⊕ Please be prepared before you enter this beautiful but dangerous area. Get a good guidebook, a map and compass and be familiar with them. Many have gotten lost here, especially in winter.
THE TRAILHEADS
From Franconia Parkway I-93 at the Trailhead parking exit is ♦Old Bridal Path which is very popular and leads to ♦Falling Waters Trail, (take a right) this is often used as a loop over Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. You can park on either side of the highway, going North it says Trailhead Parking, going South you park at the State Campground side and walk under the road in a tunnel
A little further north also on I-93 (Cannon-Tram exit) is ♦Greenleaf trail which joins up with Old Bridal at Greenleaf Hut and Greenleaf trail continues to the summit.
♦Skookumchuck Trail is a less used trail which climbs to the ♦Garfield Ridge Trail and then to the summit. The Skookumchuck Trailhead is located further north on RT-3 right after you exit from I-93 on the right side.
THE MOUNTAINS
Mt Lafayette 5,260
⊕Mount Lafayette is the last of the mile high peaks in NH, it ranks as the 6th highest. It's named for Marquis de Lafayette, the inspirational liberal French philosopher. The summit used to have buildings where people could spend the night on the summit. It's hard to believe that they rode horses to the top but they did. All that remains are the foundations now. Guy Waterman did some extensive trailwork here to keep people off the fragile alpine plants. It's also where he chose to end his life on a cold February day.
Mount Lincoln 5,089
⊕Mt Lincoln is named for President Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President. It is the last of the 5K peaks in NH and is south of Lafayette. My experiences on the ridge are many although not always the best. Old Bridal or Falling Waters have been my usual routes in all seasons. The Diapensia in June are spectacular on the ridge.
