Mount Sunapee via Newbury Trail

The Newbury Trail up Mount Sunapee is a moderately trafficked out-and-back trail located in Newbury, New Hampshire. This trail is a good alternative to the popular Andrew Brook and Summit trails up Mount Sunapee as hikers can still enjoy the views of Lake Solitude while also avoiding some crowds. The summit of Mount Sunapee stands at 2,726 feet and the trail offers around 2,000 feet of elevation gain making this a perfect challenging family hike.

Hikers must park at the Red Caboose or the information site in Newbury, then the trail begins just across the street down Lake View Avenue. The trail begins as a steady climb that is quite rocky in places, but flattens out more towards the summit to hard packed dirt. Just past the junction with the rim trail there is a small viewpoint. Just past the 3 mile mark the Newbury Trail joins the Andrew Brook trail, and hikers can turn left down a quick 0.1-mile descent to the shore of beautiful Lake Solitude. The trail wraps the perimeter of the lake so hikers can spread out.

From the Andrew Brook and Newbury Trail junction there is a short ascent to the viewpoint of Mount Sunapee at White Ledge looking over Lake Solitude. Hikers can then continue 0.9 miles to the summit of the Mount Sunapee ski resort, which is much larger and offers views in more directions. The trail between the two summits can be crowded at times but is mostly flat. The ski resort summit marks the start of the Monadnock-Sunapee greenway, where hikers can continue to viewpoints such as Lucia’s Lookout  and through Pillsbury State Park.

This is a great family hike with a reasonable distance and beautiful views of Southern New Hampshire and Lake Solitude, a unique highland tarn. The lake is off limits to swimmers and dogs as it is an important habitat for fish species such as brook trout.