Pitcher Mountain: Easy Climb, Great Views and Wild Blueberries

Pitcher Mountain in Stoddard, N.H. is 2,153 feet tall but it will perhaps be the easiest New Hampshire mountain you will ever climb -- and it comes with all the “great view” perks of a tougher climb.

The hike to the top (300 vertical feet from the trailhead) is less than ½ mile (0.4 miles to be exact); the main trail (the one to the right of the parking lot and blazed with white triangles) is a well-traveled wide fire road through what is known as Andorra Forest, owned and managed by the Faulkner family for more than 70 years.

The hike gets those who are even just moderately fit up to the summit in about 20 minutes with barely breaking a sweat (there is another rocky/bolder trail option to the left of the parking lot, blazed with blue if you’d like more of a challenge). The easy-peasy path will reward you along the way with bucolic views of the 200-acre Pitcher Mountain Farm, which raises Scottish Highland beef cattle.

Once at the top you can see, on a clear day, the southern portion of Vermont’s Green Mountains, most of the Monadnock Region (including Mt. Monadnock) and even the White Mountains (Mt. Lafayette) if the sky is really clear. The 50-foot fire tower at the top can be climbed to get an even better 360 degree view.

View of mountains from fire tower

 If you happen to climb Pitcher Mountain in mid- to late-August, be sure to bring along a coffee can, basket or bucket to collect the mountain’s wealth of wild high-bush blueberries (the small, dark and incredibly sweet kind) – there’s 50 acres of these berry bushes at or near the summit. Payment is by honor system at the trailhead in the parking lot – give an honest estimate of how much you picked – and drop a dollar or two per pint on your way out.

Easy climb. Great views. And sweet blueberries to pick in August. You can’t ask more of a mountain hike. Plus the drive to Pitcher Mountain on Route 123 is a scenic pleasure.