Tripoli Road question

[sapblatt]

When the gates get locked for the winter on Tripoli Road, what gate is locked on the I-93 side? The one closest to the highway or the one closer to Russell Pond and the Height of Land (the road is paved to just before that point.)

Planning to traverse the Osceolas from the Kanc to Tripoli and was wondering how long of a walk it would be.

Alternatively, how far is it to the gate on the Waterville Valley side from the Mount Osceola Trail parking lot? I have never approached from that side.

Want to know how many miles of road walk I may be in for.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

When the gates get locked for the winter on Tripoli Road, what gate is locked on the I-93 side? The one closest to the highway or the one closer to Russell Pond and the Height of Land (the road is paved to just before that point.)

I believe it's the one closest to the highway.

Edit - I hedged here a bit, as a few years ago some logging was being done, and people found this lower gate open. However - this is a 'hiker beware' situation, as the open gate is for the logger's convenience. Your vehicle can get locked in if you go beyond this gate after the USFS has closed it for the season.

 

[Waumbek]

I believe it's the one closest to the highway.

Yes, that's the one.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Alternatively, how far is it to the gate on the Waterville Valley side from the Mount Osceola Trail parking lot? I have never approached from that side.

From Livermore Parking Lot to the gate on Tripoli Road is "advertised" as 6Km (about 3.7 miles) on the Waterville trail map. I've skied it numerous times, mostly last year, as Tripoli Road was "the trail" that held the little snow they received. TOPO 4.0 says it is about 2.85 miles, and my experience says to add about 10% to that number, so call it 3.2+/- miles, including the road walk from the parking lot. If there is any snow cover at all, it should be skiable, as the road surface is much flatter then the general trail surfaces elsewhere. I skied Tripoli Road late March '06 and there were patches of road showing through in areas, but the snow was still pretty clean - even if only 3-5" deep (packed).

NOTE: I am not certain how far past the gate the Osceola trailhead is -- but the road flattens out there -- I did Osceola from the 93 side, but did not actually "see" the gate on the way home through WV.

Tim

 

[Jim lombard]

Alternatively, how far is it to the gate on the Waterville Valley side from the Mount Osceola Trail parking lot? I have never approached from that side.

Want to know how many miles of road walk I may be in for.

I did this in early May a few years ago, and once in winter. It's several miles from the Osceola Trailhead to the Waterville side. It's a nice walk but going from the trailhead back to the valley gate seems to take forever.

Going from the valley side in winter, we made the mistake of bearing right where the road splits. There are no signs so we headed into the campground instead of staying on Tripoli road This two mile mistake cost us the summit that day.

 

[carole]

One spring before the gate opened for the year I parked at the gate (Livermore end) and walked to the trailhead with my notes saying it took 45 min. - add some if you park at the Livermore parking area.

In winter we skied in from Livermore parking (don't have notes on the time but we broke trail going in). Skiing out after hiking Osceola was fast!

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

However - this is a 'hiker beware' situation, as the open gate is for the logger's convenience. Your vehicle can get locked in if you go beyond this gate after the USFS has closed it for the season.

It's more serious than the risk of being locked in. The logging trucks are big and do not expect to find any traffic, and the road is narrow. So if you meet an oncoming logging truck, you lose

Measured the distance from Depot Camp to the Osceola trailhead with the car odometer: 2.8 miles.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Measured the distance from Depot Camp to the Osceola trailhead with the car odometer: 2.8 miles.

Hmm. So TOPO! is right, and the WV trail map lies... They had the Tripoli Road listed at 5K plus the lower part (below the Y split) which they call "Lower Osceola", which overall is listed at 3K (it goes beyond the campground). But Tripoli Road by itself couldn't be 5K if it's only 4.5K (2.8 miles) from the Livermore Road / Depot Camp area.

Granted Tripoli Road was an emergency groomed trail last year, by grudging permission of the USFS. It was all they really had with complete snow cover!

Tim

 

[skibones]

Be careful this time of the year. Several years back I was in a hurry to get back to Waterville Valley from Lincoln and decided to see if Tripoli Road was opened. It was--but what a surprise to find it closed on the Waterville side. Had to turn around and go back which was not easy since it started to snow. It was the kind of snow that was like little ball bearings so the car was slipping all over the road. Too bad the Forest Service didn't put up a sign saying that the other side was closed.

 

[KayakDan]

A few years ago,we hiked into Russell Pond for the night,before the gate on the Lincoln side was opened. We saw a car parked about a mile in,and nobody around. We met a ranger on the way out,just past the gate,and we mentioned the vehicle,so he could check it out. As we were talking,we noticed tracks AROUND the gate,in the mud. The ranger started laughing,and said"This is gonna be a very expensive day for someone!"