Hiking from Cardigan Mountain to Smarts Mountain
I have spent two years researching a hiking route between Mt Cardigan and Smarts Mountain. These two mountains are my favorite hiking spots in Western New Hampshire, South of the Whites. Each mountain has breathtaking views and an interesting trail system. Connecting these mountains would enable fun backpacking trips between the Dartmouth Outing Club trail network, the Mt Cardigan network of trails, the Appalachian Trail, and subsequently all the White Mountains trails. I dream about hiking from Mt. Cardigan to Mt. Chocorua. Wouldn’t that be spectacular? You can see Chorocua from Cardigan and vice versa. A hiking route between Cardigan and Smarts once existed, but it saw limited use and maintenance. In the mid 1930s, the Maskoma Trail was built to connect Mt Cardigan with Smarts Mountain and the Appalachian Trail. The Maskoma Trail was 20 miles long, followed today’s Province Road in Dorchester, NH, and crossed numerous farms West of today’s NH-118. One shelter was built along the