Hiking Fatality at Monadnock State Park in Jaffrey

CONTACT:
Lt. William Boudreau
(603) 271-3361
June 15, 2026

Jaffrey, NH – On Saturday June 13, 2026, at 4:11 p.m., NH Fish and Game Conservation Officers received a call from Mountain Patrol Rangers at Monadnock State Park. The Mountain Patrol Rangers had been notified of a hiker who was suffering a medical incident on the Cascade Link Trail approximately 0.75 miles from the Park Headquarters on Poole Road. Good Samaritans came across the solo hiker and called 911. They then began CPR as his condition deteriorated. Conservation Officers immediately responded and requested additional assistance from local fire departments.

Members of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Jaffrey Fire Department, Rindge Fire Department, Peterborough Fire Department, Dublin Fire Department, Troy Fire Department, Keene Fire Department, New Ipswich Fire Department, Massachusetts Lifeflight, Greatbrook Ambulance, Jaffrey Rindge Memorial Ambulance, Jaffrey Police Department, Southwestern New Hampshire District Fire Mutual Aid, and the Cheshire County Sheriff’s Dispatch Office all aided in the rescue effort.

Despite the best efforts of all involved, the hiker, identified as Joshua Luth, 20, of Lancaster, MA, succumbed to the medical event he sustained while hiking and was pronounced deceased. The cause of the incident remains under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.