Spent three hours trying to find a simple hiking trailhead in Franconia Notch last weekend

We drove up from Nashua to do the Artist's Bluff loop, something I've done half a dozen times before. But the main parking lot was full and the overflow lot signs were completely buried in snow. Ended up circling Route 3 for 45 minutes before a guy at the gas station told me where the roadside pull-off is. Has anyone else had trouble finding trail access in winter up there?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles_jones3922d ago

Dude I feel your pain, that "45 minutes circling Route 3" is ALL too familiar. Franconia in winter is like a secret club where nobody tells you where the hidden spots to park are, it's so frustrating.

jessica_miller22d ago

And the thing that nobody's really talking about is how the WMNF website lists trailhead info but doesn't update it for winter conditions half the time. I spent a whole afternoon last year trying to find the Lincoln Woods lot for a Pemi hike and their site said it was open but when I got there it was plowed in with no parking signs everywhere. They really need to sync up the road closure alerts with the trailhead pages so people aren't just guessing where to go. It's like the parking situation is just an afterthought once the snow starts flying up there.