Backpacker Magazine – May 2012

Local Hikes

Jump-start your hiking season on these spring-ready trips from around the country.

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• New Mexico
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• Idaho
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• Arizona
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HIKES IN THE NORTHEAST

Allentown, PA
Hawk Mountain
Witness the migration of more than a dozen raptor species, including broad-winged hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and ospreys, on this 4.7-mile ridgeline loop. You’ll hike beneath a flyway that about 10,000 birds of prey use en route to Central and South America each spring. Trip ID 311947

Boston, MA
Mountain Trail
Views rival the state’s higher peaks, but the snow melts earlier from this 4.8-mile out-and-back. On a clear day, see the Boston skyline 50 miles away from atop the fire tower at the 908-foot summit of South Mountain, a remnant of an ancient volcano in New Hampshire’s 5,500-acre Pawtuckaway State Park. Trip ID 27260

New York, NY
Alander Mountain
See the Berkshires’ spring awakening from the open summit of this 2,250-foot peak, where views to the Catskills reward a 12.1-mile traverse through three states (NY, MA, CT). Trip ID 8187

New York, NY
Orchard Beach-Twin Island
Venture 5.6 miles into the city’s largest park (three times bigger than Central Park), tracing some of NYC’s last salt marshes, springtime home to herons and egrets. Bonus: sandy beach walking at mile 1.8. Trip ID 417758

Portland, ME
Speckled Mountain Loop
Spring snowmelt fuels a seasonal stream and ups the flow of a 90-foot series of moss-lined cascades along this 8.4-mile loop to the summit of 2,906-foot Speckled Mountain, the highest point in the 14,000-acre wilderness bearing its name. Trip ID 30931

Washington, D.C.
Manassas Bridle Trail Loop
The battles of Bull Run raged on the grassy fields adjacent to this three-mile loop 150 years ago; today, they host seasonal species such as the grasshopper sparrow and Eastern meadowlark. Trip ID 44890

*Trip ID: Get free maps and GPS data by adding the Trip ID to backpacker.com/hikes/______.



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