Trailhead and parking area are off Rt. 116 in Easton, NH. The parking area is on the east side of the road, 4.6 miles south of the junction with Rt. 18 just off I-93 exit 38 in Franconia and 6.5 miles north of the eastern junction with Rt. 112. The entrance is marked with a hiking sign. The short driveway leads around a corner to a medium-sized dirt lot. Click here for a Google map.
On the western, less visited, side of the Kinsman Range, Bald Peak sports an open, ledgy summit with great views of the sparsely-populated, hilly western foothills of the White Mountains. The peak sticks out very little from the hillside of Mt. Kinsman, and its top is rather flat, making for an enjoyable location to take in the views. Not as many hikers ascend Mt. Kinsman from this side, so the peak is somewhat of a hidden gem. It's less than halfway up the climb to North Kinsman, so the approach to the peak is very moderate and eschews significant rough terrain. The peak also conceals the mystical Kinsman Flume, a tight and steep gorge tucked away in a high ravine with a significant waterfall.
Head out from the parking lot on the Mt. Kinsman Trail as it swings through a mossy corridor and dips into a small brook valley, crossing the brook after a quarter mile. Climbing a few small pitches upward, the trail crosses the first of several singletrack mountain bike paths in the area. After another 0.1 miles, it passes an old sugar shack right beside the trail and swings around to the right, following the path of an old road. It remains flat for a while, then gradually starts to climb. After 0.5 miles, the trail takes a right turn off the track of the old road and continues upward at a moderate pace. After 0.4 miles, it dips to cross a slightly larger brook, then continues climbing diagonally uphill, becoming rockier. In another 0.3 miles of climbing, the trail crosses another brook right below a short, mossy cascade over a steep rock. Beyond this crossing, the trail levels off more and cuts across the slope. After fully flattening out through a darker hemlock corridor, the trail crosses Kendall Brook in 0.3 miles.
Immediately on the other side, look for a sign pointing the way to the right on a less-used path. This path leads downhill right beside the brook for 0.1 miles to the Kinsman Flume. You'll see the brook beside you disappear and immediately find yourself next to the precipice of the deep gash in the mountainside. Be very careful here as the trail runs right up along the brink of this treacherous crevasse. Much of the gorge is concealed below the foliage of the forest, but you can peer down to the stream below from a few spots. An impressive three-tiered waterfall flows down into the head of it. Return to the main trail and continue onward for about 0.05 miles to a trail junction on the plateau behind Bald Peak. Turn right onto the spur trail. It dips down and leads through a marshy area, then makes a couple more dips and rises over a ledgy area to reach the open summit of the knob in just 0.2 miles. Wide views are had in most directions from the top, although the main mass of Mt. Kinsman towering overhead blocks any distant views to the east. Over to the right, looking out, some of the Green Mountains can be glimpsed. The largest hill nearby in the view is the long ridge of Cole Hill, leading over to Cooley Hill. To the left and further back is another hill pair, Cobble Hill and Moody Ledge. Next to the left is a more properly mountainous ridge, the Benton Range, starting from Black Mountain and leading over the Hogsback to Jeffers Mountain, with Mount Clough being the largest in the group off to the left. The tallest mountain in sight is Mt. Moosilauke, all the way to the left, rising out over the nearby hillside. Up above you as mentioned is North Kinsman, and to the northeast, looking over the trees, you can see the top of Mittersill Peak, adjacent to Cannon Mountain (not visible).
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