Top 8 hikes in the NE??

[una_dogger]

Woodstrider; all EXCELLENT choices! You really covered many of my favorites in your list!!!

Tom, I agree, Breakneck Ridge?? OY! A hike I like, but not even my favorite Hudson Highlands hike!!!

 

[Ridgewalker]

Thank you Pligrim for sharing the article. I just tagged this thread up and have a few thoughts to share. The section describing the Bonds has a minor typo:

“The Bondcliff is among the most beautiful of mountain trails anywhere. It’s sublime-you just don’t see untracked woods that often,” says frequent online bulletin-board user C.T. Hammond."

Just a heads up that C.T. Hammond is actually C.T. Haywood and my original post on the AMC bulletin boards was:

When I hiked in the Bonds the views held me in awe. I felt as if there was evidence of a Higher power in the creation of these woods. Everyone is used to seeing a McDonalds or WalMart everyday, but you don't see untracked woods that often. This area as one may speak is a true gem of sublimity

The editors did need to do their work and it's an honor to be quoted in a magazine

Regards,
Ridgewalker

 

[king tut]

Honestly, this looks like a list I would see in the Martha Stewart magazine. Relatively gentle soccer mom hikes that the general public would enjoy, but not the best hikes in the NE. I do not need it to be an ass kicking hike to be the best hike, but views, effort, and general scenery/terrain all play vital aspects to what rocks the casbah. I love Acadia, but the trail they picked...maybe the 7th or 8th best hike on the island, in my not so humble opinion. Camel's Hump, i think is a good pick. Top 8, maybe-maybe not. A New Jersey hike??? Sounds like an oxy-moron.

If i had my own list, a few picks would be

-Katahdin- pretty much any route. This could be numbers 1-3 here for best hikes in the NE.

-Acadia- The precipice, beehive, dorr mt, and the west face trail up to cadillac mt are better choices than the hikes they mentioned in the article.

-mt washington- From tuck's or lion head, can't go wrong.

Tumbledown Mt- Maine- Great hike, beautiful scenery, mt lake. Good intro hike for people not in great shape.

Mt Mansfield- Pick any trail

The Bigelows- Maine- Awesome hike, great views

 

[lumberzac]

Seeing as most of my hiking experience is in the Adirondacks, I don’t feel I’ve hiked enough in the other regions to come up with a list for them. With that, this is my Adirondack list. These hikes range from shorter dayhikes to multiple day backpacking trips. They are listed in no particular order.

1. Northville – Placid Trail end to end thru hike.
2. Great Range traverse, from Route 73 in Keene Valley to Adirondack Loj.
3. Tongue Mountain Range traverse
4. MacIntyre Range traverse, from Adirondack Loj, up the range and out via Avalanche Pass
5. Pharaoh Lake Wilderness loop, hike to Pharaoh Lake, over Pharaoh Mountain to Lillypad Pond. From Lillypad Pond hike to Rock Pond, then up Treadway, and return to Pharaoh Lake going past Grizzle Ocean.
6. Bald Peak, Rocky Peak Ridge, Giant of the Valley, Hopkins Mountain, & Spread Eagle Mountain. Start at Route 9 near New Russia, and end at Route 73 via the Mossy Cascade Trail.
7. Snowy Mountain, from Route 30.
8. Indian Pass Trail from Upper Works.

 

[Mike P.]

You have to remember AMC also caters to the crowd roughing it at HC & tackling Willard as a day hike + folks like us. The Mount Tom Traverse is a great hike, for those familar with the profile of the peak, the trail wanders around the steep west side for much of the time & from the south it's a pretty good climb after the first 1/4 mile or so.

