Looking route suggestions

[nsherry61]

Does anyone out there have any suggestion for beautiful, remote, 30ish mile, only moderately rugged loop hikes that might fit our needs?

My wife has decided she wants to do a three day, 30ish mile, solo backpacking trip, preferably a loop, preferably without especially rugged climbs and preferably within a two or three hour drive of the south Boston area.

I've got a couple ideas, but nothing stands out as a particularly great option. It seems like most 30ish mile loops either include big enough climbs that she doesn't think it would be fun or they include areas that are practically urban or suburban for stretches. We found one route in the Whites that looked great to me, but it includes some five miles of rough, wet, poorly maintained (yes even by New England standards) trail that doesn't appeal to her.

Help?

[tdoczi]

lower on the remoteness scale and perhaps slightly further away but the mohawk/AT loop in CT comes to mind as well as any number of a near infinite possibilities in harriman state park. maybe something in the catskills but i'm less familiar with the area. maybe something VT.... the shelburne pass loop or something near stratton pond.

northeast, remote and easy hiking is kind of not really a thing.

[Venchka]

10 miles per day for a first trip is pushing the envelope unless her gear is approaching weightless.
15 miles would be more realistic.
If you’re available for transportation, why a loop?
Y’all have fun!
Wayne

[Rain Man]

Western MA & CT have some very AT fine hostels. Bearded Woods comes to mine for one. They are happy to do shuttles, which would take care of the loop issue.

[Venchka]

Western MA & CT have some very AT fine hostels. Bearded Woods comes to mine for one. They are happy to do shuttles, which would take care of the loop issue.

Rain Man was reading my mind while I was doing chores.
From what I remember of the Berkshire Hills, they can’t be very difficult.
Good luck!
Wayne

[nsherry61]

10 miles per day for a first trip is pushing the envelope unless . . .
If you’re available for transportation, why a loop? . . .

Sadly, I'm not available for transportation unless it's within an hour or so of our house south of Boston. A shuttle is something I thought about earlier, and we seem to keep forgetting. And, it isn't anywhere near her first backpack trip, it's just her first solo backpack trip. She knows pretty much what she can (or more importantly is willing to) do distance and elevation wise. As for gear, she's got access to the best, but she tends to lean heavily toward the comfortable and secure . . . i.e. when we backpack together, I carry ten pounds more than when I go solo and I'm not carrying to much more than my share. She likes crap like tents, and fresh food, and clean cloths.

Great ideas so far. Thanks for helping out.

As for "northeast, remote and easy hiking is kind of not really a thing."

That pretty well sums up my problem and why I'm reaching out for help. Thanks again.

[cliffordbarnabus]

10 miles per day for a first trip is pushing the envelope unless her gear is approaching weightless.
15 miles would be more realistic.
If you’re available for transportation, why a loop?
Y’all have fun!
Wayne

i don't get it...10 miles pushes envelope yet 15 is more realistic?!

[Venchka]

My shorthand. Sorry.
Original plan: 3 days 30 miles.
My suggestion: 3 days 15 miles.
Which I’m sticking to because the Spouse Unit is not used to being alone AND carrying all of her gear. And if she’s hiking in MA & using a shuttle AND makes good progress she can reschedule the pickup point.
Wayne

[cliffordbarnabus]

My shorthand. Sorry.
Original plan: 3 days 30 miles.
My suggestion: 3 days 15 miles.
Which I’m sticking to because the Spouse Unit is not used to being alone AND carrying all of her gear. And if she’s hiking in MA & using a shuttle AND makes good progress she can reschedule the pickup point.
Wayne

now it makes sense!

[tdoczi]

a 3 day, 5 mile a day solo backpacking trip, unless it happens somewhere truly extraordinary, sounds like my definition of hell. i dont need to be out in the woods to spend most of my day sitting around reading or watching netflix.

thought of another one- the south taconic loop. if you dont mind the roadwalk at the north end, since trying the bushwhack probably isnt desirable.

