Confusing trails (Lincoln Woods/Wilderness)

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SAR-EMT40

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The other thread about the worst trails in the Whites got me to thinking. Most of us lament the torture of the Lincoln woods trail. First, I believe that the trail that we are actually talking about, the one with all the railroad ties, straight as an arrow, no views, bore you to death and is on the west side of the river is called the Wilderness Trail. How may people have actually tried the trail on the East side of the river which I believe is actually the Lincoln woods trail? Is it any better. I always take the Wilderness trail (West side) and am bored to death but if the Lincoln Woods trail (East side) is a viable option with a water crossing (at safe times) I have crossed near the bridge several times and that may be more appealing to me if the trail is more interesting on the East side.

I don't remember if they did a name change on these trails at one point so if I have the names switched someone tell me. Like I said, I am reffering to the East trail as Lincoln woods and the West trail as Wilderness in this question. I believe the confusion comes in because the Lincoln woods trail starts at the ranger station and continues all the way to swinging bridge. The Wilderness trail starts on the other side (West) of the river and continues over the fixed bridge, passes franconia brook trail, then bondcliff trail and moves along the north side of the river, crosses the swinging bridge to the south side of the river and ends at Thoreau falls trail. Correct me if I am wrong. I am doing this from memory.

Keith
 
they changed the name a few years back. It was the Wilderness trail, now it' s the Lincoln Woods trial until the Wilderness boundary, from there on it's the Wilderness trail. The one on the other side is called East Branch.
 
East side is not much better. Still rather boring. A few nice views of the river but no better then the view from the Lincoln woods side.
 
To sum up:

Starting at the Lincoln Woods parking lot, you cross the river on the first suspension bridge and the Lincoln Woods trail starts on opposite side. This is the one with all the RR ties. It parallels the Pemi River hitting the Osceo and Franconia Brook trails. When it crosses the bridge built on the old RR bridge pilings and enters the Wilderness Area it becomes the Wilderness trail. I continues up past the Bondcliff trail and the second suspension bridge.

Starting at the Lincoln Woods parking lot if you continue past the visitors center, staying on that side of the river, that is the Pemi East Side trail, of the East Side road. This goes to the new Franconia Brook campsite and eventually meets up wtih the Cedar Brook trail (?) eventually hitting the suspension bridge.

There are rock stepping stones across the Pemi where the Lincoln Woods trail turns into the Wilderness trail, connecting them to the Pemi East Side trail and Franconia Brook campsite.

-dave-
 
David Metsky said:
To sum up:

Starting at the Lincoln Woods parking lot, you cross the river on the first suspension bridge and the Lincoln Woods trail starts on opposite side. This is the one with all the RR ties. It parallels the Pemi River hitting the Osceo and Franconia Brook trails. When it crosses the bridge built on the old RR bridge pilings and enters the Wilderness Area it becomes the Wilderness trail. I continues up past the Bondcliff trail and the second suspension bridge.

Starting at the Lincoln Woods parking lot if you continue past the visitors center, staying on that side of the river, that is the Pemi East Side trail, of the East Side road. This goes to the new Franconia Brook campsite and eventually meets up wtih the Cedar Brook trail (?) eventually hitting the suspension bridge.

There are rock stepping stones across the Pemi where the Lincoln Woods trail turns into the Wilderness trail, connecting them to the Pemi East Side trail and Franconia Brook campsite.

-dave-

Thanks Dave and others. Do any of the maps reflect this? I have what I believe are the latest AMC maps but again, they are not right in front of me.

Keith
 
Pemi East Side Trail

I think the East SIde trail is a much nicer alternative to the lincoln woods trail. It might be fairly flat, but there are still a few ups and downs to keep it more interesting and there is a large opening near the pemi wilderness boundry that has a pretty nice view of the backside of franconia ridge, and i believe owls head. In the winter its a very interesting walk. I was up there with my friend and we did the loop up the East Side trail and came back the WIlderness and Lincoln Woods trail. The east side was much nicer. It does lead up to the Cedar Brook trail on the right and then after that it descends down to a old rickety suspension bridge. WHat can I say, I liked it! :)
 
SAR-EMT40 said:
Thanks Dave and others. Do any of the maps reflect this? I have what I believe are the latest AMC maps but again, they are not right in front of me.

