Bob Holmes of Antrim, who has completed all of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot peaks and 45 of the “52 with a View,” said he is still discovering trails in the Monadnock region.

Holmes, who leads the Trails of Antrim hiking group, encourages anyone with interest in exploring the outdoors to sign up for the new group, which was created this spring by the Antrim Recreation Department and the Antrim Conservation Commission.

“We take all different kinds of walks and hikes. People seem to really like the nature walks, and identifying the flowers and plants,” Holmes said. “We had 30 people at our first meeting, and we got together and people picked what kinds of walks they wanted to do.”

People do not have to be Antrim residents to participate, and the program is free.

In the spring, Antrim Recreation Director Celeste Lunetta approached Holmes and asked if he would want to restart an Antrim hiking group.

“Years ago, I led a ‘Back Roads and Cellar Holes of Antrim’ program, and people loved it,” Holmes said. “I did mom-and-kids hikes, I’ve led hikes up all the local mountains, including Thumb, Baldy and Skatutakee.” 

Holmes said the new Trails of Antrim program, which took its first hike in May, has had a great turnout, with a growing core of regulars and eight or nine people attending most hikes. So far, the group has hiked the North Pack cliff trail, a section of the Sunapee Greenway, the Coolidge Ledges on the Antrim/Nelson town line, Crotched Mountain, Thumb Mountain and Fox  Forest in Hillsborough. The hikes typically meet at the trailheads around 8 a.m., depending on weather.

“In August, we’ll do Monadnock, hopefully when it’s a little cooler,” Holmes said. 

Easier walks have included the Hiroshi Loop Trail in Dublin and the loop trail at the Harris Center. Another upcoming walk will be an outing to Campbell Pond, which will be “more a bushwhack,” according to Holmes. 

“There are so many hikes right around here that even I didn’t know about, like Stoddard Rocks,” Holmes said. 

Holmes, who grew up in Auburn, worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 40 years, including serving as Antrim’s postmaster, and he still works as a football referee for high schools across the region. After he retired from the Postal Service, a friend invited Holmes to come hiking with him. 

“I really never got outside until I retired,” Holmes said. “But as I got older, I couldn’t keep up with the kids to referee, and so I started hiking to get in shape, and I was hooked.”

Holmes has made up for lost time ever since, conquering all of New Hampshire’s major peaks, and he’s nearly done with the “52 With a View.”

“I’m saving Mount Success for last,” he said. 

Along with scaling peaks, Holmes has become a wildflower expert, completed coverts training with the New Hampshire Extension Service and led nature walks for the Conservation Commission.

Plans for the group later in the summer include an Antrim “large tree hunt,” and in the fall, before he gets too busy with football, Holmes plans to lead a “hard- and soft-mast” hunt. 

“Antrim could have some of the largest trees in New Hampshire,” Holmes said. “Who knows?” 

Holmes encourages everyone to give hiking a try.

“It’s all about engaging people and just getting them outside,” he said. 

Interested hikers and walkers can sign up through the Trails of Antrim Facebook page. People who do not use Facebook can contact the Antrim Recreation Department. For information, go to antrimnh.org/parks-recreation.