Months after reading about the Chesterfield (NH) Conservation Commission’s work to link Wantastiquet Mountain with Mount Monadnock, I finally got out to Wantastiquet’s east side to look around the area. I’m impressed at the work the Commission’s volunteers have done! Obviously, a lot of people are cooperating to make good things happen.

I started walking from the Madame Sherri Forest trailhead on Gulf Road. (Parking is limited; take care not to park on nearby private property.) There’s a network of short trails throughout the forest, with a couple of them stretching out to nearby hills. I took the Ann Stokes loop to Indian Pond in order to pick up the trail to Wantastiquet Mountain. I’ve been up Wantastiquet a couple of times from the west side in the town of Hinsdale, and I was curious about whether it’s now possible to follow an established trail up the east side from Madame Sherri. Short answer: yes. The trail from Indian Pond isn’t blazed or flagged but is fairly well-beaten and clear.

(Update, February 2026: the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail is in place. Learn more at the website of the WMT Coalition.)