Dublin Trail
The Dublin trail is a direct route to the Summit.
- Distance from parking lot to summit:
- About 2.1 miles.
- Ascending time:
- About two hours.
- Descending time:
- About one hour.
- Difficulty rating/rank:
- 3
- Crowd factor:
- 3, You're likely to run into people, but it won't be crowded.
- Trail marker:
- White "D", vertical white bar (along the Monadnock-Sunapee Trail), cairns (after junction with Marlboro Trail).
- Access:
- Old Dublin Road. See details below.
- Average grade:
- 16%. Steepest 660 yards: 24%.
| Quick Facts (NOTE: I've encountered a discrepancy on this trail between what distances the GPS indicated and what the transcribed trail maps out to.) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location (in ascending order) | Time from start (approx.— average hiker in good condition) | Distance (approx.) (method) | Altitude (method) |
| Trailhead | - | - | 1457 ft. (444 m) |
| Rocky sections begin | ~ 25 minutes | 750 m (gps) | |
| Much steeper section | 30 minutes | 945 m (gps) | 670 m (gps; topo map) |
| Very steep section | 1.22 km (gps) | 740 m (gps) | |
| Views to north | 1 hour | 1.57 km (gps) | 798 m (gps) |
| Marlboro Trail junction | 1 1/2 hours | 2.34 km (gps) (2.93 km—map tool) | 921 m (gps) |
| Summit | 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours | (2.72 km) (gps) (3.4 km—map tool) | 3165 ft. / 965 m (official) |
A quick summary: The trailhead is found along a narrow, dark dirt road, that is reasonably well maintained. Starting gently, the trail slowly gains steepness, but generally maintains an air of civility and refinement about it. While it follows a pretty direct path to the summit, the unusual rock formations, creating interesting shapes and mini-peaks and domes, causes it to twist and turn so you rarely get any long views along the trail. Every turn brings something a little different into view. This is a lovely trail that somehow manages to lull you into thinking that it's an easier climb than the other trails, belying the fact that its average slope is just about the same as the others. The telling factor may be that the steepest 600 meters has the gentlest slope of the major routes to the summit.
There are two ways to reach the head of
the Dublin Trail: From Rt. 101, take Lake Road, about 0.7 km
(~0.5 miles) west of Dublin Center. 
That's
a left turn if you're heading west. Be sure not to turn down either Upper Jaffrey Road,
which has a sign for the Monadnock State Park, or Snow Hill Road. Follow this for 3.24 km (2
miles) as it becomes Old Marlborough Rd and goes well past the lake, to Old
Dublin Road, on your left opposite the Dublin Country Club. Take Old
Dublin Road 2.43 km (~1.6 miles), continuing after it becomes a dirt road, to
the trail head, on your left.
From Rt. 124, take Old Dublin Road northeasterly (on the right if you're heading west) for 5 km (~3.2 miles), mostly dirt, until you reach the trail head. Shortly before the trail head, you'll encounter the blazes for the Monadnock-Sunapee Trail, which follows the road for about 0.6 km. From either direction, this is a well maintained road, very narrow and dark under heavy tree cover. Note that it is not maintained in the winter.
There is a parking area directly across the street from the trail head, with room for about 10 cars. Occasionally, you may see other cars parked along the edge of the road in the area.
The trail starts fairly gently. About 50 meters in, you'll find a trail register on your left. Continuing on, the trail slowly increases in steepness, but levels off after about 400 meters (1/4 mile). You'll maintain a very slight climb for about 200 meters, where the slope increases quite a bit. In another 150 meters, you'll reach the first of the rocky sections. Up to here, the trail had been mostly dirt. But now, you've got quite a few moderately sized stones—8 to 18 inches in diameter—mostly buried in the trail. Also in this area, you might want to keep your eye open for a curious feature—an old, abandoned well just to the left of the trail.
The trail gets considerably steeper after another 200 meters, as you
encounter broad, flat rock faces. Unlike on the other trails, the facets
are perpendicular to your path, and they tend to be smaller, so often you'll be
crossing over the top the intersection of two faces and into the joint between
two peaks. Sometimes, the trail just follows the ridge of
intersecting facets, and you'll find it easiest to just walk along the sharp
ridge rather than try to step into the valleys. It's also around here that
you'll sta
rt
to notice that the trail really is beginning to twist around the rock ahead,
then turn past the rock that's behind that, and zig to keep from having to climb
the next rock, and so on. All these twists and turns make for a trail that
has a unique character on the mountain, always presenting you something new to
look at, but with no long views ahead of you. 
Being on the north slope, and under heavy tree cover, both hardwood and hemlock, the trail gets very little sun or ventilation at the lower altitudes. This means it remains damp longer than some of the other trails. The rocks can be quite slick, and you will find that for several days after a rain you may be walking in very shallow puddles or mud. And while you should stay on any trail rather than make a new trail to avoid wetness, the nature of this trail makes it very difficult to get off to the side, anyway.
The slope relaxes a little after another 200 meters (1/8th mile), but only briefly before hitting what may be the steepest, very rugged though short section of the trail. At the top of this section, the trail breaks out of the trees briefly, giving you some fresh air and open sky. Looking ahead, you'll see that the trail continues over large, uneven rocks.
For much of this section, you will be going in and out of the trees while the rocks try to take over the landscape. At about 1.57 km (just under 1 mile) into the hike, the trees open up some more giving you your first clear view up the mountain, though the summit remains out of sight. You'll find a nice spot just to the left of the trail to view the northern horizon, from Mt. Ascutney to Dublin Pond when you've traveled 1.79 km (1.1 miles) in. Shortly after that, you'll reach an area where the taller trees are behind you or far enough off the trail that you continue the hike under open sky. By now, the worst of any dampness on the trail has dried up (unless it's a damp day, of course), and you'll be able to walk without worrying so much about slippery rocks.
It's easy to make go
od
time through here. You will quickly approach the summit, though you can't tell
by looking. Suddenly, you may notice off to your right that there are some
cairns. These are the blazes for the The
Marlboro Trail
—don't try to follow them by accident and end up going back down the mountain! The Dublin Trail
continues straight ahead, and will intersect the Marlboro Trail in just a couple
of hundred meters, at 2.34 km (1.5 miles). This intersection is well and
clearly marked, especially important on your way down the mountain, but also
useful when trying to decide which way to go to the summit. And it's just
after this intersection that you finally get to see the summit, as it peeks
between two of the rocks that the trail snakes between. You're about 400 m (1/4
mile) from the top now.
The remainder of the trip is comparatively gentle, though you still need to gain about 50 m (165 feet) elevation to reach the summit, much of it in the last 100 meters (110 yards). Finally, 2.72 km from the start, you'll reach the summit.