Sandwich Dome: Algonquin and Bennett Street Loop

A few weekends ago, I embarked on a long loop in the Sandwich Range Wilderness around and eventually over Sandwich Dome. Parking at the Bennett Street Trailhead at the end of Bennett Street in Sandwich, my hiking partner Nick and I set off down the Flat Mountain Pond trail along the side of Pond Brook. This section of trail made for relatively easy walking and we were soon at the Guinea Pond Trail heading towards Sandwich Notch Road. This flat trail mostly follows an old railroad grade through the wilderness, except for a couple deviations, and is very easy. The trail is completely flooded by beavers in one section and this must be bushwhacked around (we went to the left of the pond), but even this diversion isn't terribly difficult.

This pond does offer some interesting views up to both Black and Sandwich Mountains. We soon reached the intersection with the Black Mountain Pond trail, which was a nice area along the upper stretches of the Beebe River. Not long after this, we encountered the first of only a few other people we saw all day. After taking the "high water route" of the trail (as opposed to the snowmobile route, which seemed rather muddy), we were at the Sandwich Notch Road trailhead of the Guinea Pond Trail.

After a mile or so roadwalk, we reached the small Algonquin trailhead (room for probably three cars max). The Algonquin Trail began relatively easily, crossing a small brook a couple of times before the grade considerably steepened. The trail then climbed consistently through a hardwood forest until approximately the 2200' contour, where the grade eased again and the forest shifted into an incredible spruce forest. The footbed of the trail was mostly bedrock, which I enjoyed. After meandering across this flattish area, the trail swung below the ledges of the western Black Mountain, with occasional glimpses up. The footing was somewhat rough but the area was still enjoyable as it climbed through "prehistoric" feeling woods to the col between the two Black Mountains. After swinging to the east, the trail reached the portion that gives it its listing on the Terrifying 25 list. Almost immediately, we reached a large and somewhat tricky ledge. After navigating our way up the ledge, there was a 180 degree view back down the col and out to Black Mountain and the nearby Squam and Campton Mountains. The trail proceeded to then climb a handful more of these ledges, all with increasingly open views. Above the steepest of the ledges, we reached an area that had wide views out to the west and north, including the pointed summit of Jennings Peak, the open knobs of Acteon Ridge, and the Waterville Valley Ski Area on Mt. Tecumseh. We rested here for a while and then continued up to the higher junction of the Black Mountain Pond Trail.

At the intersection, there were interesting views down to the Guinea Pond and Mount Israel area, as the mountain dropped steeply below us. I knew I would have to keep the Black Mountain Pond Trail in mind for the future, as it seemed like it would also be a very interesting trail. Continuing onward and up the ridge, the consistent views seemed like they had ended by the time we had crested the eastern Black Mountain. The woods high on the ridge were nice, but this section still could not compare to the lower ledges. After a moderate and brief climb, we soon met the Sandwich Mountain Trail just below the summit ledges. While the ledges of the summit have grown in a little bit, the standing view from Sandwich is still awesome, as most of the WMNF and 4000 footers are visible from here.

After eating lunch on the summit, we continued down the Bennett Street Trail, which started with some rough side-hilling, but soon eased not too long after that. The trail seemed to follow an old road for perhaps half a mile through a very nice forest, which made this an enjoyable part of the descent. After swinging off of this road, the trail quickly met up with the Flat Mountain Pond Trail near a branch of Pond Brook. We crossed the tributary and continued down the Bennett Street Trail. After the trail met Pond Brook, we crossed the tributary again and followed the right bank of the brook. This was another extremely nice part of the trail. We soon reached Great Falls and decided to swim real quick- we had plenty of time and were almost done with the hike. In hindsight, this was a great idea, as it gave us considerably more energy when we resumed hiking again, and we were soon back at the lowest intersection of the Bennett Street Trail and the Flat Mountain Pond Trail. Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable hike of about 15 miles, 3400' elevation gain that took us a little over 5 hours to complete. The Algonquin Trail may very well be my new favorite way up Sandwich.

Looking back at the beaver pond on the Guinea Pond Trail. We emerged to the right of this picture.

Pano shot from the first ledge on the Algonquin Trail.

Looking down what was probably the toughest ledge.

The view towards Waterville Valley from just below the intersection with the Black Mountain Pond Trail.

Pano of myself looking out over Guinea Pond from Black Mountain.

Easy walking near the summit of Black Mountain.

View north from Sandwich's summit.

Great Falls at the end of the hike.