On our last camping trip we had the opportunity to hike Bald Mountain & Artists Bluff in Franconia, New Hampshire. The parking area is easy to reach off of exit 34C off of I-93 in the Franconia Notch Area. The parking area was on the North Side of Profile Road and was not well marked, but after driving around the lot we saw the entrance to the trail head.
The hike is short with a loop trail that is 1.5 miles long. Shortly after staring up the trail the trail forks with one path leading up to Artists Bluff and the other leading to Bald Mountain. We chose the Artists Bluff trail first. It was a straightforward hike that our children and dog were able to navigate with no issues. We had some nice wooded views of the surrounding landscape.
After reaching artists bluff we chose to go back the way we came and tackle the Bald Mountain path next. This was a little more challenging for the kids, but they loved scrambling up the rocks with us! They made sure to point out every red trail blaze along the way so that we were on the right path.
Once on the top there were plenty of opportunities for great photos of Cannon Mountain in the background.
On the way down the trail Casey helped the boys locate a Geocache buried in a large outcrop of rocks.
Having found the geocache they took something and added something before replacing the cache back where they found it.
This was a relatively short hike, that offered a little more excitement for the kids with the rocks scramble. The cool breeze at the top was a great place to rest and take a drink enjoying the views before heading back done to the car.
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