North Pack Monadnock, Crown of the Wapack Range

View from the Cliff Trail on North Pack Monadnock

North Pack Monadnock (south-central New Hampshire), 2,276 feet, occupies the northern-most crown position on the linear, 20-mile Wapack Range. The “Pack” in Pack Monadnock is supposedly a Native American language term (more likely a corruption of one) for “little” to distinguish the two Pack Monadnock peaks from their higher and more famous neighbor to the west, 3,165 foot Mount Monadnock (also called Grand Monadnock). North Pack’s sister peak, South Pack Monadnock (2,290 feet) is located just to the south of North Pack and sports a summit fire tower. The Wapack Range and the Wapack Trail derive their shared name from a mashup of “Watatic” (the name of the mountain which occupies the southern foot of the Range) and “Pack.” The entire range is truly sweet hiking, with many surprising ledges tucked along ridge crests studded with spruce trees—an airy, remote ramble reminiscent of the craggier subalpine summits in the White Mountains further to the north. This juxtaposition of southern latitudes and northern ecology makes the mountain rich in biodiversity. North Pack is mostly enclosed and conserved within the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

​North Pack is popular but not nearly crowded as Grand Monadnock can be. Hikers who bring dogs with them often choose North Pack as a substitute for higher Grand Monadnock where dogs aren’t allowed (park rangers at the latter mountain often exile disappointed hikers to North Pack, knowing it will cheer them up).  

Waterfall on Ted's Trail

Of all the Wapack Range summits, North Pack might be most blessed with an abundance of rugged beauty, in the form of many open ledges with vantage points in all directions, a daunting summit cliff with an impressive talus field, and (on its north slopes) a fine string of pretty cascades and waterfalls. While some hikers power through the twenty-mile Wapack Trail in pursuit of a challenge, that arduous route misses some of the finer scenery on North Pack. For our April 4th hike, we aimed to summit just North Pack, strategically squeezing as much awesome from it as we could. The snow was mostly melted off the mountain and the waterfalls and brooks were still running high (they’ll diminish to a trickle in the summer). 

Our loop (7.5 miles/ 1,990 e.g.) began and ended on Ted’s Trail (trailhead on the east side of Mountain Road in Greenfield. You can follow our route ("most scenic route") on the map below and peruse the photo gallery of our trip.

Click to enlarge

North Pack Monadock (2,276ft)
Most Scenic Route: (7.5 mile loop): Ted’s Trail > Cliff Spur Trail > Cliff Trail (counter-clockwise) > Wapack Trail (southbound); return via Cliff Trail > Ted’s Trail (old route, unmarked) > Carolyn’s Trail> Ted’s Trail.
Shortest Route: (3.2mi round trip, OAB): Wapack Trail southbound from Mountain Road; reverse to return.  
Who to thank: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Monadnock Conservancy, Friends of the Wapack, Mountain View Hiking Club, private landowners.

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