White Mountain National Forest Road Status (Tripoli Road???)

[Jazzbo]

So appears WMNF has removed the web page about WMNF Road Status. I don't know how much of the WMNF annual budget it took to maintain this useful resource, but it appears to be gone. That used to be a fairly useful resource come transition between seasons like now. Now they just say roads may be closed and Call district station for info. I tried calling today and only got message like nobody home. TrailsNH has a page relies on crowd sourcing to update. Anybody have any info whether Tripoli Road is open yet? It is usually one of first roads to open.

 

[JustJoe]

It is the general consensus that it is staffing, or the lack there of, being the reason they no longer update road status. But it does say to call them. So I'd just do that if I was wondering about any given road.

 

[Kimball]

TrailsNH has a crowd sourced page for forest road status. Anyone can mark a road as open or closed, leave a comment, and a link for more info. You will need to login first. Login is on the top menu bar.

https://trailsnh.com/reports/Forest-Roads-Gates.php

 

[JoshandBaron]

So, they don't have the manpower to update a simple website a dozen or so times a year but they have the staff to man a phone and answer thousands of inquiries individually? Huh.

 

[DayTrip]

Even when that website was operational it lagged badly behind reality. Don't know how good of a source it has been to start with over the past several years. They may have decided to phase that function out a long time ago.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I have never called them nor referred to their web page. The answers I seek have always been readily available and up-to-date, either here, on any of the many trail conditions sites, or through my social network. I suspect they get 10s of calls per year rather then 1000s.

Tim

 

[JoshandBaron]

I have never called them nor referred to their web page. The answers I seek have always been readily available and up-to-date, either here, on any of the many trail conditions sites, or through my social network. I suspect they get 10s of calls per year rather then 1000s.

Tim

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that more than 10's of people reference that page each year. If everyone who referred to that site called as they ask it would be a lot more work for them, I would think.

 

[Mike P.]

I would guess the vast majority of users don't look. Meet up groups and people looking to get a selfie for their Instagram page. Most of us follow the weather, we know that over time certain roads open earlier than others and that they will do their best to have Tripoli road open in time for the Canadian Holiday in time for camping. Other roads with campgrounds will hopefully be open, Zealand, Evan's Notch, while Jefferson Notch Road is one of the last to open up.

One thing to look out for is when we get heavy spring rains that may cause flash floods, if culverts are not open, you could end up with roads being closed all year like Sawyer River Road was years ago which made the Carrigain hike longer until it was repaired.

The USFS, Department of the Interior and all of us have bigger funding and management issues than the road status webpage. (No politics )

 

[Scubahhh]

So... anybody know whether Tripoli Road's open yet?

No, would be my guess.

 

[RichS]

So... anybody know whether Tripoli Road's open yet?

No, would be my guess.

Posts: 203
You don't count your words, but your words count. Made my day.

 

[sierra]

They were right to shut it down. It was anything but useful. If your not going to update a site, it's not only useless but a hindrance to trip planning. To bad all your parking fee's didn't seem to cover it. I find that the groups I belong to, can answer my road questions in a few hours.

 

[Scubahhh]

I find that the groups I belong to, can answer my road questions in a few hours.

What groups? Not this one, evidently.

 

[RollingRock]

I have never called them nor referred to their web page. The answers I seek have always been readily available and up-to-date, either here, on any of the many trail conditions sites, or through my social network. I suspect they get 10s of calls per year rather then 1000s.

Tim

Last year, around mid-May, I was preparing for our annual trail maintenance day for our adopted trail [Mt. Osceola Trail] that was planned, from what I recall, around May 20th. I was very interested to see if Tripoli Road would be open in time since I had a crew of 10 guys committed.

I kept checking the web page for a road status...no changes. Lots of discussion on social media about Tripoli Road being opened...but nothing definitive. So I called the Forest Service and guess what they told me to do...check their website! They really did not have a clue...at least the person I spoke to.

I live nearby...5 miles away. So I did it the old fashioned way, I drove to the road and found the gate up!

Makes sense for the Forest Service to no longer offer the road status page since they were doing a poor job of updating it...makes them look bad. After all, it's all about appearances. Perhaps it will force the Forest Service to be more accountable to communicate with each other and let the folks in the office know what's going on.

I sense an opportunity...Jeremy are you reading this? Start a new section in NETC for road status and have readers enter updates. Certainly more reliable than relying on the Forest Service.

 

[Mike P.]

Once upon a time it was a great resource.....

 

[peakbagger]

The Forest Service shoots for memorial day gate openings unless the road is damaged. If the road is dried out an passable they try to open them up earlier.

 

[Jazzbo]

Krobi sent me a PM informing me WMNF scheduled trail maintenance training day on East Pond Trail for May 19 so it is pretty safe bet Tripoli Road will be open by then. Tripoli Road usually opens earlier than most FS roads. I think Rolling Rock can rest easy. Say Rolling Rock is good name for some one working Osceola Trail - plenty of rocks to roll around on that sorry trail. Good candidate for a relocation or maybe they can re-arrange rocks into something resembling flatness.

 

[sierra]

What groups? Not this one, evidently.

4000 footer groups on Facebook. They get heavy traffic and boast memberships around 14k members. This site doesn't have the traffic for reliable updates, imo.

 

[JoshandBaron]

4000 footer groups on Facebook. They get heavy traffic and boast memberships around 14k members. This site doesn't have the traffic for reliable updates, imo.

I don't have access to those groups, fortunately. Imagine the OP of this thread times 14k. Every day. Oof.

 

[DayTrip]

I don't have access to those groups, fortunately. Imagine the OP of this thread times 14k. Every day. Oof.

It is a huge benefit and a massive hindrance at the same time. You can get pretty detailed info in practically real time when you have questions which is nice for last minute questions and planning because there are so many people to draw off of for information. The downside is sifting through a lot of nonsense and pettiness, repetitive and lazy questions, and determining who actually knows what they are talking about and who doesn't. I have been an on-and-off member of several groups on Facebook really just to ask questions when I need to and quickly look through photos to discover areas I may want to go check out. Some are moderated much better than others and that can make a big difference in the irritation factor.

 

[peakbagger]

As of 5/10 Tripoli road gated at I 93 end.