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Carr Mountain and Three Ponds Adventure

At the summit of Carr Mountain (3453')
At the summit of Carr Mountain (3453′)

I headed back to the Three Ponds area in the Southwestern corner of the White Mountains last Saturday to climb Carr Mountain. There’s something about this area that really resonates with me. It’s wilder and less visited than other parts of the White Mountains, but still accessible with a mix of moderate peaks, open forest, and an abundance of streams and ponds.

I started my hike at the Three Ponds Trailhead outside of Rumney, an eclectic town near Plymouth, New Hampshire, which was one of the birthplaces of modern (aid-free) rock climbing. Once through Rumney, I drove past Stinson Lake and onto a dirt road to the trailhead parking lot. A lot of the unpaved roads in these areas are “seasonal” so you need to be prepared for slippery conditions or closed roads if it snows.

It was cold and overcast when I arrived at the trailhead and there were already snow flurries in the air. I bundled up and headed over to the Kiosk to see what it had to say.

Three Ponds Area Map
Three Ponds Area Map

There isn’t a lot of information about the Three Ponds Area online, although I knew from my last trip here in October that the area is crisscrossed by logging roads and is popular with snowmobilers in winter. By reading the Kiosk, I also learned that trout fishing is popular on the Three Ponds and along Sucker Brook, one of the main watercourses through the area. I filed that fact away for next spring and summer. I really need to get some use out of the Tenkara rod I bought last year. I don’t enjoy hiking in the Whites in July and August (too hot, too many bugs, too many people), so perhaps the area would be good for a long fishing trip.

Three Ponds Trail Sign
Three Ponds Trail Sign

It was chilly, so I got started on my hike. The first 0.5 miles are on the Three Ponds Trail which is followed by 2.9 miles to the summit of Carr and site of the since-removed fire tower. At the onset, I hiked up a steep and quite wide logging road. The area has been carefully maintained, probably by snowmobilers, and there’s plenty of evidence of blowdown clearing and chainsaw use along the trailside.

Sucker Brook
Sucker Brook

After 0.5 miles, I came to the Carr Mountain Trail sign and got on a much narrower forested track which leads to Sucker Brook, and what must be a formidable water crossing in high water conditions. I managed to pick my way across, but many of the rocks were covered in ice. There are some nice looking waterholes just downstream of this point which might make good swimming in summer.

Yellow-Blazed Carr Mountain Trail
Yellow-Blazed Carr Mountain Trail

After the stream crossing, the Carr Mountain Trail climbs steeply, and I shed a layer. I had brought along 2 liters of water because I didn’t know how much water would be available on this hike, but there were ample seasonal and permanent streams crossing the trail and throughout the day. There’s no need to carry a lot of water in the area.

Onset of Ice
Onset of Ice

The trail got wetter and muddier the higher I climbed, but it was all frozen so I was spared that experience. Still, thick flowing ice had formed on the trail and over the bog bridges, which forced me to don microspikes for the second half of the ascent. The surrounding woods and ledges are covered in a heavy carpet of moss, suggesting that the area receives significant rainfall and mist year-round.

Carr Mountain Firetower Pilings
Carr Mountain Firetower Pilings

The ascent levels off near the top of Carr and eventually comes to an open summit. I stopped just before breaking cover to put on my hard shell, drink some water, and have a snack, before venturing into the open. The skies were still overcast and clouds covered most of the adjacent peaks. While Carr used to be on the 52 with a View Peak list, it was removed because the trees on the summit have grown and blocked visibility. I tried climbing up on the fire tower pilings and surrounding rocky outcrops but really couldn’t see much of anything.

Hare Tracks!
Hare Tracks!

What did strike my eye were snow hare print, traversing the open summit. I couldn’t tell how old they were although they must have been pretty recent. Why do rabbits (technically, hares) climb mountains? You have to wonder if they like the views too.

Western Half of the Carr Mountain Trail
Western Half of the Carr Mountain Trail

Once at the summit, it is possible to hike down the other side of the Carr Mountain Trail to Highway 25.  didn’t feel like going all the way, but figured it would be nice to hike down a mile or so and check it out. I’d read that this section of the trail is very poorly maintained, which turns out to be utterly false or out-of-date, at least for the section I hiked.

Frozen Blast Zone
Frozen Blast Zone

This section of the trail descends steeply, at first through a now-frozen blast zone, and then paralleling a partially frozen stream with lovely frozen cascades.

