Access to Dixville and Kelsey ?

[Sherby]

Hi,

Is it still possible to legally access the summit of these two peaks since the wind farm is running ?

 

[bryan]

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?49212-dixville-peak-5-31-13&highlight=dixville
http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?49211-kelsey-mountain-5-31-13&highlight=dixville

was up there in the spring and had no issue accessing either summit though both now have wind turnbines right on their tops. you could basically drive to just below the top of dixville though i parked down lower and hiked up. the bushwack up to kelsey was relatively short with good woods popping you right out at the now flattened summit and wind turnbine. there is obviously an access road to kelsey as well, but i imagine given the layout of the road it is probably gated earlier and not a good access route and unlike dixville that allows atvs to the top it was signed as no atvs. there were not signs prohibiting access on either summit, but a number of warnings about falling ice, etc on dixville. i must say it felt strange to be able to walk right up to those monstrosities and it could be the case that if someone is up there working on them they may question your proximity, but i doubt it. i expected more prohibitions or security and was a bit nervous about going up there having seen no previous reports, but it was not an issue. i know of a couple others who have been up since with no problems. one more recent report for dixville http://www.newenglandtrailconditions.com/nh/viewreport.php?entryid=13608.

bryan

 

[GBKDalton]

I was up there on the Cohos Trail this summer and there didn't seem to be any problem with accessing the summits (didn't peakbag either, trail goes around). There is a dirt road/snowmobile trail/access road network that goes up to the summit of Dixville.

 

[peakbagger]

I had contacted the original developers rep during the permitting period and he had replied that recreational access would be allowed to these summits, although I expect that there may be periods of the year where access is closed. Do note that the windfarm is now owned by Brookfield Renewable Power and therefore any past agreements may change. The units are enclosed with underground utilities so there really isn't anything that is readily exposed to casual visitors.

 

[rocket21]

In regard to Kelsey, I forget if it's Paris Road or Phillips Brook Road, but whatever it is, there is a road that runs alongside the west side of the mountain (and eventually down to Route 110 between Stark and Milan). The Kelsey access road is gated at the very bottom, so if you look at the aerial, it's a very long walk from there to the summit. The signage seemed more prohibitive than that on Dixville.

 

[RoySwkr]

I heard on another website that while you are not allowed to trespass on the roads or the clearings around the wind towers you are still allowed to bushwhack. The point on Kelsey with the spot elevation is apparently not within the cleared area (your GPS may vary) so you can bushwhack up as always just not use the new roads. The actual summit of Dixville is cleared hence restricted and the Cohos/snowmobile trail no longer goes there but you can bushwhack to one contour below.

Most wind farms give tours which access selected towers, don't know about this one.

If you are doing these because they are on a bogus NH 100 list issued by the AMC, ask them why S Hancock with 4 contours is on their list while several peaks with 5 contours including Guyot, NW Sleeper, and Scaur are not. Then do the 3 peaks previously named which are higher than Dixville/Kelsey instead and call it good. The AMC will no doubt eventually remove any restricted-access peaks from their list in 5/10 years or so.

 

[Sherby]

Thanks for the info. Never heard of an AMC "sanctioned" NH100 list, but we have done the one on nhmountainhiking.com. We're just doing 3k casually

edit : answer from BRP : I checked with our operations folks in the area and they assure me that the peaks are still accessible. In some cases the trail has been relocated but they are clearly marked.

 

[bryan]

the amc does have its "official" version of the nh100 highest. they have dixville as peak number 100 (the only one under 3500 ft) and a number of the peaks roy mentions above show up as extra or bonus peaks. kelsey does not appear. different people have their own versions and i have heard various numbers tossed around.
in looking for different versions of these lists i stumbled upon this site http://wikipeaks.weebly.com/lists.html which has downloadable versions of some ne3k lists as well as a specific nh100 list which to the best of my knowledge matches up with the current amc version. not much else on the site, but being able to download printable lists is nice. unfortunately the amc 4k committee does not publicly post their versions of the nh100, 3k, or 200. you may be able to get copies from them directly, but i did not have the best experience when trying to do so and sought out the information elsewhere.

bryan