Rockingham County High Point Trip Report
Nottingham Mtn (estimated 1,345 ft)
Date: July 12, 2002
Author: Mike Veazey
coordinates (43° 10' 40" N, 71° 18' 8" W)
This is one of the smaller county high points in New Hampshire but it is by no means the easiest.
There is a trail most of the way up with only a quarter mile of bushwhacking required.
Get there: Take Route 4 into Epsom to where route 107 South leaves (or joins) Route 4. Follow 107 south
a short ways to Echo Valley Road (a very sharp right hand turn). Follow the dirt road until it turns into
pavement again. Start looking for a dirt road on the left called Mountain Road. Take the left and follow it a
short distance to where it forks. Take the left fork which squeezes between three houses and then ends at a gate.
Park at the gate (or back at the fork if you don't want to park so close to someone's house).
From the gate follow the dirt road through pleasant, open woods past several side trails and logging trails.
There are many new lots being plowed out of the forest - I'm guessing they're for new homes. Cross a small
brook at a large cleared out area and stay on the main trail (it kind of forks here but the right hand trail is
very obviously still the road and still the way you want to follow). Eventually you'll hit another fork.
Stay left and continue on and you will once again hit another fork. I followed directions from other trip reports
and took the left hand trail. I think the right hand trail might actually take you up to the summit (but I didn't
try it - it's only a guess). The left hand trail heads steeply uphill to the col on the ridge between the North
Peak of Nottingham Mountain (referred to as "Hill 1191" by the other trip reports) then continues gently
uphill to the bald summit of the North Peak of Nottingham Mountain where there are some pretty good views.
From the col along the ridge I bushwhacked pretty much south sticking to grassy clearings separated by
short bands of thicker woods. The grassy clearings will lead you up to a rocky hump. From there continue
in a southerly direction (again sticking to the grassy clearings) to the next rocky hump. This is what I think
may be the true summit. However the other trip reports state that the true summit is yet further south.
I could only eyeball it and guess since the USGS topo map shows it could be either. If you want to do both
just to make sure you'll want to change your direction to east-southeast and walk across a small dip some
150 yards long to a much smaller (in area) rocky hump where an ATV trail swings through the woods.
There's an old stone chimney here and an outhouse (strange but true). Weather this is the true summit or not,
its really hard to say. If you have time try the ATV trail and see if it links up to the fork I talked about
earlier and post your findings.