Strafford County High Point Trip Report
Copple Crown Mtn with links to more Information
Date: May 2001
Author: Denis Hanson
At the intersection of NH 16 and NH 109 in Sanbornville, go W on NH 109 for 1.2 mile to Governor's Road.
Turn left on Governer's Rd. and follow it for 0.4 mile to Moose Mountain Road. Turn right on
Moose Mountain Rd. and follow it for 1.5 mi. until the pavement ends. At that point, go straight ahead on
the dirt road for 0.3 mi. to the parking area for the NH Fish and Game Jones Brook Wildlife Management
Area. The parking area is E of Copple Crown Mountain, very near Hanson Brook. On the N side of the
parking area is a sign saying "LRCT Copple Crown Mountain West Peak 2.6 mi".
Follow the trail - a woods road - N for 4 or 5 minutes until it intersects with another woods road heading NW.
This woods road is marked as snowmobile trail 22E. Follow this road NW for about 1 mile until you
reach the LRTC Copple Crown Mountain Conservation Area sign.
Turn left onto the trail. It soon meets an overgrown woods road and heads SW with very occasional blue blazes.
You'll pass through two wet areas, climbing moderately to steeply after both. After about 15 - 20
minutes, the route to Copple Crown turns left, leaving the woods road, and switchbacks up the north slope
of the mountain. Blue blazes are more frequent from this point.
Towards the top, a side trail comes in from the right. This trail goes down to the private Copple Crown
Community road. Near the top, the trail branches, going left 0.3 mile E to an eastern overlook
(recommended) and right 0.1 mile to the summit. There's a nice big pile of moose scat at the very highest point.
There are good views of the Lakes region, Belknap Mountain, and the White Mountains from an
outlook near the summit.
Just before the summit, the trail splits, the left branch going to the lower 1820 eastern summit. From this
trail split, follow Fred Lobdell's directions to reach the county line.
I never did find the red-capped jar even though I gridded the slope for a full hour and used a GPS to home in
on the location. There were no black flies, a few ticks, and a large cloud of hungry mosquitoes always with me.
Internet Information on Copple Crown Mtn
According to the Lakes Region Trust web site, there is no public access from the west (ski area) side of the
mountain. The LRT owns the top of the mountain, and has a trail on the east side, variously described as 3
miles in length (one-way?), 3 miles round-trip, and taking four hours. The trail leaves from Mountain Road
in Brookfield. The trail is listed as a suggested activity to do with children, so it can't be too difficult.
The ski area on the west side closed in the late 1970s and has been replaced by a (steep) private golf course.
Supposedly you can still drive to the top of the mountain where the summit T-bar terminal remains.
Finally, "copple crown" means "something rising in a conical shape; specifically, a hill rising to a point."