Status of Some WMNF Trailheads

[Kevin Rooney]

Yesterday (Oct 9th) I checked whether the FS gates to the following trailheads were open or closed. They were all OPEN:

Garfield & Galehead - the gate immediately after the Garfield winter parking and the gate on the northern end of the loop, near 5 corners

Haystack Rd - leads to the N. Twin trailhead

Zealand Rd - both the gate at the bottom on the first hill (just beyond the bridge) and the one immediately after where the pavement ends

Baseline Rd - the Ammo trailhead

On a separate note - found verglas just below treeline on the Falling Waters trail. It's that time again to toss the microspikes into the pack, especially on some trails (Ammo immediately comes to mind).

 

[Stan]

Anyone know if Tripoli Road is open?

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Of course it is. We are early October and there has been a total of 0.000 mm of snow so far.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Of course it is. We are early October and there has been a total of 0.000 mm of snow so far.

Mohammed - while snow after hunting season (sometimes before if substantial) there's been so much hysteria here and in the media about the status of the FS roads and trails that I made an effort to check a few after a hike yesterday. I do know that in some FS jurisdictions they are closing roads/gates, notably in the West. And there appears to be confusion about whether Lincoln Woods is open or closed - I think people have confused the closure of the Wilderness Trail with the TH itself. To the best of my knowledge, Lincoln Woods doesn't have a gate on the parking lot, so unless they placed a barrier near the road, it would be always be open. OTH, I believe the bathrooms are closed.

 

[Stan]

I think Mohamed was referring to Tripoli Road which I inquired about. I wasn't worried about the snow ... I was wondering if it had been closed in conjunction with the ... well, the circus we call "shutdown".

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I think Mohamed was referring to Tripoli Road which I inquired about. I wasn't worried about the snow ... I was wondering if it had been closed in conjunction with the ... well, the circus we call "shutdown".

Stan - As far as I can determine, the FS hasn't closed ANY roads/trailheads related to the shutdown.

 

[Becca M]

Well, I hope they don't chain closed that pedestrian gate next to the Hancock Notch parking lot!!!!

 

[peakbagger]

Please note the link to the NH campground owners article I placed in the shutdown thread. Although not official, they list Zealand and Tripoli roads as closed?

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

... Although not official, they list Zealand and Tripoli roads as closed?

AS of today Tripoli Road is open, though Russell Pond Road is gated at its junction with Tripoli Road.

 

[bobandgeri]

Gale River Rd, Haystack Rd, Zealand Rd are all open as of today. Does look like the Zealand campground may be closed though the gates are across the entrance.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I got the following in an email

I am not a VFTT member, but I look at it a lot. For your viewers info, Hastings, Basin, Wild River and Cold River campgrounds on Rt 113 are all gated or barricaded, as of today. I just drove by them an hour ago.

Tim

 

[DayTrip]

Facebook had a post a few days back that from AMC Blog with updates: http://news.outdoors.org/2013/10/update-mohican-wmnf-backcountry.html. Looks like they will at least try and keep status updated via their blog so it may be worth following if you don't already.

Good idea too that everyone is posting status of roads to VFTT as they hike. No better substitute for info than actual day to day observations. Hopefully everyone will keep that up. I find most of the websites lag behind reality quite a bit, even pre-government shutdown.

As yet another side note I checked in on the USGS River Resources site today planning my hike for tomorrow and they too have become affected by shutdown. They have a notice on their home page indicating that most "processes requiring human intervention" will be ceasing as of Oct 1, so some of the river info we get from the site may stop or be out of date. FYI.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Hubbard Brook Road is closed. Only trailheads off it are Mt. Kineo and Hubbard Brook trails, so few will be inconvenienced

 

[bryan]

Hubbard Brook Road is closed. Only trailheads off it are Mt. Kineo and Hubbard Brook trails, so few will be inconvenienced

just tried to hike off of hubbard brook road this morning and was dismayed to find it closed when i got there. i'm trying to figure how it is different from the other forest roads that remain open in a way that would mandate it's closure. if i'm not mistaken it is categorized differently. an "x" instead of an "fr" in front of it's given number. anyone know if the road through the experimental forest in bartlett is closed too?

bryan

 

[IQuest]

Does anyone know if the road to Wild River campground will reopen after this is all over, being so late in the year? I was hoping to ascend Moriah via Moriah Brook Tr in a couple weeks.