Mount Shaw via Mount Shaw Trail

This route starts and ends at an unmarked pulloff on NH Route 171 in Tuftonboro, near the bridge over Fields Brook, and reaches Mount Shaw's summit, the highest point in the Ossipee Range. From the pulloff, the Mount Shaw Trail follows an old logging or carriage road alongside Fields Brook, crossing the brook on a few easy fords and passing a small waterfall at 0.7 miles, before picking up red paint blazes that can be faint and easy to lose amid the old woods roads higher up. The trail climbs steadily through hardwood forest to a junction with the Black Snout Trail and the wider trail network below the summit ridge at around 2.4 miles. From here, bear right following the Black Snout Trail, passing the Black Snout summit spur on the right at 2.6 miles. Continue to Mount Shaw's ledgy, partly wooded summit, with views north to the White Mountains and south over Lake Winnipesaukee. The full round trip covers approximately 6.7 miles with about 2,300 feet, depending on whether nearby Black Snout Mountain is also tagged along the way. Retrace the same route back to the Route 171 pulloff.