Local Hike: Mt. Wantastiquet
Hidden in the woods of southwestern NH, in the small town of Chesterfield, you will find Madame Sherri’s Forest (and the remains of her “castle”). The forest is named after a former owner, Madame Antoinette Sherri, a costume designer for the Ringling Circus, Ziegfeld Follies, and Broadway during the 1920s.
Madame Sherri’s Forest consists of over 500 acres of woodlands that are managed by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. With eight dog friendly hiking trails of varying lengths and elevation gains ranging from 300 feet to 1900 feet, there is truly a trail for everyone.
The most popular trail, the Ann Stokes Loop, is approximately 2 miles long and takes about an hour to complete. The trail passes a beaver pond (and other wildlife) and the ruins of Madam Sherri’s castle and offers scenic views of Indian Pond.
If you have more time, combine the Ann Stokes Trail with the Daniel’s Mountain Loop Trail. This 4.2-mile hike will bring you to the summit of Daniel’s Mountain and back in a little over 2 hours.
For the more adventurous, hike the 3.9-mile hike from Madame Sherri’s castle to Mine Ledge and the Brattleboro Outlook at the Stone Post Viewpoint on Mt. Wantastiquet. This moderately challenging, out and back trail will take about two hours.
Your destination is the Stone Post Memorial Viewpoint on Mt. Wantastiquet with views of Brattleboro, Vermont, and the Harris Hill Olympic Ski Jump. The memorial commemorates Walter Childs, a science buff who connected the first telephone line in Brattleboro and arranged for the construction of a weather station on the mountain. The monument marks the spot of the former weather station.
For a detailed map of the trails in Madame Sherri’s Forest, click here.