Take the 5 Hikes Challenge This Fall

Blaze a fistful of trails through NH's forests, mountains

September 8, 2021

New Hampshire Magazine Staff,

For the second year in a row, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests has organized a hike-it-yourself Autumn adventure that’ll put participants right in the middle of the state’s most eye-popping season.

The 5 Hikes Challenge is a self-managed series of excursions located throughout New Hampshire, offering hikers a chance to explore new trails and get themselves a little swag while they’re at it. Finish five hikes and you’ll get a buff, a map and a hiking patch.

Here’s how it works:

Visit the 5 Hikes Challenge page and register.
Choose up to five of the 20-plus suggested hiking destinations.
Receive a limited-edition Forest Society buff and your chosen paper map guides in the mail.
Hike.
Share your adventures online with the #5HikesChallenge hashtag. Then, send selfies to 5Hikes@forestsociety.org for an embroidered patch and stickers to mark your accomplishment.

The hikes range from easy to strenuous. For beginners, there are trails like the Dame Forest, in Durham – a 1.8 mile walk through wetlands and hemlock forests – and High Five, in Deering – a 0.7 mile climb on woods roadways that rewards with some fantastic panoramic views.

For those pursuing more of a challenge, Hedgehog Mountain in Deering provides a 1.2 mile round-trip climb up to Hedgehog Ridge with views of the Contocook Valley, and Andrew Brook Forest, which is a strenuous 3.8 mile climb along Andrew Brook to Lake Solitude on the eastern slope of Mount Sunapee.

Visit here for a complete description of each hike, complete with mileage, estimated effort required and region.

The challenge runs now through October 31, 2021.