Hi all! I’m Lesley, and when Meg put out her call for guest bloggers I was only a week away from setting off on a long-planned day hike in the White Mountains with my husband. So I immediately contacted her about sharing my little adventure. She thought it sounded amazing, so here I am!

Many Ottawa hikers know and love the Adirondacks of New York.  Just a little further away in the Appalachians are the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It’s a stunningly beautiful area full of mountains and waterfalls… and many hiking trails to get you out to see them.

The Franconia Ridge Loop is an extremely popular day hike that shows you the best of what the White Mountains have to offer. The hike is challenging, but a realistic goal if you have a moderate level of fitness and wilderness experience.  It’s not a hike for a novice, but neither does it require extensive training.

Advance Preparation

We’d hiked part of this trail two years prior, and had to turn back due to the mountains being in the clouds. With almost no previous mountain experience, it wasn’t safe for us.

We also realized that our conditioning at that time wasn’t really where it should have been. So, this year, about 2 months before our hike, we began doing weekly hikes of the Luskville Falls Trail in Gatineau Park.  We chose this trail because it has steep stretches that are close to what we were going to encounter on our hike. Which can be hard to find in Ottawa! We worked up to doing the trail twice in a row comfortably and found this to be adequate preparation. However, we were still among the slower hikers on the mountain!  

This year, we were also much more aware of the fact that conditions above treeline can be significantly different than below. We made use of the Mount Washington Observatory’s Higher Summits forecast to have an idea of what the weather would be like on our hike. Summit conditions are available up to 48 hours in advance!

Getting There

The trailhead of the Franconia Ridge Loop is in Franconia Notch State Park, at the Lafayette Campground.  Since it’s about a 5 hour drive away, we chose to stay at the campground as our base. It’s a lovely campground, and easy to get reservations. Plus, we didn’t have to worry about finding parking at the trailhead.

There are other interesting sights nearby, including Flume Gorge and The Basin, and the town of Lincoln is only a 10-minute drive away with plenty of amenities. It’s well worth taking an extra day to explore!

Parking There

Parking can be an issue at this trailhead due to the popularity of the hike. When we left at 8 a.m. on a Thursday in late August, the lots were already half full- and weekends are worse. By mid-morning, people are usually parking on the grass beside the highway (or really anywhere they can fit their car)! There are parking lots on either side of the highway. The one on the side of the trailhead (accessible when heading north on I-93) is much bigger.  If you park on the other side of the highway (accessible when southbound on I-93), there is a convenient underpass that will take you to the trailhead.

Alternatively, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) operates a hiker shuttle that will get you to the trailhead.  However, there is only one morning shuttle out and one afternoon shuttle back, without sufficient time to hike the trail between.  

There is no fee for parking. People routinely leave their cars overnight if they are doing a multi-day hike.  The only restriction is no parking on the highway, although it appears many people park on the grass beside the highway.

The Trailhead

The trailhead is easy to spot once you are on the east side of the highway. It’s right in the middle of the parking lot. there is only one trail starting at this point – Old Bridle Path. Washrooms are available.

We did encounter some dogs on the trail, so it seems to be permitted.  All the dogs we saw were athletic breeds (retrievers, shepherds, etc.) and at least of medium size – this is not a trail for a smaller, older, or short legged dogs! Obviously, your dog should have extensive hiking experience as well.

The Franconia Ridge Loop

This hike actually involves four separate trails. You start on Old Bridle Path briefly before taking the fork for the Falling Waters trail, which takes you all the way up to the summit of Little Haystack. You then head north on the Franconia Ridge trail, which is part of the Appalachian Trail, summiting Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette. The latter two are considered part of the high peaks of the White Mountains and count toward peak-bagging the White Mountains. Little Haystack, while at a high enough elevation, isn’t counted because it’s not sufficiently distinct from Mt. Lincoln.

At the summit of Lafayette, you take the Greenleaf Trail west as far as Greenleaf Hut, and then return to the Old Bridle Path, which will bring you back to the trailhead.  It’s possible to do the loop in the reverse direction too. But most people advise against descending on Falling Waters due to the many waterfalls and river crossings. It can get slippery!

All the trails except Franconia Ridge use blue blazes (trailmarkers). The Franconia Ridge trail, being part of the Appalachian Trail, uses white blazes. Blazes are generally on trees at a reasonable height, except when at or above treeline, when they are on the rocks instead.

The Ascent

The ascent up Falling Waters began easily enough. It’s an uphill climb, but it was generally quite easy to find our footing and it felt like we’d barely gotten past one beautiful waterfall before we would see another even more spectacular than the last!  The river crossings were generally straightforward when we went, even though there had been considerable rain the previous day. Waterproof hiking boots are still highly recommended for this trail!

It took us just under an hour to reach the third waterfall on the trail. After the third waterfall, the trail was a bit tricky to spot. You actually climb up along the water for a bit until you spot the blazed trail on the right-hand side.

