Trailhead and parking area are at the end of Mill Brook Road in Shelburne, NH. To get there, drive Rt. 2 east from Gorham, and 5.6 miles from the eastern junction with Rt. 16, turn left onto Meadow Road. Drive across the Androscoggin River, and after 0.9 miles, the road makes a sharp curve to the left. Immediately after the turn, turn right onto Mill Brook Road, a rough logging road. Drive for 0.5 miles, staying on the main road as narrower roads diverge occasionally. Look for the entrance to the trail on the right, marked by a small sign, and blocked off by boulders. Access to Mill Brook Road is not guaranteed, especially in winter, so if the road is shut down, you may have to park at the entrance. Click here for a Google map.
In the Mahoosuc Range, characterized by its severe ruggedness, most of the peaks on the main ridge are serious, full day climbs involving rocky terrain in the region that is called the most difficult in the Appalachian Trail. The Mahoosucs do have a lighter side, and that is a cluster of smaller peaks that form a sort of foothills south of the main ridge, just off the Maine state line. The highest of these is Mt. Ingalls, at over 2200 feet. Though a very low peak by White Mountain standards, Ingalls still retains some of the trademark Mahoosuc terrain with its summit ridgeline of rocky outcrops, and relative to the valley of the Androscoggin River over which it rises, it is still a towering mountain. It is a far more accessible mountain to climb than most of the Mahoosucs, though there are still some difficult stretches to the trail. The summit ledges, as well as the outlook on Mt. Cabot, which can be visited on the way up, provide a nice intimate view over the Androscoggin River Valley not seen from the higher peaks. This little-used trail network in a quiet corner of the Mahoosucs has plenty of scenery in store.
Follow the Scudder Trail on a wide, grassy path for 0.1 miles into an open clearing where trails cross. Turn right onto the Yellow Trail. This trail will lead along the base of Mt. Cabot to start a loop over it. The trail remains flat as it weaves through tight hemlocks on an old road. After 0.2 miles, pass the Yellow-Red Connector on the left. The trail proceeds into recently cleared areas. After 0.3 miles, it crosses another logging road and continues back into the woods. Bear right as Red Trail takes off to the left, and arrive at the end of Yellow Trail at a junction in 0.1 miles. Turn left onto Blue Trail, which follows another wide old road. The Blue Trail begins its ascent of the mountain through the logged areas. In 0.1 miles, it crosses a wide cleared swath and follows the older road into the woods on the other side. It bears right off the road at a cairn and sign shortly after, and then comes out onto another logging track. It climbs steeply uphill on this path through the clearing and then ducks back into the woods, bearing right out of the clearing. After a half mile from the first clearing, the trail swings left and levels out on a flat shoulder of the mountain. It meanders across the plateau for 0.4 miles, passes a yellow-painted boundary post, and climbs up a very sharp rocky pitch next to a clearcut area. Now on the upper cone of the little Mt. Cabot, it continues climbing rapdily for 0.2 miles before cresting the summit. Just before the highpoint, an unmarked path leads a few steps off the trail to the right to a minor easterly viewpoint out to the slopes of Bear Mountain in Maine. Just beyond, a short loop trail drops off the summit to the left, makes a quick switchback over a rock outcrop, and leads out to the top of a ledge with a lovely, pastoral view over the Androscoggin River Valley. To the left side of the view, you look over toward Shelburne Moriah Mountain and Mt. Moriah. The low Mt. Winthrop extends out toward the winding river in the valley. Behind, Mt. Washington and the Northern Presidentials loom large. Straight over the river, Pine Mountain is below Mt. Madison, and to the right in the distance is Cherry Mountain. On the right side of the view is the Crescent Range.
Leaving Mt. Cabot's view ledge, continue on the path as it makes a loop back up to the main trail just beyond the summit. Keep going a short distance to the end of Blue Trail at another junction. Take a right onto the Mt. Cabot Connector and descend rapdily on the dark northern side of the summit through thick spruces around mossy ledges. As the trail hits the bottom of the col with Mt. Ingalls, pass Judson Pond Trail on the right. Continue ahead up a short pitch to another junction with Scudder Trail. To the left is your loop descent back to the start. To the right is the out-and-back trail to Ingalls. Continuing on, the trail swings back to the left and runs along the edge of a steep dropoff, soon coming out onto rock. Soon it reaches an opening with wide views to the south, more open and with a little different perspective than the view from Cabot. From here you can see further to the left of Shelburne Moriah, including Howe Peak, the Royces, and Caribou Mountain. The trail continues along the edge, turning back to the right after 0.35 miles from the junction. It ascends moderately for a while, eventually climbing up a mossy ledge ramp and gaining the crest of a north-south ridge to the summit after just under a half mile. It swings to the left to follow this ridge and in another 0.15 miles, crosses a rocky knoll with a view ahead to the summit. It crosses into some deciduous trees for a bit, then climbs steadily again for a quarter mile up to a wide rock knob just southeast of the summit. It continues across intermixed ledge and forest with occasional views for 0.2 miles to the summit ledges, which are wide open and have views over sparse spruce trees to the south. The view is similar to, slightly less open, and higher than the view from the ledges on the trail below. The true summit of the mountain is just a bit further on the trail past the ledges. The trail continues beyond the summit and drops down the other side for 0.1 miles to lead to Ray's Pond, a cute little tarn in a tiny rock-rimmed depression.
To complete the loop, return to the last junction back on Scudder Trail and keep going on it as you pass where you came up on Cabot Connector to the left. The trail descends across the slope through the dark forest and leads across a flat area, just above a wide marsh that separates the trail from the ledge viewpoint you were on earlier. It soon merges into a logging road, and after almost a half mile, diverges to the left of the road on a relocation. Where the trail formerly followed the road the whole way up, it now weaves through the woods just barely away from the road for another half mile downhill. It passes by some boulders and pops back out on the logging road, leading 0.2 miles back to the four-way junction you started at. Proceed straight through the clearing for the final 0.1 mile back to the trailihead.
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