Pack Monadnock or Pack Monadnock Mountain , is the highest peak of the Wapack Range of mountains and the highest point in

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Hillsborough County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 422,937, almost one-third the population of the entire state. Its c ...

. The mountain, a

monadnock An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

, is located in south-central

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

within the towns of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. The

Wapack Trail The Wapack Trail is one of the oldest public, interstate hiking trails in the United States. Opened in 1923, it follows the Wapack Range north-south for , between Mount Watatic in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, and North Pack Monadnock mountain i ...

and a number of shorter trails traverse the mountain. A firetower and ledges on the summit offer long views north to the White Mountains, west to

Mount Monadnock Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Cheshire County. It lies sou ...

, and south into

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. North Pack Monadnock Mountain is located directly to the north along the Wapack ridgeline; Temple Mountain to the south. Much of the mountain is located within

Miller State Park Miller State Park is the oldest state-run park in New Hampshire, a state in the New England region of the United States. It is located in the towns of Peterborough and Temple, and is centered on Pack Monadnock, a mountain. Description The pa ...

. A seasonal automobile road ascends from the south to a picnic area at the summit. The summit also has a staffed air-pollution monitoring station. The east side of the mountain drains into the

Souhegan River The Souhegan River is a tributary of the Merrimack River in the northeastern United States. It is long, with a drainage area of , and flows north and east through southern New Hampshire to the Merrimack River. The river begins in New Ipswich, N ...

watershed, thence into the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

and

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

; the west side drains into the

Contoocook River The Contoocook River () is a river in New Hampshire. It flows from Contoocook Lake on the Jaffrey/ Rindge border to Penacook (just north of Concord), where it empties into the Merrimack River. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire th ...

, thence into the Merrimack River. The mountain is the home of the Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory, where

birdwatchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

from around the region gather for the annual

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

migration. During the peak migration season in September, birdwatchers search the sky for kettles of hundreds of hawks swarming above rising thermals as they migrate south. The mountain's summit at Peterborough is also home to the transmitter of two

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-market radio stations:

NOAA Weather Radio NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, is an automated 24-hour network of Very high frequency, VHF Frequency modulation, FM weather radio stations in the United States which broadcast weather information direct ...

station WNG575 and 92.1 WDER-FM, which airs a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

talk and preaching format.

Etymology

According to local tradition, the word "pack" is a Native American word for "little" and "monadnock" is used to describe an isolated mountain summit; thus "Little Monadnock" refers to its relationship to the higher Mount Monadnock, , to the west. Pack Monadnock should not be confused with Little Monadnock Mountain, located to the west.

References

* ''Southern New Hampshire Trail Guide'' (1999). Boston: The

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., wit ...

External links

Miller State Park official website

Friends of the Wapack

Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory
{{Authority control Mountains of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Mountains of New Hampshire Raptor migration sites Peterborough, New Hampshire Temple, New Hampshire New Hampshire placenames of Native American origin