The edition of the WMG that' s not the most recent but one previous actually has a statement in it that the renaming of the first part of the Wilderness Trail to the Lincoln Woods trail will cause confusion and that the guide will continue to use the Wilderness Trail name for the entire route.

I'm not sure what the most recent WMG says.
 
MichaelJ said:
The edition of the WMG that' s not the most recent but one previous actually has a statement in it that the renaming of the first part of the Wilderness Trail to the Lincoln Woods trail will cause confusion and that the guide will continue to use the Wilderness Trail name for the entire route.

I'm not sure what the most recent WMG says.

The most recent edition reiterates that.
 
SAR-EMT40 said:
Thanks Dave and others. Do any of the maps reflect this? I have what I believe are the latest AMC maps but again, they are not right in front of me. Keith

The Adventure Map (I think that's the name) 2nd ed. reflects it--that's the one that gives summit altitudes in feet, contour lines in meters. The East Side trail is really a Forest Service truck road to just past the Franconia campground where there's a parking area for authorized personnel, the gate, the stepping-stone ford of the Pemi, and the porta-johns. The wilderness area starts beyond the gate.

I wouldn't say this truck-road trail is any more "interesting" than the Lincoln Woods Trail but if you're tired of walking on the railroad ties, give it a try. It has far fewer people on it. And you'd get some real excitement on a day like today trying to cross those stepping-stones, which probably aren't even visible in the middle part of the Pemi this afternoon. Problem is, if you can't ford there and you're headed for the Bondcliff Trail, you've got to go all the way up to the suspension bridge and loop back on the Wilderness Trail to pick it up.
 
Last edited:
Waumbek said:
The East Side trail is really a Forest Service truck road

I knew this. :D That was where we brought the first rescue that I assisted at (in the Whites) the old Franconia brook campground. Carried a woman across the river at that point to the road and loaded the stokes into the bed of the pickup and they drove her out.

I haven't actually every seen the trail itself for any distance though.

I think I have that map somewhere (not sure what edition). I'll have to look. I need to check my other maps as well.

Thanks,
Keith
 
I haven't traveled all the way to the end, but the East Side road offers a good view of Osseo in profile and there is a spot where it is looks down about 75' feet to the river. It's ok, but it's not going to be featured in Appalachia anytime soon.
 
Pine Island

Back when my dogs (canine) were not so trail worn I used to take them out to the big pools just past the Wilderness boundary on the old Truck Road/East Side/ trail. We always went left before the first little hill and followed the Pine Island Trail along the river until it looped back to the road again. That little trail makes some nice woods walking and is not a bit longer than the trudge on the dirt track of the old Truck Road.
 
Can't Believe I Did the Whole Thing

Wanting to avoid another trip on the Lincoln Woods Trail after coming off of the Bonds (and wanting to see something new), I turned left on the Wilderness Trail followed it to the Cedar Brook Trail and took the East Side trail back to the parking lot. It was well worth it until the last couple of miles.
The suspension bridge (on the Wilderness Trail just before the Cedar Brook Trail junction) was cool and the upper part of the trail was a nice change of pace with a few interesting, if not spectacular sights, including a minor cascade on one of the tributaries. However, the last three miles is a road walk and the up and down in the last mile or so was completely annoying. Granted, I had started from Galehead Hut and this was mile 18+ so maybe just still being on my feet was annoying but I did find myself longing for the boring flatness of the other side... Next time, maybe I'll cross back to the Lincoln Woods Trail at that point. :p
 
Does anyone have a picture of the stepping-stone crossing at the Wilderness boundary, to get from the Wilderness Trail to the East Side to the new Franconia Brook campground? I'd like to see what that looks like so that in the future I can gauge by the river height up or downstream whether I think it's crossable.

Thanks!
 
That's why you're "the Dave" and Brenda is "the woman in all Dave's pictures."

:)

Thanks!
 
On occasion I have ridden my mountain bike along the trail on the west side of the river to the wilderness boundry, then stashed it in the woods , then started hiking. Saves about 6 miles hiking on a round trip. Works for a day hike but I wouldn't want to try it with 40 lbs!
 
I crossed the stepping stones at the wilderness boundry a couple of weeks ago and it still pretty much looks like what is in Dave's picture. There were 2 stones that were partially submerged about 1 inch under water that you need to step on to get across, but other than that it's a fairly easy rock hop. Hiking poles would make the crossing even easier. I did it in sneakers and had no problems.
 

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