Pinhook Bog Upland Trail

Pinhook Bog Upland Trail is a moderate 2.1-mile lollipop loop through mature beech and maple woods. Allow about 1.5 hours. That is the full walk from the parking lot, around the loop and back along the shared approach. The ground rises and dips over a glacial moraine, and the main payoff is a view of the bog near the loop’s southern end. Come for a compact woodland hike with a surprisingly rich landscape story.

From the trailhead, head east to the loop junction. The park recommends turning left and following the loop clockwise. The packed-dirt path rolls over small hills rather than climbing one big slope; the published gain is 97 feet. It can be very wet and muddy, so expect slower footing after rain. When you return to the junction, turn left again to retrace the short approach to the lot.

Near the loop’s south end, look across the bog from the upland side. The restricted Bog Trail is a different route, not an extension of this loop: it reaches the bog’s floating boardwalk and is available only during ranger-led summer weekend open houses. Pets aren’t permitted on that route.

The upland forest grows on a moraine formed about 15,000 years ago. A large block of melting glacier ice left a depression that became Pinhook’s kettle lake. Cut off from groundwater, the water gradually turned acidic, creating the conditions that make a bog different from the woods around it.

Sphagnum moss formed floating mats in the acidic water. Those mats support pitcher plants and sundews, along with pink lady’s-slipper orchids and ferns. Blueberry and holly shrubs followed; tamarack and red maple gradually grew in. Pinhook Bog is listed as a National Natural Landmark.

A park pass is required. Dogs are allowed on the Upland Trail on a leash no longer than six feet. The paved lot has two picnic tables and a seasonal portable toilet, but no drinking water. Ticks occur year-round, and poison ivy can grow along the trail edge; the trail and picnic tables aren’t wheelchair accessible.