How to Hike Mt Paugus via Kelley Trail and Old Mast Road
Mt Paugus, on New Hampshire’s 52 With a View list, is a lovely mountain in the Sandwich Range Wilderness. If you are headed out to explore near Conway or Tamworth for the weekend, this peak is a great day hike to add to your list of activities. Other mountains in the same range include Chocorua, Passaconaway, Whiteface, Hedgehog, Wonalancet, Tripyramid, etc.
If you are headed up even further north to North Conway, read my list of 7 Things to do in North Conway on Your First Visit.
The Sandwich Range is south of the Kancamagus Highway so if you choose a trailhead off this road, the scenic drive alone is well worth it! The Kancamagus has lots of beautiful outlooks, trails of all difficulties, and is overall a fun, winding road crossing east to west in New Hampshire to connect 93 and 16. Visit KancamagusHighway.com for all the information you need on this area.
Hiking Mt Paugus, you will get to climb a beautiful, moderate trail and enjoy a gentle descent. This mountain is also dog friendly! To know what to expect when hiking this mountain, check out the rest of this post.
- Parking and Trailhead
- Kelley Trail
- Lawrence Trail to Summit
- Old Mast Road
- Similar Hikes
Parking and Trailhead for Mt Paugus
To begin your hike up Mt Paugus, park at the Ferncroft Trailhead. The Ferncroft Trailhead is a large lot off Ferncroft Road on the south side of the Sandwich Range. Next to a wide open field, you can’t miss it!
This parking lot can fit dozens of cars – check out the pictures below.
Be sure to follow the signage though and don’t park on the road. There are private residences further down that can’t be reached if people park along Ferncroft.
The parking lot is extremely open and generally packed dirt that is free of rocks and roots. However, watch where you’re driving in still because there’s some dips and bumps. Especially after a wet period, the tiny stretch into the main lot can be exceptionally pitted and takes some navigating to cross.
Getting to the Trailhead
Mountains that can be hiked from this lot include Hibbard, Wonalancet, Whiteface and Passaconaway. Whiteface and Passaconway are a longer day hike and are two of New Hampshire’s 48 4,000 Footers. There is a large trail map at the entrance of the lot to check out these trails.
There are multiple ways you can hike Mt Paugus though to fit your abilities and interests. I will be writing about ascending the Kelley Trail and descending on Old Mast Road.
To find the paths to hike Mt Paugus, head to the far end of the parking lot. In the center of the image with the cars above, you can see a Port-a-Potty and trail board. Walk to the right of the board down the overgrown road.
A few feet down the road on your left you’ll see a wooden fence with a trail behind it. This will lead you to the Kelley Trail and the beginning of your hike!
Ascending the Kelley Trail up Mt Paugus
All the trails in this section of the Sandwich Range are so well marked. I’ll share pictures of trail signs I saw so you can see how well kept the area is.
After beginning your hike you will quickly come up to the wooden bridge pictured below. Turning left will let you hike Mount Wonalancet but walking straight over it will take you to Mt Paugus.
In just a third of a mile you’ll reach another junction. Turning right lets you hike Mt Paugus via the Kelley Trail. You can always veer left to continue to the summit via Old Mast Road just before this junction which is an easier, flatter trail.
The Kelley Trail is a beautiful path through the forest and feels really unique compared to other trails I’ve done in the area. There is a ton of foliage around you and I imagine it would be a gorgeous hike in autumn. It had just rained when my dog Willie and I were ascending this trail so the leaves and grass were even more green than usual which contributed to the magical forest vibe.
The path will pop out onto what looks like an overgrown ATV trail. Follow the arrow on the sign and turn left to walk up the hill (not down). Here is where the trail really becomes fun!
There’s a couple very simple brook crossings and tiny waterfalls waiting for you to discover. Who doesn’t love water features on a hike?
Be Prepared for a Little Scrambling
The path does get a little more rocky around these crossings so watch your step. Some stones are laid to help you cross while others serve as steps. These can become very slippery.
In the middle of this trail, there is a section of boulders you have to scramble over as well. This is one of the steeper parts of the trail. While it is also the most technically challenging portion, don’t let that deter you! If you take your time they are easy to navigate.
I love scrambles so this was probably my favorite part of the hike! To the left is a picture to hopefully give you an idea of what this section would be like to hike. It really wasn’t too difficult, just a lot of fun!
Lawrence Trail to Mt Paugus Summit
About 2.25 miles in you will reach a 4-way junction. Straight allows you to hike the Oliverian Brook Trail which leads to the Kancamagus Highway at the far side of the Sandwich Range. Left puts you on the Lawrence Trail (you will descend this way) and right takes you to the Mt Paugus summit via the Lawrence Trail.
There is a stack of trail signs at this junction so you can know you are choosing the correct path.
