Parking Issues at Dianas Baths

[peakbagger]

Diana's Baths in North Conway is one of the "go to must stop" tourist attractions in the Whites. The trail to it is handicapped accessible and family friendly. Most local hospitality business's and tourists sties recommend it to anyone in town looking for a place to visit nature. There have always been parking issues even before the new parking lot was built and frequently the lot is full despite what I expect is very profitable WMNF parking fee. Parking along the road has always been expected but what has changed of late is the volume of traffic and the gentrification of the area. The last development boom pushed development over onto west side road in that area and several older homesteads in the area have been rebuilt into high end homes in the last few years. The neighbors have been complaining and the result is DOT has now posted the road no parking for quite a distance from the parking lot.

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/131144-nhdot-agrees-to-post-diana-s-baths-road-no-parking

From a hiking perspective, this parking lot serves as trailhead to the Moat traverse, the partial traverse that covers South & Middle Moat along with Red Ridge and the North Moat loop. It also covers the Attitash trail which gets decidedly less use. (It is a nice way to get away from the crowds but lack of views and no significant summits and a long car spot all conspire to keep it little used). I expect folks out for long hike will be too early to lack a parking spot but probably not a great place to go middle day to evening. I expect North Conway will be writing lots of parking ticket to out of state vehicles.

 

[Hillwalker]

Thanks for the memory rekindling Peakbagger. My Father used to take us there picnicking when we lived in Conway in the forties.

 

[peakbagger]

Your welcome, I usually sneak in an early season hike on South & Middle Moat and out via Red Ridge. There is signed spur trail off the Red Ridge trail that ties into the Cathedral Ledge trail network near the top of Whitehorse. There are a couple of hiking options down to Echo Lake State Park. There is no entry fee at the park until later in the spring so its easier to park there and this method skips a frequently wet and muddy area heading back towards the baths.

 

[sierra]

Timing is everything when using that lot for sure. I'm not sure why, but I just love North Moat. The walk in is pleasant and the summit for some reason, I just really dig. I'm not a fan of the reroute going up South Moat though and I have avoided that section for awhile. I'm not a fan of crowds, but that stream at the baths sure hits the spot after a hot hike. I agree, the coffer's will get a jolt in parking fines, tourist just park at will.

 

[TJsName]

Were those signs up last year too? For some reason I felt like there was no road parking within a quarter mile already. People were parking pretty far away and still walking. It was tough driving as they were on both sides of the roads. I would have been fine with restricting parking to one side for safety reasons. Lot of people fly down West Side Road to avoid 16.

 

[Fitz]

I worked on the Moat Range one summer in the late 1980's. The access then was a drive through an adjacent field. Rarely was parking an issue and I often had Diana's Baths to myself even in mid-summer. The same for the original South Moat Trail access point - very few cars. I am not really complaining, just that it was really eye opening to me to see the use of the area explode after the access was "improved". I have been there a few times recently in the summer and the area is mobbed to say the least.

 

[RollingRock]

I heard on the local radio that an organization [not sure who] was to offer a training program to local businesses on where to steer their customers to other than Diana's Baths this summer. There are beautiful falls with possible swimming holes in Jackson and some areas off the Kanc that are good options.

 

[NHClimber]

Well, you can certainly wade into the upper falls in Jackson right up past the Wentworth. Beyond that, some of the secret swimming holes that I am aware of are not on public lands so not sure where this organization thinks it's going to legally direct people to in Jackson. Swift river along Kanc is generally open obviously, as are various areas along the Saco in Crawford Notch.

 

[CaptCaper]

Maybe the town should have a shuttle going for the Bath... charge a reasonable fee even.. It'll be interesting to watch what happens... I was there last summer with the grandkids and the place was jammed up and down the road.. Don't know what the ticket cost but it may be worth it to a lot of folks..

 

[peakbagger]

Looks like North Conway has a new revenue source http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/131559-diana-s-baths-parking-tickets-over-the-weekend

Hundred bucks a car and I expect they can write as many tickets as they want most weekends. Of course collecting them will be a PITA.

 

[DayTrip]

Looks like North Conway has a new revenue source http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/131559-diana-s-baths-parking-tickets-over-the-weekend

Hundred bucks a car and I expect they can write as many tickets as they want most weekends. Of course collecting them will be a PITA.

I saw that article too. Does anyone know if the signs reflect this $100 fine or is it just a generic "no parking" sign? That will be nice surprise to people thinking it is a simple $10 fine not much different than just paying for parking.

 

[sierra]

I saw that article too. Does anyone know if the signs reflect this $100 fine or is it just a generic "no parking" sign? That will be nice surprise to people thinking it is a simple $10 fine not much different than just paying for parking.

They deserve the surprise.

 

[peakbagger]

The intent is not revenue, there is lot of speeding traffic as its way to bypass North Conway and cars parked along both sides of the road make it narrow with bad sightlines. Basically a recipe for someone to step out between two cars and get run over. The fact that the neighborhood has gone somewhat higher rent probably was also a secondary driver.

 

[kerry13]

I haven't done the Moats in awhile but the last time I did them I believe my National Parks Senior Pass was sufficient to park in the Diana's Bath lot. Is this still the case or have they instituted another parking fee just because it is such a popular area.

 

[TJsName]

The town doesn't really have a lot of options here. They have a couple of sticks (fines and towing) and no carrots. There are more passive strategies (lower speed limit, parking on one side only, etc.). People respond to incentives (negative and positive), so the town might be hopeful the threat of a fine will be enough, but it might take awhile before the signs are heeded. The FS could implement a permit policy, but that would likely be similarly unpopular. It seems that the situation requires either less use, more capacity, or a combination of the two.

 

[peakbagger]

I haven't done the Moats in awhile but the last time I did them I believe my National Parks Senior Pass was sufficient to park in the Diana's Bath lot. Is this still the case or have they instituted another parking fee just because it is such a popular area.

The FS pass works fine, the problem is the lot is full from about 9 to 4 PM most weekends

 

[egilbe]

Go on a rainy weekend. The falls look better and the parking lot is barely used.

 

[skiguy]

Go on a rainy weekend. The falls look better and the parking lot is barely used.

Or in the middle of the week in February. IMO this is a good thing. The amount of parking in the lot is more in proportion to the use area. This place was overrun not to mention very dangerous with all the cars on the road. Whether the rent has gone up in the neighborhood or not having people lining the front of your yard with vehicles day after day all Summer long would be annoying to anyone.

 

[mc.lynch]

I hiked North Moat by way of the Red Ridge Trail on Sat of Memorial Day weekend. We got to the Diana's Baths parking lot at 7:45 AM and there were about 5 cars already parked there. When we started up the trail at 8:00 AM there were a few more cars in the parking lot. By the time we got back to the parking lot in the mid-afternoon, it was overflowing with cars. The road also had many cars parked along it and many of those cars had tickets on their windshields.

 

[peakbagger]

Up Date http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/132346-parking-issues-unsolved-at-diana-s-baths

Two USFS employees and a Conway police officer to manage one parking lot.