Like many of the trails starting in Franconia Notch the Skook Trail was relocated after the construction of the Franconia Notch Parkway. From the WMG description:
I am curious about old trails, but have never had a chance to explore the original Skook. I have always done it as part of a loop, up the Skook and down Greenleaf (one car) or OBP (two cars), and on the way up, bored after the flat initial 1.1 miles, have been earger to get started with the hike. The way down was always by another trail.
Today I was not in the mood for a real hike, but wanted to get out. So I decided to explore the area, looking for the old trail. I started at the trailhead and reached the brook, then went up a bit and turned around. Descending slowly and looking carefully downhill it was not too difficult to find the top of the trail.
It is in very good shape, with a clear tread and herd paths round the occasional big blowdowns. In wet areas there were recent boot prints, so it gets used. After a while it splits in two, one branch following the original trail reasonably close to the brook, and the other angling a bit to the north. Strangely both branches show on the MapSource Topo 24K National Parks East, but only the branch following the brook shows on their TOPO US 2008 or the printed USGS maps. Also Skookumchuck Brook is labeled on the 24K map, but on neither the TOPO 2008 nor on the printed maps. the UNH maps label both the Skookumchuck and Jordan Brooks, but do not show the trail. I wonder where they got the data for the 24K map
Unlike the relocated part of the Greenleaf Trail the relocated Skook is not terribly unpleasant, so I am not sure how useful it is. I suppose that the short original trail plus bike path may be marginally faster than the relocated trail, but probably not by much. It would, however, be a big win when doing the Greenleaf-Skook loop with a single car.
I obviously did it out of curiosity rather than looking for a short cut, so I am very satisfied with my morning's work
It is pretty obvious that the original trail followed the brook down to the road, and that is confirmed by the USGS quad which, bless their souls, shows the old location of the trail. The current trail (going down) leaves the brook close to the 600 meter (2,000 foot) contour and heads north to the new trailhead.
I am curious about old trails, but have never had a chance to explore the original Skook. I have always done it as part of a loop, up the Skook and down Greenleaf (one car) or OBP (two cars), and on the way up, bored after the flat initial 1.1 miles, have been earger to get started with the hike. The way down was always by another trail.
Today I was not in the mood for a real hike, but wanted to get out. So I decided to explore the area, looking for the old trail. I started at the trailhead and reached the brook, then went up a bit and turned around. Descending slowly and looking carefully downhill it was not too difficult to find the top of the trail.
It is in very good shape, with a clear tread and herd paths round the occasional big blowdowns. In wet areas there were recent boot prints, so it gets used. After a while it splits in two, one branch following the original trail reasonably close to the brook, and the other angling a bit to the north. Strangely both branches show on the MapSource Topo 24K National Parks East, but only the branch following the brook shows on their TOPO US 2008 or the printed USGS maps. Also Skookumchuck Brook is labeled on the 24K map, but on neither the TOPO 2008 nor on the printed maps. the UNH maps label both the Skookumchuck and Jordan Brooks, but do not show the trail. I wonder where they got the data for the 24K map
Unlike the relocated part of the Greenleaf Trail the relocated Skook is not terribly unpleasant, so I am not sure how useful it is. I suppose that the short original trail plus bike path may be marginally faster than the relocated trail, but probably not by much. It would, however, be a big win when doing the Greenleaf-Skook loop with a single car.
I obviously did it out of curiosity rather than looking for a short cut, so I am very satisfied with my morning's work
