Good Time To Hike Wantastiquet

On Wantastiquet, the trail is dry and the mountain laurel is blooming. On June 23, 2021, there was no water on the carriage road trail up to the summit. Not even a puddle. Really, things are that dry. You can wear sneakers. And the mountain laurel will be in bloom for another week. Invasive mountain laurel is everywhere on Wantastiquet, unfortunately, but it sure is pretty for these two weeks. It doesn’t bloom well at lower elevations, so you won’t see blossoms until the 7th hairpin turn (out of 9). The blossoms are much better if you continue past the summit towards Mine Ledge. (The trail after the antenna tower is narrow. I found a tick on my arm within three minutes. Past the summit, tick precautions are necessary.)

The view from the summit is disappointing now. The scruffy oak trees were last cleared out in 2009. Now they block most of downtown Brattleboro. Instead, you should take the side trail at the 6th hairpin turn to see the view from the lower lookout–the preferred spot for Brattleboro panoramas for 165 years. I’ve posted the two panoramas I took today on iBrattleboro’s photo section. It was a post-thunderstorm morning with low humidity–perfect for a photo. There’s even some mountain laurel in bloom on that side trail. That outcrop will have good blueberries in two weeks.

The summit trail is an two-mile carriage road. Mine ledge is about a half mile further on a more challenging, narrow trail that goes down and up three times, surprisingly. Blue diamond blazes were added in 2018, but there aren’t many of them. They try to keep you off the shortcuts which sometimes are not shortcuts.