Tripoli Road, White Mountains – The autumn foliage season is a great time to travel the backroads in the New Hampshire White Mountains. Being a photographer, I love exploring New Hampshire’s backroads because I always find interesting subject matter to photograph. And the history attached to some of these lonely dirt roads is amazing.

Completed in 1934, Tripoli Road for most of its length is an unpaved bumpy dirt road that connects Waterville Valley and Woodstock. It was built by the USFS (likely with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps) and named after the mill that was in the area, Tripoli Mill. Roadside camping is allowed at designated sites along Tripoli Road making this area very busy during the weekends and holidays.

Tripoli Road travels through part of the Thornton Gore Hill Farm community, which was a nineteenth century farming settlement. Like most early farming settlements in the New Hampshire White Mountains, Thornton Gore existed for just a short period of time, lasting less than 100 years. Today, cellar holes, bridge abutments, graveyards, an old mill water wheel (above), and stone walls remind us of the ones who worked this land.

During the autumn season, the landscape of Tripoli Road is very picturesque, and there are a few cascades located not far from the road. Talford Brook (above) looks great after rain storms and during spring snowmelt. The scenic Talford Brook Cascades is also in the area.

From 1909-1914, the Woodstock & Thornton Gore Logging Railroad worked the area, and Tripoli Road utilizes the old railroad bed on the Woodstock side. Logging camps were built along the railroad and throughout the area. The exact number of camps is unknown, but remnants (above) of some of them can still be found today.

Remnants of Livermore Tripoli Company’s abandoned Tripoli Mill (above), which Tripoli Road is named for, can still be found along the road. Owned by Charles B. Henry, son of timber baron J.E. Henry, this mill dredged East Pond for diatomaceous earth (also called Tripoli) during the early 1900s.

There was also a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp (CCC) along Tripoli Road. The CCC was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States. They built bridges, roads, trails, and many other structures in the White Mountains region. Little remains of the CCC Tripoli Road camp.

Who doesn’t enjoy coming across an abandoned vehicle in the woods? Like all the abandoned vehicles I find in the woods, I am left wondering how this car came to a rest on the Waterville Valley side of Tripoli Road.

One location often overlooked along Tripoli Road is Russell Pond (above). It is a little off the beaten path, but the pond attracts boaters, campers, fisherman, and photographers. The seasonal Russell Pond campground is located on the edge of Russell Pond, and its a great place to camp.

Tripoli Road is a seasonal road, and it's closed every year during the winter season; see Forest Service's White Mountain National Forest Seasonal Roads status page to find out if the road is open or closed. I have been on the road just before its closed for the season, and it looks beautiful covered in snow (above).

If interested in abandoned historic sites, forest scenes, or road scenes Tripoli Road has some great photo opportunities. All of the above images can be licensed for publications by clicking on the image you are interested in, and you can view more scenes from along Tripoli Road here.

Happy image making..

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Erin Paul Donovan

Owner of ScenicNH Photography LLC

Erin Paul is a professional photographer, writer, and author who specializes in environmental conservation and historic preservation photography mainly in the New Hampshire White Mountains. His work is published worldwide, and publication credits include: Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Backpacker Magazine, and The Wilderness Society.