The Table Rock trail in Grafton Notch State Park in Maine is short but sweet, and very steep! (But fun!)
The 1 mile orange blazed trail gains about 900 feet as it makes its way to the viewpoint on Bald Pate Mountain, with lots of boulder scrambling and even a cave that you’ll climb through along the way!
You can make it a nice 2 mile loop by following the easier Appalachian Trail back to the trail head.
To enjoy the views without the boulder scrambling, and to make this hike dog-friendly, just make it an out-and-back hike on the Appalachian Trail and blue blazed Table Rock trail that you use on the return portion of the loop.
Either way you go, you’ll love the view of Grafton Notch and Old Speck Mountain from the large rock viewpoint. (Just don’t get too close to the edge!)
We did this hike in October when the fall foliage made the views especially epic!
Photos of our Hike
The way back to the trail head on the blue blazed Table Rock trail and then the Appalachian trail is much easier because the trail is slightly longer, much less steep, and doesn’t have any bouldering.
There’s just one more iron rung ladder to climb down shortly after the viewpoint and then it’s just a walk through the woods.
Video of our Hike
To give you a good idea of what to expect on the orange blazed Table Rock trail, here’s a short GoPro video I recorded. I apologize for the shakiness – this was recorded on an older GoPro that didn’t have stabilization!
Table Rock Trail Head Directions
The parking area and trail head is located on route 26, in the heart of Grafton Notch State Park. The Table Rock trail head is across the street from the parking lot, which is also used for hiking “The Eyebrow” and Old Speck Mountain directly across the street from Table Rock.
