A steady hike to a three-state vista

Located in Warwick, Massachusetts, a little more than six miles south of Winchester, New Hampshire, Mount Grace is the third-highest peak in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. A 68-foot-high fire tower that sits atop the 1,621-foot mountain features a 360-degree view into three states. Earlier this fall, my long-time hiking friend, Curtis Carroll, and I drove to Warwick to take in that amazing view after a morning of splitting and stacking firewood for his wood stove. From the parking lot, near a kiosk and a memorial plaque to Oscar N. Ohlson, set in a boulder, we walked 50 feet uphill on a path toward a "To Round the Mountain Trail" sign. Leaving the path, we continued walking 20 yards toward a cabin lean-to, grill, and picnic area set under big pine trees. We continued along the edge of the field for 100 yards and turned left into the woods on a wide, pine-needle-surfaced trail marked with a blue triangle blaze. The trail continued gradually uphill. Soon, an unusual item — an 18-foot-long, 8-foot-diameter metal pipe — captured our attention to the left in the woods. After examining the curious article, we headed back on the trail lined with colorful yellow and golden ferns, white wood aster, and heart-shaped hobblebush leaves just beginning to turn maroon. Bright yellow birch and beech tree leaves put on their own autumn show on the trail surface itself. Ten minutes from the start of the hike, a sign reading "To Summit" directed us right. Minutes later, another sign indicated the way to the top of the mountain. We continued over an exposed tree root and bouldery surface, moving past stands of hemlock trees. Curtis stopped to use a small pry bar to loosen a few rock samples and deposited them in a web pocket of his backpack as we took a brief rest. "This rock has markings that look like fossils, but I don't think they are," he said. After a little more than half an hour, we turned right on a gravel road (Fire Tower Trail). The path moved steeply uphill, and 15 minutes later we reached the fire tower. The historic tower was built in 1939 to replace the first tower destroyed by the 1938 hurricane. Lowering my head, I slowly made my way up the 72 stairs and was rewarded with a panoramic view. Mount Monadnock in all its glory dominated the horizon to the northeast. Vermont's Stratton Mountain stood out prominently to the northwest, while Mount Wachusett in Princeton, Massachusetts, did the same to the southeast. The hike outlined here is roughly a 2.5-mile out-and-back outing. Dogs are welcome on the trail. According to local lore, Mount Grace is named for Grace Rowlandson, the 6-year-old daughter of Mary Rowlandson. Mary and Grace were captured by Nipmuck warriors during King Philip's War on Feb. 10, 1676, in a raid on Lancaster, Massachusetts. Both mother and daughter suffered abdominal wounds during the attack. Grace died during the forced march north, and she was reportedly buried at the base of the mountain. In reality, Mary's daughter was named Sarah, not Grace, and she died at a Native American encampment along the Ware River in New Braintree. To get to Mount Grace from the junction of Routes 10/78 and 119 in Winchester, drive south on Route 78 for 6.2 miles. The parking lot is on the right.