AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Sip Pond is a wide, shallow kettle pond in the quiet Monadnock hill country of southwestern New Hampshire, in the town of Fitzwilliam (Cheshire County). At roughly 141 surface acres but with a maximum depth of only about five feet, it feels less like a lake to be crossed than a broad sheet of open water set against a big backdrop of sky—and, from the right spot, the unmistakable silhouette of Mount Monadnock.↗↗
What makes a visit here special is how you get to the water. Shoreline access is limited to private land, so the public route is through the Monadnock Conservancy's Chamberlain Conservation Area and its easy Sip Pond Peninsula Trail, which runs along the southern shore and out onto a point for a sweeping 180-degree view of the pond and the mountain beyond.↗↗
A big view off a gentle rail trail
The walk begins at the Chamberlain Conservation Area parking area, where you pick up the Cheshire Rail Trail and head northwest along the boggy southern edge of the pond. This first stretch is a nature-watch in itself: a wetland section where flycatchers and migratory warblers work the edges, waterfowl drift on the shallows, and frogs and turtles bask along the bank. Watch for a yellow gate on your right marking the turn onto the Peninsula Trail, which can be easy to miss.
