New Trails in White Mountain National Forest - Who decides??

[Jazzbo]

I've been reading with great interest Forest and Crag by the Guy and Linda Waterman and learned about how trails in Whites and other areas have evolved over the years. I see how in early years the AMC had a number of committees of Improvements etc that scouted and blazed new trails and coordinated maintainance of existing trails. I even read about the new trails recently opened in Grafton Notch region. It appears in the early days the National Forest wasn't actively involved in trail building as trail building almost appears to be solely by AMC Committees in Improvement at least as described by Forest and Crag.

What mechanisms are in place today if a person or group wants to lobby for a new trail to enable certain loop options not currently possible or making certain bushwack routes offical trails. I'm thinking of this in relation to Owls Head which Forest Service wants to keep unmarked etc. Or how about a new trail from Franconia Brook up to Twins Ridge? Why must existing trails be so permanant or ironclad? Why shouldn't new generations of hikers create new trails in mature areas from time to time? I get the impression the original sources were not shy about clearing summit areas to create views. They frequently traveled with axmen, but that's topic for another rant.

 

[Waumbek]

What mechanisms are in place today if a person or group wants to lobby for a new trail to enable certain loop options not currently possible or making certain bushwack routes offical trails.

This is an interesting question, Jazzbo, and it begs the prior one: what are the "new" trails in the WMNF region? We spend a lot of time talking about the abandoned trails but not about the "new" ones of the last twenty years or so. Beyond the Grafton Loop, which uses some private land (Puzzle Mtn), the ones that come to mind immediately are the Coos Trail, which largely uses existing hiking trails, ski trails, snowmobile trails as well as cuts some new ground and the Four Soldiers and Underhill Paths in the Randolph-Pond of Safety area (technically in the Randolph Community Forest). The impetus for the CT was to take hikers into the North Country and for the Grafton Loop to relieve the pressure from summer camp groups and others that use the Mahoosucs trail, which is also the AT. Those shelters have gotten way overcrowded when the two groups coincide. There are also a few new minor side trails to new, relocated DOC shelters on the AT from Hanover to Moosilauke (e.g., Moose Mountain and Ore Hill).

The Underhill and Four Soldiers Paths are RMC projects, and here's what RMC had to say about what had to happen to create new trails. There's a lot that is not explained here, including the original rationale, but it will give you the gist of the process.

What other recent trails are there in the WMNF region or elsewhere?

 

[Jazzbo]

The trail designer for the RMC on those two trails was striving to stay away form steep terrain. I think the majority of hikers are in it for the views. Ergo the name of this forum. We're a bunch of view junkies. No question it requires steep trails to get to these views. The better the view the more traffic and erosion is intensified. If you want trail with privacy just go to one of the flat trails anywhere in Whites that have no view or summit. One policy solution might be to spread the pain around to more places. Hence AMC's Northern Forest Initiative, Coos Trail, and expansion into areas further afield. WMNF might consider opening up view ledges on viewless summits currently in process of reforestation such as Hale & Galehead. My original question was mainly whether WMNF ever considers building new trails as enhancements to existing trail systems. I'm a prisoner of geography and mainly visit areas in WMNF closest to where I live in MA. It would make an interesting open question to pose to VFTT if you were king and could build a new trail, what trail would you build?

 

[Peaks]

Maybe the reason why WMNF isn't building new trails is that the USFS has a hard enough time maintaining the existing trails.

 

[Jasonst]

Seems like the trend in this day and age is more towards conservation and less towards cutting new trails - especially in designated "wildereness" areas...

 

[dug]

Maybe the reason why WMNF isn't building new trails is that the USFS has a hard enough time maintaining the existing trails.

BINGO!

While the thought of a newer, better way, to achieve a peak isn't necessarily a bad idea, there are enough trails around that we don't need to add ro them. The shortest routes will always gather a vast majority of the traffic, and the longer routes will always look overgrown.

 

[Paradox]

It would make an interesting open question to pose to VFTT if you were king and could build a new trail, what trail would you build?

If I were king, I don't think I would designate any specific trails to be built. I think GPS is going to become almost universal amongst outdoor enthusiasts in the next few years. I think a well publicized location where GPS tracks could be posted would reduce the need for blazing of the popular trails. An example of this is the Owl's Head slide. There seems to be a vestpocket war between the Forestry Service and recreational hikers over the marking of that trail. Small cairns are taken down and rebuilt. Blazes are painted on trees and then scratched off the trees. Trees are scarred in attempt to mark the trailhead. All of the back-and-forth becomes moot if GPS tracks and waypoints were available for that route.

Once the trails are "grooved" in for a few years, maintain only the most popular routes, everything else is a bushwhack. How do you tell what is popular? I haven't given that much thought, but off-hand satellite imagery and the number of downloads from the various websites are two that come to mind. There is always good old fashioned surveys. It is good to be king!

