Pilot Ridge Southeast Peak, informally known as Mount Mary (a name honoring Mary Edgerton), rises to 3,560 feet at the southeastern end of New Hampshire's Pilot Ridge in the remote Kilkenny region north of Stark. Reaching the summit requires off-trail navigation throughout.
The standard approach begins on the Unknown Pond Trail off Mill Brook Road (Forest Road 11). Hikers bushwhack through open hardwood and conifer forest, ascending a gradually steepening ridge to gain the Pilot Ridge. A herd path in the col between Mary and Middle Pilot Peak makes the final ascent more straightforward; a small locked cabin in that col serves as a useful landmark. The summit holds a maintained wooden register box and a USFS land survey monument near the true high point. Views through the wooded top are limited, though the broader ridge and neighboring Hutchins Mountain offer occasional northerly glimpses toward the Percy Peaks and southwesterly toward the Presidential Range.
Mary is most often climbed as part of a multi-peak Pilot Ridge circuit with Middle Pilot, NW Peak, and Hutchins Mountain, a full day totaling roughly 12 miles and 4,000 feet of gain. Mill Brook Road is subject to seasonal gate closures and can be muddy in spring; insects are heavy on the ridge through mid-summer.