When we got past this area (about halfway up) the trail became steeper and more difficult. It continued like this for a while, without any lookouts or waterfalls for breaks or distraction.  After nearly another hour of hiking, we reached a fork that indicating a 0.1-mile spur trail to Shining Rock. Don’t be fooled by the 0.1-mile distance though – this was actually a very tricky and (at least the day we hiked) wet descent. The reward was incredible though – a large expanse of rock with water flowing over it, causing it to shine in the sun even from the base of the mountain. It’s a lovely lookout point as well!

This side trail took us about 20-30 extra minutes, including the time spent admiring the view.  If you are concerned about time, or can’t face the idea of having to do extra climbing, skip this.

After returning to the fork, we began ascending again to the summit of Little Haystack.  After another half hour of steep and challenging hiking we suddenly found that the trees had disappeared and it became quite cold and windy. We had reached the tree line, and just up ahead was the summit of Little Haystack (1452m)!  

The Ridgeline

Once we were above the treeline (also known as the alpine zone), the path was primarily indicated by the piles of rock lining the sides of the trail. It’s really important to stay within this boundary as the plants on either side are very fragile. With the Franconia Ridge being such a popular trail, it’s all the more important to tread lightly here!

We quickly bundled up for the cold and wind and found a sheltered spot to take a lunch break and rest our tired legs. Overall, the ascent took us 2 hours and 45 minutes. This allowed for time to take pictures but otherwise we had only very minimal breaks (mostly to let other faster hikers pass us).

After a 40 minute break to bundle up, take pictures, and eat, we set out along Franconia Ridge trail toward Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette.

We quickly realized that we were wearing too many layers. It was helpful to keep warm while stopped on Little Haystack, but we were almost immediately ascending again and quickly got too hot. We reduced our layers a bit and continued on, summiting Mt. Lincoln (1552m) 40 minutes after leaving Little Haystack. We stopped long enough to take a few pictures and then pressed on to the highest point of the hike, Mt. Lafayette.

After descending Mt. Lincoln, looking up at Mt. Lafayette in the distance seemed quite daunting!  We’d already been hiking for four hours, most of that up, and the trail up Lafayette looked steep.

Another 40 minutes got us to the summit of Mt. Lafayette (1604m).  At this point we took another break and found some shelter from the cold and wind.

The time spent above treeline was quite simply spectacular. We could have hiked this much more quickly, but we kept stopping to appreciate the beauty of the alpine zone and the incredible views of the mountains all around us.

The Descent

Once rested, we began our descent down the Greenleaf Trail toward the AMC Greenleaf Hut. The Greenleaf Hut is a mountain hut operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club. We reached it in a little under an hour. The hut was around the treeline, so this was a perfect place to take off the layers we’d needed above treeline to keep warm. It was also the perfect place to refill water, and buy a tasty homemade snack, small supplies, or a souvenir. There were even washrooms available, complete with running water to wash up!

If you wanted to, you could reserve a bed in the hut and stay overnight (complete with dinner that night and breakfast the next morning). Advance reservations are required.  

After spending close to an hour at the hut eating and resting, we headed out once again, this time on the Old Bridle Path.  It started out easily enough, but we soon hit a steep, difficult stretch. I’m told this is called the Three Miseries – and they definitely were miserable.

They were made all the more difficult by the previous day’s rain, which made footing very tricky.  I found that on the whole the rocks on the trail generally had good traction even when wet. But all it takes is one slippery rock to change that, as I discovered at one point!  Fortunately, the only thing damaged besides my pride was a slightly scraped elbow. We pressed on and came to a couple beautiful lookouts over the valley below.

After this point, the descent became considerably easier. Unfortunately, it was much less interesting as well. The forest became thicker and there were no more lookout points.  

Two hours after leaving the hut, we reached the trailhead again! Overall, the hike took us 8 hours and 45 minutes, including breaks. According to my Strava recording we had spent just over 5 hours of that time actually hiking and climbed 1216m in total.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Map and Elevation Gain

Gear We Brought (Each)

• Hiking Boots
• Hiking Poles
• Fleece Sweater
• Fleece Leggings (me)
• Rain Jacket
• Rain Pants
• Toque
• Gloves
• Hydration Pack with 2L of Water – this turned out to be sufficient for the whole hike
• Water Bottle (with 750mL of Gatorade)
• Map
• Compass
• Cell Phone
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Bug Spray
• Head Lamps
• First Aid Kit
• Emergency Blanket
• Matches
• Rope
• Lunch (bagels, peanut butter, summer sausage)
• Dried Fruit
• Granola Bars
• Battery Booster Pack
• Toilet Paper and Ziploc Baggies (to pack out waste)
• Small US Bills/Coins (for spending at hut)

It’s worth mentioning that we were definitely packing more gear than most people on the mountain. Most people looked like they only had room in their pack for a fleece and some water and snacks. Some people carried nothing at all! Many people hike this trail regularly and are confident that they will not get lost, so they are comfortable with less safety equipment. As this wasn’t the case for us, we opted to carry a full set of emergency gear.