Boulder Loop Trail

Boulder Loop Trail

Most self-guided nature trails are simple, short, and flat, usually on a well-manicured path. The Boulder Loop Trail has more ambition. It takes you up about 1,000 feet to rocky ledges on a shoulder of the Moat Range, where there are fine views across the Swift River valley to a number of 4,000-footers south of the Kancamagus Highway. The trail lives up to its name by passing jumbles of huge boulders deposited by landslides. The loop is appropriate for younger hikers who have some experience on trails or for nonhikers who can be easily carried in a backpack. Along the way you pass eighteen numbered stations at sites of particular geological or ecological interest. An informational leaflet, available at the Saco Ranger Station, provides a narrative at each station. On a clear day you can see Mounts Chocorua, Passaconaway, and Middle Sister and the Tripyramids from the ledges. Immediately below is the valley of the Swift River. This river is a tributary of the Saco River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in southern Maine.

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