"Early morning hike to beat the heat/humidity. First ones in the parking lot at 7am. Shared the summit with a dad/son duo for a short time, then ran into one other group on our way down (no other dogs..win!). Bugs are out in full force, bug spray helpful but not 100%. Some small streams on the sides of the trail for the dogs to drink from. Steady elevation gain throughout entire trail. Some areas aren’t marked for snowmobile/hiking trail but we managed fine. At the summit can take hiking trail or snowmobile trail (both lead to same spot at summit). Summit is flat and no extreme drop offs farther back so dogs stayed off leash. Loved this hike! " — Sarmar021 • Jul 6, 2025

"A last minute change of plans due to running into off and on rain. Went up the trail and down the snomo way. Was going to try to snag the NE peak but the rain turned steady at the summit, which was clouded over, so I hurried down. Nobody else was stupid enough to be out today!" — SteveM_StickMan • Jun 17, 2025

"The coldest hike I've done so far, with temperatures in the teens to low-20s. Otherwise, it was a perfect bluebird day with minimal wind. Warm rain had fallen earlier in the week, creating large slabs of ice near the summit, but it did not wash away the snow base. The trail was broken-in with hard-packed snow and easy to travel up. I left my car around 11am, put on microspikes as soon as I hit the trail, and kept them on the entire hike. The start of the trail follows a series of mostly-frozen streams and only begins seriously gaining elevation about a mile in once it intersects with the snowmobile trail. Just as the trail begins to get steep, it tapers off with several switchbacks, although this was the point that many sections of the trail were covered in thick slabs of ice. Soon after, the trail levels out, I began to see sun through the trees, and I emerged onto the summit clearing, topped with the remnants of a fire tower. I had endless visibility with nearly 180-degree views to the south, and even could see into the heart of the White Mountains over some trees to the northeast. After enjoying the view with lunch, I set off down the snowmobile trail. Descending this trail was ..." — JCalautti • Dec 14, 2024

"Yesterday, Nora, Kali and I hiked Stinson Mountain in the NH lakes region. It's another on on the 52 (really 53) with a View list. Chilly, rather grey day, but it was still a nice hike and relatively easy compared to most of the ones here in NH. Only 1400' elevation gain over 1.8 miles up and about 2 miles down, as we went down on a snowmobile trail instead of the hiking trail." — Hufflepuff • Oct 20, 2019

"Stinson was one of the few choices we had that was out of the forecasted rain. A nice, easy hike, good view even with some cloud cover. The bugs were terrible! But hey, it's May." — gooner • May 26, 2018

"52 With a View Trifecta: Stinson, Blueberry, and Black (Benton) On most weekend days, one hike would suffice my desire to get outside. But this wasn’t your ordinary Saturday. What was supposed to be a one-off hike of Smarts Mountain with a group of college kids at the College Get Outside Weekend turned into a marathon of peaks, back to back to back. Lauren and I stayed at AMC’s Cardigan Lodge with a large group of college kids, some of whom were potentially going to hike with us. However, it didn’t seem as if people were diggin’ our idea, so we ended up all alone. No matter, we figured, we would go off and do our own thing. Looking at the map, it appeared as if we were closest to Stinson Mountain, and since I plan to complete the 52 With a View list someday, that appeared to be the best option. But when we flew up the uneventful mountain in 45 minutes, we realized that we would need to occupy the remainder of our day elsewhere. Atop the not-so-impressive summit of Stinson, we reexamined our options. If we wanted to finish off the day sweaty and tired, it made the most sense to do Blueberry Mountain. And hey, what the heck, Benton sounded like a good idea as well. R..." — justinraphaelson • Sep 12, 2015

"Nice hike up. Passed a family that camped at the summit and coming down a four people and their dog. Summit area great for children-enough open space to wander but not major cliffs. Had fun looking around for the 'relics' (old nails and some metal) from the removed fire tower. View to the south over Rumney to Cardigan cleared. The book view of Stinson Lake is fairly limited. " — hiking4000 • Aug 30, 2015