Carmel Gangi

Review of Gunstock Ski Resort

I am not reviewing this as a ski resort. I am revi...

I am not reviewing this as a ski resort. I am reviewing it for its hiking trails. Once the ski slopes were closed for the season but still covered with snow, I did hike up to the summit of Gunstock Mountain via the Hot Shot ski slope. I did it in microspikes and pulling myself up with my poles the whole way up. That's not the first time I've hiked gunstock Mountain, but it was the first time I hiked up a ski slope to get to the summit. As a regular hiker in the Belknap range, I do hike on gunstock Mountain, but usually when it's not the busy season. I do know from hiking around there that they have a section for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. I'm not sure how much it costs to use those trails in the winter, if anything. There are a number of trails that you can hike to the top of Gunstock Mountain and from there you can access the rest of the Belknap mountain range. During tourist season I stick to the middle of the range, but once tourist season is over, I do quite a bit of hiking on trails around gunstock Mountain, Mount Rowe, Belknap Mountain, and Piper Mountain. If you park by the gate on Belknap Mountain Road in Gilford, you can access Gunstock Mountain Trail, an orange blazed trail, that will take you up the back slope of Gunstock Mountain, and from there you can go to Piper Mountain and back down via the Red Trail to where you parked and it makes a nice loop for hiking. Another nice hiking Loop is going up the yellow trail from Gunstock Mountain parking lot and taking that across to another section of orange-blazed trail, Overlook Trail, that comes back down to the Gunstock Mountain Parking area. I know people who ski there and really like it. I have not talked to anyone who has snowshoed there, but if we get enough snow I may check out the snowshoeing trails this winter. They also have camping and zip-lining in the summertime. And throughout the warmer weather there are different festivals that are there four different occasions.