I finally got around to looking at Crotched Mountain as a hiking destination.
You can set a destination on Google maps for "Crotched Mountain Accessible Trails" to get google directions to the parking area.
According to the Southern NH Trail Guide (SNHTG), Crotched has the longest accessible trails in a mountain environment in the country.
These coexist with a network of ordinary hiking trails, including both Crotched Mountain and Francestown town forest properties.
Shannon's Trail -> Upper Link -> Summit East -> Old Mountain Road -> Summit West(briefly)->Lower Link ->Shannon's Trail
The SNHTG does not have a very good trail map , though it does have good directions and good trail descriptions. I strongly recommend buying one.
By far the best trail map I found. Thank you Francestown!
There were only restricted views to the north, but views West, South and East were excellent. The first can easily be missed; from the parking lot I followed the gravel road uphill, thru a small meadow, then a narrower path. There is a footpath and wooden sign ( easily missed) for Shannons Trail; dont take it . Stay on the leftish path to get to the Observation Deck. There is a magnificent view , and only a quarter mile or so from the gate.
From the Deck, take the footpath headed north , it merges with the Shannon's trail. mentioned. It wasnt at all hard to follow. The next meaningful junction is with the Lower Link. It is signed.
The top of Shannon's trail has a path leading to the northand the old tower foundation, along with a new communication tower. I wandered around there a little bit but there was no outlook that I could find. Coming back to the top of Shannon's Trail I headed along the Upper Link Trail.
Despite the numerous ups and downs over the next 1.8 miles the footing was very good. Several spots gave me an 'uh-oh' moment but when I got close there was always a decent path around the spot.
The upper Link intersects the Summit West and Summit East trails ; the steep start of the Summit East trail leads very shortly to an excellent view East and South. Well worth the effort, even if the plan is not to do the rest of Summit East.
Continuing past the outlook, Summit East was a pleasant enough walk , with a surprising number of small ups and downs and occasional views from subsequent knobs, but none so spectacular as those already passed.
The SNHTG describes ascending the Summit East trail and barely mentions the Talus slope. This awesome section of the trail , about 1.1 mi from the Summit West junction, was a complete surprise. Descending the last part of it was a little challenging, some big rocks and awkward stretches. Even ( I'm not proud!) a scoot or two. Solo, late in the day and tired ...I was happy to be past that.
From this point, the trail was a breeze, a pretty flat walk to the intersection with the Old Mountain Road. The intersection was obvious. The only concern was ...Ive been in woods like these before, where there can be multiple old logging roads, etc. I was happy to spot a sign that removed the little nagging doubt I have on new trails!
Following the Old Mountain Road was no problem for about 3/4 of a mile. And then it sort of faded into being more of a faint herd path with only a blaze or two. I knew I must be close to the Summit West trail, though, so I wasnt too worried .... I figured I could brushwhack if I had to. But I didnt have to, the Summit West trail appeared in just a couple hundred feet.
The next question - will I be able to spot the Lower Link junction? The answer was yes, once I figured out which way I had to go on Summit West (south ). Ah, love maps :)
The lower link trail was easy to follow from this point to the Shannon Trail intersection, so all the unknowns were now resolved. But the elevation gain was a bit more than I had estimated, and I was pretty tired at this point, so I was pretty happy to reach the Shannon Trail and start the final stretch back to the truck.
That's when I found my trail blocked by wildlife :)
He was frozen in place, not a twitch. I waited to see whether he'd hop away, but after a few minutes he hadnt moved so I walked toward him ... he eventually dodged off into the brush. And then I caught sight of a large hawk flying away; he must have watched the bunny and me . Maybe I spoiled his supper....