[bigcranky]

Yeah, I tend to walk a lot farther when I'm solo than when I'm with my partner, even though she's the stronger hiker. Sounds like the OP's spouse can handle the miles. Good luck finding a route.

[Slo-go'en]

Multi day loop hikes are pretty scarce. There's the Grafton Notch loop hike of some 40 miles in Maine, but it's a double black diamond trail. Every time I do that loop, it beats me up more and more.

A really nice hike the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway. 48 miles, 4 shelters along the way. When Rafe and I did it in the spring a few years ago, we only meet 2 other hikers the whole way and they were going the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, it's not a loop but you say she wants to do this solo? So, you could drop her off and pick her back up? The most difficult part of the trail is the climb up Monadnock, which isn't all that hard. A lot of the trail is old woods road, skimobile trail or gravel road.

I really want to do this trail again. It would be really beautiful in a month or so when the colors come out. But of course, it will also be getting nippy at night and early in the morning.

[Huntmog]

5 miles a day would mean hiking for a max of 5 hours a day....that seems supremely boring.

Sure shes gonna be solo, but i watched my 8 year old do 7 miles in 6 hours last weekend. That included an hour at the top to enjoy the scenery.

Loops are tricky because of camping sites. If i am her/you, I'd look for something like 12/15-18/5 splits for daily miles. I like to get my longest day in the middle and my shortest on departure day.

[Venchka]

now it makes sense!

We’re shooting in the dark here.
My theoretical plan included an option for the original guesstimated 3 day 30 miles.
I can assure you that there are people on this planet who spend parts of 4 days covering 18 miles. They have fun doing it.
Lighten up. Different strokes for different folks.
Wayne

[illabelle]

If you're willing to stretch the 2-3 hour drive limit, you could start thinking about stuff in New York. I haven't hiked there, but I'm intrigued by Another Kevin's enthusiasm for the area. Maybe there's a moderate hike that someone in that area could suggest?
It's 2:50 minutes from Boston to Albany, a little more than 4 to the Silver Lakes Wilderness.

[nsherry61]

If you're willing to stretch the 2-3 hour drive limit. . .

Yeah, that would open up a lot. I love the Adirondacks and some areas there would be perfect. But alas, I think we're stuck with what we can find closer to home. I'm guessing she'll either decide on whatever loop she can find within the drive restrictions or go for a shuttle. Personally, I think the shuttle idea sounds great. But then, I think climbing vertical rock through an untrailed area sounds like fun also.

Thanks for the continued support of good suggestions!

[Traveler]

I have been trying to think of a good loop hike within the drive time parameters and keep coming back to Mt Greylock Reservation. One can make a loop or two from the trail system there that offer a variety of parking spots. As a thought, the Mt Greylock reservation also has many trail opportunities that can be hiked from a central camping place. This option would reduce pack weight and allow for route changes due to weather or other conditions if thats of interest.

Outside of that, I cannot think of a full circle loop inside the parameters you are looking for.

[tdoczi]

I have been trying to think of a good loop hike within the drive time parameters and keep coming back to Mt Greylock Reservation.
.

google tells me salisbury, CT is about 2hrs 45mins from boston.

that puts you at the start of this loop hike. which has issues and is imperfect, but is also a good hike never the less. its about a 30 mile loop and here is one, of several probably, threads discussing it at length-

https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...-AT-loop-in-MA

google also tells me falls village is about the same distance from boston. that puts you on this loop of probably a bit over 30 miles (if memory serves, the AT portion of the loop is shorter than the 24 miles the mohawk trail is listed as here)

https://www.ctwoodlands.org/blue-bla...s/mohawk-trail

by way of contrast, greylock reservation is a full 3 hours from boston. is a small, confined area with a lot of short trails and, using the north side of the mountain on the AT as a point of reference, some of them are no doubt very hard trails.

[Alligator]

I've found in a few of the more state and local guidebooks that there are often loop hikes and short 2-3 night trips presented. I don't have one for the MA area so I can't make a recommendation. (I sometimes forget about the ones I own as I tend to think of the AT first.)