They are both compact, ledgy sub-3,000 foot peaks offering wide-ranging White Mountain vistas from their posts in the Sandwich Range.
Hedgehog Mountain is the smaller of the two at 2,532-feet, accessed by a nearly 5-mile loop trail that has a trio of viewpoints. Potash Mountain stands a bit taller at some 2,700 feet and is reached from the northeast by a 4.4-mile out-and-back route.
Both treks are reached from the same trailhead parking area across from the Passaconaway Campground, roughly in the center of the Kancamagus Highway between Lincoln and Conway, N.H.
Though the Kanc (Route 112) draws a large share of white-knuckled motoring leaf peepers during autumn’s peak colors, these two summits are excellent year-round choices for outdoor adventures.
Plus, hikers will notice the blue diamond markings of winter, showing that the trails are also intertwined for a few steps with cross-country skiing in the Olivarian-Downes Brook system.
I’ve climbed both several times in different seasons and return because of their stellar mountain platforms.
The trek to Potash and its distinctive white granite summit and ledges begins on the Downes Brook Trail which crosses by an old gravel pit before venturing into the woods and the Mount Potash Trail takes over. There, Downes Brook rambles under the watch of whimsical cairns. Plenty of strategic stepping stones make it a painless crossing in low water, but a high water crossing can be a challenge.
Venturing under the hardwoods, the trail passes through a pleasant hemlock grove before leading to a nice outlook on its shoulder with bulky 4,043-foot Mount Passaconaway taking a commanding role on the horizon and offering a small taste of what is to come.
From there, the pathway steepens through the spruce with some rocky footing until bursting out onto the slab stage.
The slabs and summit provide outstanding looks at the rippling Whites with the peaks reaching upward to the sky. The Sandwich Range and its wilderness lay to the south. The Downes Brook Valley with its slide can be spotted near the easy-to-spot triangular head of Tripyramid in the southwest, along with peaks like the sinister-sounding and trailless Fool Killer near Waterville Valley.
Mount Washington and its Presidential Range neighbor, Mount Eisenhower, touch the horizon to the north while Green and Owl’s Cliffs take hold in the foreground. Wildcat and its summits, plus the three Moats, are part of the alpine wave.
The rocky spire of Mount Chocorua sits in the eastern sky, flanked by its three lovely sisters as Mount Hedgehog occupies the foreground.
The spruce-filled Mount Hedgehog is reached along a circuit that provides three major view spots during the loop on the University of New Hampshire Trail, which has some history.
About a quarter-mile away from the trailhead on the Kanc stands the rustic Radeke Cabin by the Swift River. The cabin, in the pines and mixed hardwoods, was once a summer camp for UNH’s School of Forestry. The U.S. Forest service purchased the cabin, now open for year-round lodging, in 1969 and named the trail after the school.
Certainly, a loop outing can be done either way, and I’ve done both. I like clockwise because it gets some of the more moderate stuff out of the way first using some switchbacks to climb the slope after a jaunt on an old logging road. The way leads to the scenic East Ledges with outstanding views to the south and east. At first, the Moat Mountains stand tall. Then after a short scramble, it’s an outlook with Chocorua, Paugus and Passaconaway commanding the attention.
There’s still some more steeps and scrambles until reaching the summit with its ledgy panoramas out to Paugus, the Tripyramids, Osceola. There’s another spot that takes in nice looks at the eastern portion of the Sandwich Range and another north to peaks like Lafayette.
On the final leg of the loop, there’s an open expanse from Allen’s Ledge, named after a late 19th century outdoorsman named Jack Allen. No wonder the hunter, angler and guide spent time on the mountain and its area. The vast stunning scene of majestic peaks and soothing low-lying lands shows that one doesn’t haven’t to tackle the highest of mountains for the grandest of views.
Marty Basch ca be reached at marty.basch@gmail.com.