstock, summit was busy with skiers. Took the Brook trail down, still lots of snow on the northern side!" — blackwolf_03278 • Apr 7, 2019

"Did the Belknap Range Traverse (alternate route) to hit 10 peaks and complete my Hike366 project. A really fun route! Left a car at the end of the hike and took an Uber to the starting trailhead. What an adventure." — beaucheminjess • May 10, 2018

"It was successful attempt in that I did make it to the summit, but not after making the terrible decision of not bringing my snowshoes with me. After seeing that the start of the trail was pretty well packed down, I went ahead and left them in my car and just went up with my spikes in case I ran into ice. Up to the upper junction with the Ben Weeks trail, this plan was okay. However, once I turned to continue up the Mt. Rowe Trail, I saw only one set of boot prints had headed up that way, thus making for a long, slow, tough drudge up the mountain. My feet were sinking in 12-18" in places, making for a somewhat 2nd half of the ascent. Basically, if you are interested in doing this mountain be sure to bring your snowshoes so you don't make the same mistake I did." — HikeLikeMike • Dec 16, 2017

"final hike for the belknap challenge... first peak of the day, passed a group of students during class....gorgeous morning and this peak had a few views along the way. Planned to hit 6 peaks today, left this one and went to shannon and goat." — shay-shay • Oct 24, 2017

"Because I was hoping to beat a coming storm, I took the Yellow Trail up. Then it connected with the Mt. Rowe Trail. The trail descended, and this isn't unusual, but it never seemed to go back up. Then I found myself at the connection of the Yellow Trail. I had done a circle! There's no marker on the summit so I'm not sure which high point is the actual peak. On the way back it rained. It got pretty heavy and very dark. At the end I ran across the bridge across the wetland behind the school because I was afraid of being hit by lightning." — NHClimber • Jul 23, 2016

"My pup and I went up the Ridge Trail. Well, we tried to go up the Ridge Trail but construction crews were at the base working on Gunstock's Mountain Coaster for the summer. Because of this, we had to walk up the beginner slopes of Gunstock and then work our way over to the Ridge Trail a little further up. It was a steep, sun-baked guantlet from hell but the view from the ridge at the top was awesome." — HikeLikeMike • Jun 4, 2016