My list would include, in no order: (having not done KR yet)

Airline up Adams (or KR up, airline down)
Washington via Ravines, up Huntington, down LH, Tucks or Boott
F-Ridge Loop or Traverse
Katahdin, (is there a bad trip here?) up Hamlin Ridge, down KE & HT is my next trip if I can park at RB
Big Slide via the Brothers (I'm a believer that the best ADK views have Gothics in view not from Gothics, could do loop, up from JBL, down brothers)
I pick Saddleback over Bigelows in ME for a trip outside BSP on 4K's but they are close.
Wrights & Algonquin
With a car spot, either Brace (NY) to Bear (CT) or Everett via Berkshire School (MA) to Bear (CT)

For 1/2 day (or less) trips:

Osceola
Hurricane
Cascade
Monadnock (picking a time when not busy, mid-week late in the day for example)
Bear (NY) early AM like for sunrise....

 

[Jay H]

A New Jersey hike???

The A.T. goes through a lot of nice area down by the Delaware Water Gap, though Worthington S.F. and north through Stokes and High Point S.P.... I've hiked throughout the northeast, there are still places in NJ I've haven't hiked yet. Jersey doesn't have a lot of big places to say backpack although I have because I'm fairly creative. But there are a ton of dayhiking available in the highlands which runs pretty much from eastern PA through NJ through the hudson valley into CT and Massachussetts. We provide a lot of the drinking water for the more major metropolitan areas so it's a watershed area and where I live.

jay

 

[Raymond]

The Adirondacks aren’t part of the Appalachians. They’re part of the Canadian Shield, according to the National Geographic book ‘‘Our Continent’’.

But that hasn’t stopped the AMC from using an Adirondack photograph on the cover of the magazine every other month lately (or seems like it).

Meanwhile, the Appalachians run from Alabama to Québec (maybe even Newfoundland?), but I don’t recall any coverage south of New Jersey before.

 

[snowshoe]

Every year it is something new. Just like the list for top towns in the USA. My guess it is all voted on. Even the Rattlesnake Swamp and the AT here in NJ. It is a nice hike but I think Mt Tammany and Dunfield creek in the DWGNRA and sections in High Point/Stokes SF are much nicer. Then again the one that made the list happens to be AMC's camp Mohican. Big superise. Hike the Rattlesnake loop with the AT and spend all your money at Mohican. They put these things on a top list and everyone wants to try it. I thought they are big on impact issues. Sorry I could not resist. I am sure I started something here

 

[AntlerPeak]

How come the Adirondacks have been excluded? Is it maybe because the AMC isn’t involved with any of the trails there?

Lumberzac say thank you for the ommission of the Adirondacks, they did us a huge favor. I offer as an example,
Several years ago Backpacker Magazine came up with one of their idiotic "Best hikes" stories where the winner for best hike in North America was a place in the north Cascades called Park Butte.

My buddy and I had not seen the article before we did the hike. We climbed along the snowfields gazing at Mt Baker, you could not gaze too long because if you did you would bump into someone. Like in a busy supermarket if you stop your cart to reach for an item and somebody bumps into you. As we had spent the better park of two weeks climbing in the North Cascades and had not seen a soul on any trail, Monadnock West was a shock.

A ranger told us almost nobody uses the trail on a week day and weekends are light. He said since the Backpacker article it had gotten so bad the forest service was thinking about placing limits to hiker numbers.

So if they left off your favorite hike, say "thank you"

 

[Rick]

Might I add Giant and RPR in Fall from Rte 73 to Rte 9. It is hard to beat that hike when fall colors are in session.

 

[alpinista]

Honestly, this looks like a list I would see in the Martha Stewart magazine.

You may be onto something, as I recall that Martha hiked Cadillac Mountain as part of her TV show (or maybe it was on Good Morning America ... or something like that). She looked fantabulous _ natch _ in a color-coordinated outfit of khakis and some wonderful peach-colored/checkered shirt, if I remember correctly. Very "cas" Talbots.

 

[Rick]

You may be onto something, as I recall that Martha hiked Cadillac Mountain as part of her TV show (or maybe it was on Good Morning America ... or something like that). She looked fantabulous _ natch _ in a color-coordinated outfit of khakis and some wonderful peach-colored/checkered shirt, if I remember correctly. Very "cas" Talbots.

I know I can get Slingbacks with DWR, but do they make them with the Vibram soles?