A few years ago we hiked Rock Rimmon Hill in Danville/Kingston and found the place to be littered with trash, but figured with a nice covering of snow maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Since Sunday was far too nice to sit home we decided to take the kids back and test out my theory.

Stop and park here


Two routes up. Hiking Trail in orange. Jeep Road in blue.


After parking at the corner of Emerald and Opal Drive in Danville we started up the trail. There are two options for the half mile trip to the top. One is taking the straight shot up the old fire wardens jeep trail, and the other is to take the orange blazed hiking trail that snakes up and skips the lower part of the road before joining it for the last stretch to the top. That's the route we took. Skirting around a swamp near the beginning provides a brief change of scenery, as well as a bog bridge for the kids to cross which they always love for some reason. Then it was just a winding trail through the woods that made the 150 foot climb gently to just below the 350 foot high summit, at which point it joins the jeep road and gains the wide open summit ledges.

Trail starts near this sign


Bog bridge crosses a small swamp


Do beech trees ever actually lose their leaves??


Rejoining the jeep road


Almost at the summit


Blue sky and sunshine on top


The wide open view from the ledge


Glimpse of Long Pond


Geese doing a fly-over


Neither the hike nor the views would be anything special if they were almost anywhere else, but the huge expanses of open ledge and halfway decent view are unique for the area. The summit was once the site of a fire tower, but that is long gone unfortunately. The bare ledge still provides a nice directional view out over Long Pond towards the distant hills around Lawrence and Haverhill, Mass. Possibly a sight line to the ocean but it was hazy far out so I don't know for sure. So while not overly exciting, it was the perfect size for the kids to get out in the 45 degree sunshine and fresh 8 inches of snow. The sticky wet snow was also perfect for snowmen, so we made a couple of them to greet anyone who heads up there until they meet their demise. Finally after an hour or more up there some ATV's came rumbling up. We finished what we were doing and headed back down the way we came, getting back to the car after 3 ours of sunshine and fresh air.

Large open ledge for lounging or viewing


Starting the snowmen


The finished product


Modeled after Olaf, if you know who that is


Some ATV's showed up as we headed out


Olaf says goodbye!


Racing mom down


Getting a nice little track now


Over the bridge and that's all folks!


For the record that is 3 hours, 2 snowmen and 1 mile of hiking. I actually enjoyed this one much more than I did without snow. The 4 wheeler tracks are covered up as is the trash so it looks more pristine. There was even a contractor bag hanging from a tree branch on top for the trash, which was better than having it scattered all over I guess. For a little State Forest in SE NH it wasn't too bad this time. If you ever want to visit I'd recommend winter with snow, although for little kids it could be pretty nice in summer and probably has some great foliage views for the effort in Fall. In spring it is kind of muddy and without leaves you see a lot of trash, but any other time of the year I guess it could be worthwhile if it's local to you or you happen to be in the area.

Definitely way better with snow on it. You wouldn't even know that it's full of trash and graffiti .

I vaguely remember doing this as part of a big firetower blitz Greg and I did. I remember we picked the wrong end of that access road to start from...oops. Only once we got to the trailhead from the wrong direction did we realize the goof. Oh well, I do remember it being a pretty simple hike with a decent reward at the end. Looks like a better trip in snow, though (as I remember a few rather muddy spots near the start.)

Brian

1. A snowman with actual legs! Damn! That's impressive! That was just the right kind of snow for it.

2. Your girls may be the next generation's answer to Trail Trotter Sue. Don't know if she still does, but I used to read Big Earl's trail reports on VFTT, and she would build a snowman wherever they went! She actually did one all twelve months by hiking where you can find ice in the summer and she made a tiny tiny tiny one!

3. Lawrence and Haverhill. That gives me an idea..... "Hey Grammie, we can see your house from here!" "Yeah, well I can see yours, too !"

Thanks for this! We could do this with the girls some afternoon!

i'm going to start a new topic on those places under "Hiking," so as not to drift too much. See ya there!

Like you, we have been there twice, once in the winter and once in the summer. Winter is our choice of the two for the same reasons you mentioned. The Olaf looks great, nice job!