Mt Moosiluake Ravine Lodge Road Need info

[Rick]

This will be my (gulp) first foray out of the ADK's (or Vermont or Maine) onto a NH 4K peak. Can anyone tell me a bit about parking at the Ravine Lodge? Will the Ravine Lodge Road be open to the lodge this weekend, or should I plan on leaving from Rte 18.

Thanks in advance
Rick

 

[Waumbek]

Hey, Rick, welcome to NH. Almost every gate road around here is still open. Bear Notch is the exception. Unless we get swacked with snow or ice in the next few days, which is possible at higher elevations, I'd guess the Ravine Lodge Road will remain open for the holiday weekend. If you park on the lodge road, it's Dartmouth property, no fee. Go all the way to the end and there will be a circle turnaround. When the road does gate and you park out on 18, that's USFS land. I'm fairly certain Tunnel Brook Rd (USFS) will also remain open if you want to go up the Benton Trail. Even if it gates, it's only about a 2-mile flat walk to the trailhead from the gate (at the bridge). (There's another 2 miles or so from the gate back to the end of the plowed road.)

 

[Rick]

Thanks Waumbeck. I appreciate the feedback!

 

[David Metsky]

Typically the Ravine Road gate will stay open past the time you can easily drive it. Don't let the open gate fool you. It usually one of the last gates to close. If it is closed a parking area is kept plowed just off 118, and you do need a parking pass.

From 118 to the Lodge is 1.5 miles in case you have to walk. You can also start at the Glencliff trailhead year round, which is why it is a popular winter choice.

-dave-

 

[Rick]

Thanks for the info Dave, I was in yesterday and went up Moosilauke. my first of the New Hampshire 4K's and #50 of my 115ers (now that I am back in the NE). I am learning the whole National Park thing here, not being used to it. The first thing I need to do is pick up an annual parking pass. BTW, I cannot stress how helpful your website is in learning about all the peaks.
Thanks
Rick

 

[Waumbek]

Rick, I was gone over Thanksgiving (Mansfield) and returned to see Moosilauke draped in white (today). Haven't looked yet to see if you filed a trip report. How deep was the snow up there yesterday? Actually, the White Mountains is a National Forest, not National Park, but parking is still regulated. The fee thing started about ten years ago and is still resented by local residents who now have to pay to park in their own towns on tax-exempt federal land but I won't get started on that. (Park free or die!) If/when you're 62, go to any of the larger ranger stations and get a Golden Age pass that exempts you from these WMNF parking fees forever. Take a picture ID. Also, if you hike Moosilauke on the Benton Trail, you don't have to pay to park on "Tunnel Brook Road from 112 to the Noxon Road." That doesn't make much sense to me either. Here's a past thread on the sometimes inexplicable intricacies of WMNF rules.

 

[Rick]

Waumbeck,
There wasn't more than a few inches of snow on the ground - more near the summit and a dusting of 1/2 inch or so lower. What was tough was the black ice beneath the dusting of snow at around 3k' and below.

When I got out of my truck at 9:15 AM, it was 19 degrees and the wind was whipping around the parking area - My fingers hurt from the cold just trying to get my boots on. Took me a good 20 minutes to warm up (and I am normally a very warm hiker). I had to flip my water bottles over as they were freezing up as I got higher. (I had given a brief thought about bringing my waterbottle parkas, but it WAS 61 degrees the day before on the Midstate Trail).
All in all, a great hike from that angle. I'll need to go over it again when I complete that section of the AT, but it won't be for a few more years.

 

[Waumbek]

Thanks, Rick. Moosilauke is a great mountain no matter how/how often you hike it. My big adventure on those two days was driving from here to VT on Thanksgiving Day in a driving rain and thunderstorm. I left the car on the other side of Mansfield overnight and when I returned to it Friday every door was solidly frozen shut. I think the combination of driving high speed on I-89 in heavy rain with Thule racks that pry up the door gaskets slightly plus a plunge in temperature overnight was enough to freeze the doors to the frame. Next time, I'll wipe down the door frames or stash a can of de-icer outside the car.