Monadnock State Park

Monadnock State Park, near Jaffrey, New Hampshire, is built around Mount Monadnock, a 3,165-foot granite peak often cited as one of the most-climbed mountains in the world, largely because of its proximity to the Boston metropolitan area. The mountain's bald, rocky summit is partly the result of fires set deliberately in the early 19th century by farmers trying to eliminate wolf denning habitat, fires that stripped away the soil needed for trees to regrow at higher elevations. Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both wrote about the mountain after visiting it. The peak's isolated profile, rising well above the surrounding terrain, has made it a popular hiking destination for generations.