HIKING BY JEFF NUGENT

    With today's trend of open lands and woodland paths disappearing or being closed to the public, we're fortunate that many organizations have rallied to preserve undeveloped areas and construct new hiking trails.

    Probably the best-known effort of this kind in Windham County is that being undertaken by the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association and the Putney Mountain Association. These two groups have spearheaded a campaign that has conserved well over 1,500 acres of land in Putney, Brookline, Westminster and Athens. Three-and-one-half miles of hiking trails are now open, and several more miles will be constructed soon.

    The Daniels Mountain Trail is but the latest effort of the Commission. Several years ago they opened the Ann Stokes Loop, and more recently, new trail segments were roughed in from. Route 119 up to Wantastiquet's Mine Ledge.

    The trail on Daniels is possible because of the generosity of three landowners who have donated conservation easements on their property. A fourth 1andowner has given permission for a portion of trail to pass over his land.

    According to Tom Duston, co-chairman of the Chesterfield Conservation Commission, New Hampshire state statutes clearly stipulate the conditions of conservation easements.

    While the Daniels Mountain Trail is now open to hiking, it still requires some work. Duston said that by autumn, we should start seeing more permanent trail marking and signs. Also in autumn, the Conservation Commission is planning yet another trail opening. This new trail will be a loop off the existing Daniels Mountain Trail and will provide a link to the Ann Stokes Loop. Its completion will allow several new hiking options, including a through-hike between Route 119 and Plain Road.

    After the Daniels Mountain loop is completed, the next major task will be creating a link between Plain Road and the extensive Pisgah State Park lands near Route 63. Once this gap is closed, a trail system and string of protected lands will extend for nearly a dozen miles east from Brattleboro.

    Trail Description 

    To get to the beginning of the mile-long Daniels Mountain Trail, follow Route 9 east across the Connecticut River into Chesterfield. Turn right just beyond the bridge, then turn left almost immediately onto Gulf Road. Note your odometer reading here.

    From this point, driving up Gulf Road brings you to Madame Sherri's and the trail-head for the Ann Stokes Loop at 2.2 miles. Continuing past Madame Sherri's, turn right at 2.8 miles onto Merrifield Road. The road becomes narrower and passes a series of intersecting roads; simply keep making right turns through this area. At 3.7 miles the road passes next to a cliff on the left and drops down a short, steep grade. Immediately beyond the cliff is a small parking lot on the left. The lot comes up suddenly, and if you miss it, you will soon pass a blue road sign labeled "Drinking Water Protection Area." This road continues to Hinsdale as Plain Road.

    From the parking lot, walk about 60 yards farther down the road and look to your right for some orange flagging and a small brown sign announcing the start of the Daniels Mountain Trail. The trail. for now is marked with yellow and occasional orange flagging. Following the trail, you drop to cross a small brook before climbing through a mixed forest with a stone wall on the left. This stone wall coincides with a town line; you are hiking in Chesterfield, but the land on the other side of the wall is in Hinsdale.

     The trail soon turns right, and you follow an old woods road on the level before turning left to climb some more. After flirting with the stone wall again, your route levels out briefly, passes a massive multi-trunked white pine, and turns left to climb steeply up a rocky, hemlock-covered hillside.

     The grade finally moderates, and you pass through a variety of vegetation types before crossing a beautiful fern-filled glade in a hardwood forest. At the far end of the glade, the trail passes a pipe marking the town line, and you climb, now in Hinsdale, to the top of Daniels Mountain. You are 1,203 feet above sea level, and about 500 feet higher than your car.

    Unlike many summits, the top of Daniels offers no view, but far-reaching vistas are not far away. Continue on the trail as it drops steeply from the mountain top to a junction marked by an orange arrow and blue flagging. Turn left here, and after another brief but steep descent, follow the up-and-down trail into a classic oak-hickory forest. The tree can be identified by its large, diamond-shaped leaves with wavy edges.

Daniels Mountain Southern View
(Click for detail)

    In no time you arrive at a rocky area with a gorgeous southward view of the Connecticut River Valley. Northfield Mountain forms the scene's backdrop, with the hills in Vernon to the right and the long ridge of Bear Mountain, descending toward the village of Hinsdale, on the left.

   For now, you have to retrace your steps back to your car. But if all goes as planned, by this fall you'll be able to continue exploring a permanently-conserved Daniels Mountain on a longer loop trail.