Hiking Trails


History of hiking trails in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. The hiking trails in the White Mountains are known for being rugged and steep, but how they came to be is often overlooked. Trails that were built in the 1800s and early 1900s are still in use today; and the oldest continuously-used mountain trail in America, Crawford Path in the Presidential Range, is located in the White Mountains. With the use of photography, writing, and research, this work focuses on the White Mountains trail system.


Thoreau Falls Trail Bridge, My Viewpoint

Tropical Storm Irene - New Hampshire,Thoreau Falls Trail
Thoreau Falls Trail Bridge, My Viewpoint - Like many in the New England outdoor community, I have been closely following the Thoreau Falls Trail bridge removal project. I have had interesting conversations as to why the bridge should be replaced, but nothing yet has changed my position, I fully support removing this bridge from the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I wrote about this proposed bridge removal....[Continue reading] ...

Rock Cairns, Trail Stewardship

Rock cairns - Mount Moosilauke, New Hampshire USA
Rock Cairns, Trail Stewardship: A rock cairn is a man-made pile of rocks that marks a landmark or the route of a hiking trail above tree line. They have been used for many centuries and vary in size from one foot to massive piles of rocks. The word “cairn” is Scottish and means a “heap of stones”. Cairns are found throughout the New Hampshire White Mountains and....[Continue reading] ...

Sustainable Trail Work, White Mountains

Mt Tecumseh Trail - Waterville Valley, New Hampshire
Sustainable Trail Work, White Mountains - Here in New Hampshire, all we hear about is environmental friendly and sustainable trail work. And how important it is to conserve the trails for future generations. As an environmental photographer, I support this approach to preserving the trail system. And up until a few years ago, I have always believed that the organizations maintaining our trails practiced what they preached...[Continue reading] ...

Thoreau Falls Trail Bridge Removal

Thoreau Falls Trail Bridge Removal
Thoreau Falls Trail, Bridge Removal - In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Irene caused massive erosion damage to the White Mountains trail system in New Hampshire. Some trails were damaged so badly that they have been permanently closed. And to this day trail crews are still repairing Irene damaged trails...[Continue reading] ...

Trail Work, Poor Trail Blaze Removal Practices

Tree Vandalism in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire
Trail Work, Poor Trail Blaze Removal Practices - In October 2011, Erin Paul photographed newly painted trail blazing along the Mt. Tecumseh Trail in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. And sometime in the spring 2012, poor trail stewardship practices were used to remove one of the trail blazes. The bark where the blaze was had been cut and peeled away from the tree, and a large wound where rot, fungus, and insects could enter the tree was visible. Most trail maintenance ...

Greenleaf Trail, Mount Lafayette

Greenleaf Hut - White Mountains, New Hampshire
Greenleaf Trail, Mount Lafayette - Greenleaf Trail is located in Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Greenleaf Trail is named for Colonel Charles Henry Greenleaf, once owner of the Profile House in Franconia Notch. The Greenleaf Hut, along Greenleaf Trail, is named in his honor so there appears to be a connection.....[Continue reading] ...

Crawford Path, White Mountains

Crawford Path - Mt Washington, New Hampshire
Crawford Path, White Mountains - Crawford Path, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, is the oldest continuously-used mountain trail in America, and for a period of time it was used as a horse trail to Mt Washington. This eight and half mile historical path came to be in 1819 when Abel Crawford and his son Ethan Allen began building a trail to the summit of Mt Pierce, formerly called Mt Clinton. Once north of Mt Pierce, the Crawford ...

Davis Path, White Mountains

Davis Path, White Mountains
Davis Path, White Mountains - Davis Path, built in 1845 by Nathaniel Davis, son-in-law of Abel and Hannah Crawford, was the third and longest bridle path built to the summit of Mount Washington. After being built the bridle path was neglected, and in 1910 it was reopened as a footpath...[Continue reading] ...

Boott Spur Trail, White Mountains

Boott Spur Trail - Mount Washington, White Mountains
Boott Spur Trail, White Mountains - Boott Spur Trail begins off the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and ends at Davis Path, near the summit of Boott Spur Mountain. At 5500 feet, Boott Spur is named for Francis Boott; an botanist who took part in scientific expeditions to the Presidential Range during the early 1800s. The original route of the trail was opened by the Appalachian Mountain Club in 1900....[Continue reading] ...

Trail Work Erosion, White Mountains

May 2016 - Mt Tecumseh Trail - Waterville Valley, New Hampshire
Trail Work Erosion, White Mountains - The included images show how a section of the Mt Tecumseh Trail in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire has elapsed over time. The first two images are from October of 2011 and the last image is from August of 2014. The intent of this visual journal is to record the progression of hillside erosion on the left side of the trail and to document how this section of trail holds up to...[Continue reading] ...