Getting away from Boston

“Hey- I just moved to the East Coast from the West Coast and I have no idea of great hikes around here. I was wondering if anyone could point me in right direction as to some great places (pref. 3-4 hours away at most) for each day trips or backpacking or even camping with hikes out from the site. Anything you've done that you would suggest? Maybe a hike ~10 miles or so... Thanks!

-Jess”

“The White Mountains and the Presidential range is only 3-4 hours from Boston.”

“Welcome to the Northeast. There are lots of good hiking hear. Boston area you probably want to look at the Whites.”

“White Mountains are the place for big hikes. From the Boston area, places that are easily accessible from I-93 are the quickest to get to. Franconia Ridge (Flume, Lincoln, Lafayette, Liberty, Cannon, Sandwich Mtn are all easy to get to) but are around three hours depending on where in the Boston area you are. Western MA, and Vermont also offer areas that are great for camping and hiking.

One good website for the whites is: http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/nh-4000-footers.html

In southern New Hampshire, Pac Monadnock is a good hike and not as far as the Whites (it's a great Fall or Spring hike when the weather is less friendly in the Whites).

North of Boston, the Fells has several hiking trails that can be combined to get over 10 miles. A number of trails overlap at the Sheepfold parking area. A map is at http://www.mass.gov/mdc/maps/FELLS.GIF

The Blue Hills are South of Boston and have some great trails and offer more elevation gain than the Fells.

For information on a lot of places, check out http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/1171/#BHi

Of the places listed there (In addition to the Blue Hills and the Fells), I'd recommend the Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park, Walden Pond, walks along the Charles River and the Emerald Necklace as small fairly flat hikes to do in a few hours.

Also, check out the Mass State Parks (especially Mt. Wachusett and, if you are North of Boston, Harold Parker St. Forest) for some trails not too far away. http://www.mass.gov/dem/listing.htm

Last, but not least, is the Wapack trail which runs across Pac Mondadnoc. http://www.wapack.org/”

“I posted some other links for info on the White Mountains at:

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread.php?id=32393&q=nav&age=-1”

“you're so close to one of the coolest hikes in the east and I am so jealous. Mt. Washington is about 130 miles from you. Also, you have some good hiking right there in Mass. I hear Mt. Greylock is beautiful. New England is something special. Hope you like it.”

“What pedxing said. Monadnock. I was in Boston for a confrenece and added a few days so a friend could take me to Monadnock for a day trip. Great hike.”

“Monadnock is the second most climbed mountain in the world, and for good reason. It does pay to try to avoid the crowds though.”