Hiking the Hurricane Mountain Trail: A Summit with Stunning Views

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

Awesome 360° views from the summit and firetower.

The Hurricane Mountain Trail was a great adventure. The trail leads to a bald summit with a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, which is amplified with a fire tower to get up even higher. The fire tower also has diagrams on it to help identify the sourrounding peaks. The trail itself is a straight forward hike on natural Earth along almost its entire length. There are a few short sections of boardwalks near the trailhead over muddh/ swampy areas. Near the top there are two places you need to climb up some large rocks to get onto the summit. There are ample foot and handholds, but this could be tricky if trying to carry a child in a carry backpack. There are multiple points along the trail that are good to stop at and enjoy the view. Near the point where you climb the rocks to the top was a sign towards an outhouse, and an adjoining trail. The trail is marked along the route on trees, then with paint along the rocks near the top, along with 2 official cairns. Some sections of the trail have a lot of loose mid sized rocks that seem worse on the way down. Careful with your footing to avoid turning an ankle. Parking at the trail head is a mix of a small parking lot and an extended section of large shoulder along the road. The trail head also has an outhouse. Great outing.

Completed on 09/22/24. Great trail, moderate difficulty. When I saw the firetower from the road while headed to the parking I was really surprised how far and how high it looks and is it even possible to do it? Lol 😀 Well, in fact it took 2hr to get to the top (with very short breaks for the photos; I am in good shape and sometimes I walked fast, so for some people depending on other circumstances, I believe it can take longer, just consider the trail length). There is a nice overlook just in 15 mins as you start (next time if I have an extra hr, I would just go to that point 😀 ) And then a couple of more before you reach the firetower and the summit. It was pretty windy and chill on the top ( definitely take a jacket), but really amazing views. Firetower is open for climbing and for observing even better views. To get down to the parking it took close to 2hr, but I wasn't in hurry and made stops for more pictures The trail crosses a couple of small brooks and a pond...where it took me a moment to think if it's really safe to walk on those woods over that pond (as I had concern about how deep that pond could be - see on the pictures). The trail wasn't crowded, not much people on Sunday. Part of them were going down already at the time I started (at 12:30pm). So the trail goes to one of my favorite when you want a longer walk with less difficulties.