Brookside Trail to Madison - Stream Crossing Difficulty

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

marty

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 9, 2004
Messages
1,775
Reaction score
231
Location
Boxford, MA. Avatar: I heart South Twin
Hi - I am interested in using the Brookside Trail en route to Mt. Madison in a week and a half. Read that the bridge was gone and not being repaired. The WMNF says that the crossing is 26 feet and manageable during low water conditions. Having done approximately 12 difficult stream crossings last weekend on the Wright Trail en route to Goose Eye, I've had enough extreme adventure for a while. In addition, there will be a couple of newbies in our hiking party and I want to make sure that they take no unnecessary risks.

Does anyone have any information on how difficult this crossing would be in low and high water conditions?

Thanks,
Marty
 
Brookside, first crossing

It shouldn't be too much of a problem, in my opinion. Our trail crews placed about 7 large step stones across the brook, during the third week of June, after patrolling was done. I've crossed without a hitch about a dozen times since then. Only once was even one of the step stones under any water.

The trickier crossing will actually be the second crossing, about a quarter mile higher on Brookside. There hasn't been a bridge there in a number of years.

Happy Hiking,

Doug Mayer
RMC Trails Chair
 
I met a crew doing work on that trail several years ago. I think that trail is one of the nicest, hidden treasures of the northern trails. Anyone thinking about approaching Madison should really consider using this trail.

Thanks for the work that you and all the other crews do.

Keith
 
Top