Heading right towards Mt Paugus on the Lawrence Trail, there is a very quick descent before the final, continuous climb to the top. The climb isn’t too intense and there are even a few tiny switchbacks to help you out which is not very common in New Hampshire.
Just like the rest of this trail, there are few roots in the path and it is overall quite open and well-maintained. You will pass one more trail on your right, the Cabin Trail, that would bring you to a different parking area on Route 113A (before Ferncroft Road). This is another common option to hike Mt Paugus paired with Big Rock Cave Trail that takes you over Mount Mexico at around 2000 ft.
Of course if you want to hit the summit of Mt Paugus first, you should keep walking past the turnoff for Cabin Trail. The final stretch to the summit is pretty flat with a couple small rocky sections.
Excellent Summit but…Mother Nature Had Other Plans
Willie and I reached Mt Paugus’s summit but were unfortunately not able to get a view.
The clouds and mist had been present all morning and they did not rise by the time I made it up. It is a shame though because the summit is so big and open.
I can totally see why on a sunny day this would deserve to be on the 52 with a view list! I’m sorry I can’t share pictures of the view here, but I’m sure browsing the hike in AllTrails you can find a lot.
Quite a few hikers could easily stop for a rest on the top of Mt Paugus. It is all open rock surrounded by trees so there is space to walk around, sit for a snack, and snag a picture with the summit sign. Of course I made Willie pose and attempted a selfie in the damp weather. You are not really above the trees at the summit sign so you may need to find a side trail for the best view if you catch a sunny day.
I thought the rain would hold off until noon or 1pm (right after I finished my hike), but boy was I wrong. After a minute or two at the peak the sky started drizzling. My dog is not a fan of the rain and we still had to go all the way down the mountain!
Trail Stats:
Mileage: 8.43mi
Elevation Gain: ~2,516ft
Date Hiked: June 9, 2023
Moving Time: 3h 58min
Parking:
Ferncroft Rd
or
43.91402, -71.35745
Descending Mt Paugus via Old Mast Road
There aren’t a ton of pictures in the rest of the post because I was literally zooming down this mountain haha. In these conditions I am especially grateful I chose to descend via Old Mast Road.
Once I descended from Mt Paugus’s summit, I went straight at the 4-way junction to continue on Lawrence Trail instead of turning left to go down Kelley Trail. After a brief quarter mile or so on the Lawrence Trail you come up to another 4-way junction. Here is where the drizzle turned into a bit of a downpour…
There is a very clear sign in front of you as you hike up to this junction telling you that turning left takes you down Old Mast Road to the parking lot on Ferncroft. Turning right lets you hike Square Ledge Trail which takes you further into the Sandwich Range Wilderness. Going straight you will see the Walden Trail which could take you to Mount Passaconaway on a long day hike.
The descent on Old Mast Road is extremely gradual. It is a very open trail in the woods with limited roots and rocks. I was thankful for the tree cover with the downpour that was happening and I was still able to essentially jog down this trail.
Willie was pushing me along to get back to the car as well haha. According to my recording it was just around two miles from when we got onto Old Mast Road to get back to the car. At the car I gladly dried us both off and let us each have a snack before packing up to drive home!
Similar Hikes to Mt Paugus
If you are looking for hikes similar to Mt Paugus, I first recommend starting with the NH 52 with a view list. This list is composed of mountains all under 4,000 ft that are known to have good views. Of course some trips will be longer day hikes than others but being on this list, you know the view is worth the challenge!
Some comparable hikes I enjoyed for this list are below. Click through to my posts to see images from these! All were done on days that I did actually get views…unlike Mt Paugus.
–Mount Israel: About half the distance (4 miles) and further south in the state, this hike only took me a couple hours even with taking a long break at the summit! The area is beautiful at the southernmost section of the White Mountains and Mount Israel itself was a very fun climb.
–Blueberry Mountain: Again, just over 4 miles and a little over 2 hours, Blueberry Mountain has a fantastic view of Mt Moosilauke. This peak is even further west in New Hampshire than Mt Moosilauke so it’s a unique area that people don’t always think to hike.
-For a little more of a challenge, you can pair Mount Avalon (just over 3 miles on its own) with Tom, Field, and Willey. To hit all four mountains is a little under 10 miles (took me just over 7 hours) but you will be tackling three 4,000 footers on this hike! Mount Avalon is the outsider but still sits on the NH 52 with a view list. Let me tell you- the views are stunning!
Even with the change of weather, Mt Paugus was overall an extremely enjoyable hike. I didn’t mind the rain but this was also in June 2023 before I knew just how much rain was to come for the rest of the summer weekends, ha! Willie and I would definitely return and either hike the Kelley Trail again or try a new route (maybe that Cabin Trail I saw). All the hikes I’ve done in the Sandwich Range Wilderness have been just so fun to explore.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post about hiking Mt Paugus. I hope you enjoyed it and if you’d like, take a look at other posts on New Hampshire hiking. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below or check out my Contact page!