 

[RoySwkr]

As mentioned, entirely new trails are now rare in the WMNF although there were quite a few relocations due to landowner problems and poor routing in the previous decade. I guess the Forest Discovery nature trail is all new as a designated trail. Other groups have been much more active in NH, such as the 75-mile SRKG Trail and some riverside trails in Crawford Notch State Park.

There is a guideline as to how many trail miles/sq. mi. should exist in Wilderness so it is harder to get new trails there. The Cohos Trail was supposed to start near the S end of Coos County and follow the Davis Path, but the FS didn't want them even to use an existing trail because it would attract more hikers to Wilderness.

In the WMNF, trail building is suggested by Forest staff or a cooperator such as the AMC. It then goes through an environmental and policy analysis process including public comment and must be built to Forest Service standards. I suspect that proposals by an individual and not a group would have a hard time getting approved due to continuing maintenance issues. Now you see why that lady just built hers.

 

[Hillwalker]

Possibilities

Saturday on my way out Signal Ridge trail from Carrigain, I took a route that I had been considering for several years. At the old four way crossing of the trail I turned right (west) and walked the old road for about a half mile until it joined to new logging road that was built to gain access to the timber cut up until this spring. The new bridge has been removed, and the new road is full of deep waterbars, but it is a very nice totally dry walk back out to Sawyer river road ending just before the gated end parking for Sawyer Pond. This would make a really nice XC ski loop and dry access to the Carrigain Notch trail. No new trail need be built, just some blowdown removal.

Another nice woodsy loop would be The old Bemis tower road from the stream crossing on the Nancy Pond trail to Bemis, then a new trail cut across to Nancy. Then down the herd path back to Norcross Pond. This would make a really fine loop. New trail would have to be laid out from Bemis to Nancy, but as one who has bushwhacked between the two, is very practical. The Bemis fire wardens' trail is one of the nicest "unmaintained" trails I have been on in my 53 years of hiking in the Whites. There are views from the old tower wreckage on Bemis and the walk out the old Bemis trail is beautiful.

 

[dug]

Saturday on my way out Signal Ridge trail from Carrigain, I took a route that I had been considering for several years. At the old four way crossing of the trail I turned right (west) and walked the old road for about a half mile until it joined to new logging road that was built to gain access to the timber cut up until this spring. The new bridge has been removed, and the new road is full of deep waterbars, but it is a very nice totally dry walk back out to Sawyer river road ending just before the gated end parking for Sawyer Pond. This would make a really nice XC ski loop and dry access to the Carrigain Notch trail. No new trail need be built, just some blowdown removal.

Ha, I know what you mean. I finallyskied it (a couple of years ago), it's a great ride out. Logging roads make great ski trails, not necessarily good hiking trails.

 

[Stan]

If I were king I would ban everyone from the kingdom ... except VFTTers

I can't say that the need for a new trail comes to mind, there seems to be so many choices of trails, paths and non trails which will take a lifetime to exhaust. However, there are two instance when I would support a trail.

First, when a herd path starts to harden and it poses a risk of severe erosion or damage, then a trail properly located and built would be preferable.

Second, trails that connect an existing network to make extended backpacks, even if in sections, possible over a defined route (like the Cohos). I think once the thrill of peakbagging becomes satiated, if ever, many hikers may discover that longer journeys through a wider variety of terrain, ponds and lesser peaks is a worthwhile adventure. With the baby boomers reaching retirement, I expect the "market" for such trails will grow.

 

[Waumbek]

The trail designer for the RMC on those two trails was striving to stay away form steep terrain. I think the majority of hikers are in it for the views. Ergo the name of this forum. We're a bunch of view junkies. No question it requires steep trails to get to these views.

Not necessarily. The Four Soldiers Path offers some extremely good, open views of the Northern Presidentials as well as this partially obscured but unique view of Mt Washington summit buildings through the Edmands col. The latter is called the "Eye of the Needle" for good reason.

 

[Jazzbo]

An excellent candidate

Thanks Hillwalker ... you've suggested two excellent candidates. The sorts of things I had in mind when I conjured this thread. The first related to Carragain solves genuine well known safety issue water crossing problem and 2nd is very low cost enhancement to "existing" trails.

 

[RoySwkr]

The new bridge has been removed, and the new road is full of deep waterbars, but it is a very nice totally dry walk back out to Sawyer river road ending just before the gated end parking for Sawyer Pond.

The bridge was still there in April, apparently they have to remove it after each sale.

On the map it looks easy to bushwhack from SR Rd to avoid the crossing, but there is a steep bank and some wetlands. Those loggers built an extra bridge for a reason.