Frozen Cascades
Frozen Cascades

I followed the trail for about 40 minutes until the stream pulled away from the trail. I assume it continues down to Waternomee Falls and the spur trail to it further downslope. I turned and hiked back up the way I’d come, passing by the summit clearing and headed back down to the Sucker Brook Crossing and the Three Ponds Trail junction.

Views back to Carr Mountain from Three Ponds Trail
Views back to Carr Mountain from Three Ponds Trail

By then it was 1:30 pm, but still only 5 hours into my hike. Rather than drive home, I decided it would be fun to go and check out the Three Ponds Shelter, two more miles up the Three Ponds Trail. We’d walked by this on Andrew’s trip in October without stopping for a visit and I wanted to see what condition the shelter was in for future reference. I also wanted to see if I could get some more views of Carr Mountain from below and did a little bushwhacking along the adjacent beaver ponds to get a better view.

Snowmobile Trail Junction
Snowmobile Trail Junction

I followed the trail back over Sucker Brook, this time over a snowmobile bridge to a trail junction not marked on my map. There’s clearly a logging road/snowmobile trail called Annies Loop that runs from this point to Stinson Lake and is probably worth exploring someday. There are maps you can find with these snowmobile trails on them, but they’re rarely marked on the maps published by the AMC or Forest Service, which is a little frustrating.

Beaver Damn
Beaver Damn

I continued walking towards the Three Ponds shelter and came across a huge beaver dam that I admired for a while. I think beavers are the coolest animals. There’s a hiker spur trail that forks off the snowmobile road at this damn and follows Sucker Brook for about 1/4 miles past several picturesque cascades. There aren’t many good camping sites on it, but there may be on the other side of the stream.

Three Ponds Shelter
Three Ponds Shelter

After two easy stream crossings, I arrived at the Three Ponds Shelter and checked it out. The Kiosk had said that it was a five-man shelter, but it was considerably larger than that. It’s situated on higher ground, up from the bank of a large pond so there’s good water nearby, but it’s pretty run down with plastic bags weighted down by rocks to cover holes in the roof. I’ve slept in worse. My guess is that you could probably get 10 people in here if you had to. Definitely worth checking out though. There aren’t many shelters left in the White Mountains anymore.

Three Ponds Trail
Three Ponds Trail

I turned around at the point and hiked out the 2.5 miles back to my car. The sun had still failed to make an appearance and it was starting to snow. I thought about how I’d enjoyed my solitary walk: I hadn’t seen anyone all day, which is pretty rare for the White Mountains. The Three Ponds area definitely requires some more exploration in the future.

Totals – time 8:00, distance:  12.8 miles, elevation gain: 3000 feet

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About the Author

Philip Werner has hiked and backpacked over 8500 miles in the United States and the UK and written over 3000 articles as the founder of SectionHiker.com, noted for its backpacking gear reviews and hiking FAQs. A devotee of New Hampshire and Maine hiking and backpacking, Philip has hiked all 650+ trails in the White Mountains twice and has completed 10 rounds of the 48 peaks on the White Mountains 4000 footer list with over 560 summits in all four seasons. He is also the author of Backpacking the White Mountain 4000 Footers, a free online guidebook of the best backpacking trips in the White Mountains in New Hampshire and Maine. He lives in New Hampshire. Click here to subscribe to the SectionHiker newsletter.

12 comments

  1. Philip I would like to join some your hikes if that is possible and need to know where u post them.
    Thanks

  2. What’s a blast zone?

    • It’s not a technical term – just something I call the area below a summit (usually) which has suffered a huge amount of weather damage, usually from high winds and ice damage. Looks like a bomb went off.

  3. Maybe it’s a wascally waboose…

    • Those are definitely waboose tracks. You’ll see them a lot at that elevation–but rarely the waboose itself. They’re quite wascally.

  4. Enjoyed reading your account of your adventure here. it really has a great mix of slippery trails, wooded areas, icy peaks, etc. Would love to hike there. Would take a hiking buddy for sure.

  5. Alex D'Alessandro

    Where can i find the trail maps and topographic maps for all of the Carr Mountain trails? I plan on going up alone for some solitude in mid August for probably 4-5 days. And are there trails connected and along the ridge leading to the adjacent mountains?

  6. Thanks for all the info Philip. This looks just what I wanted for a foliage hike. And it sounds if I poke around at the summit, I’ll do fine on views.

    Thank You,
    Joey

  7. Hello Philip,

    What is the elevation gain from the trailhead to the shelter?

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