Franconia area??

[DRT]

Hello,

thinking of doing a hike in Franconia Notch in a couple of weeks. any thoughts on the following routes would be helpful....

Option 1....going up Liberty Springs trail, across ridge to Flume Slide trail.

Option 2...up Liberty Springs, over ridge to Falling Waters trail

Option 3.. up either Greenleaf Trail or Old Bridal Path, Lafayette over to Falling waters trail.

is it possible to do Greenleaf/Old Bridal to Lafayette across ridge to either Liberty or Flume Slide do to daylight hours??


any thoughts on which options are more scenic, less/more difficult or which should be ascended or descended or vice-versa......
thanks,
Dana

 

[TDawg]

It is very possible to do the whole ridge in a day. Whatever you do I would advise to go UP the Flume Slide Trail and not down, especially if it had rained in the past few days. It is often wet and is very steep, and the flat rock slabs could get hairy.

So I guess up Flume Slide (or Osseo for an easier ascent), over the ridge and down Bridle Path or Greenleaf would be fine.

Beautiful hike whichever way you go, enjoy!

 

[ADK4Life]

Go up the Old Bridal Trail. You will eventually reach the Greenleaf Hut. You can decide at that point if you can make it up and across the ridge. The views to the hut alone are worth the hike and its never hard at any point.

 

[Papa Bear]

As for Liberty and Flume, it may actually be quicker to go up Libety Springs, over to Flume and back to Liberty, rather than up the Flume slide trail. If the surface is at all wet that may be a good alternative, expecially if steep slides are not your cup of tea.

Then from Liberty, across the ridge and down OBP is doable, but long, and you need a car spot or a walk along the bike path or hitch a ride to get back to your start point.

The shorter "traditional" loop (no car spot) is Old Bridal Path and Falling Waters connecting Little Haystack and Lafayette. It works well in either direction. But it is better perhaps up Falling Waters, then you can take a break at Greenleaf Hut on the way down (but it closes Sept. 15, I think).

 

[David Metsky]

Avoid going down Flume Slide. It can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it. It would be very easy to get hurt descending that trail.

I much prefer having the hut near the end of the trip, so you can take a well earned rest, fill up on water when you're dry, buy a candy bar if you need it, use the restrooms. So I would prefer going up either Flume Slide, Liberty Springs, or Falling Waters, cruising the ridge, and going down OBP. All are scenic, I'd go for Liberty Springs to make the trip a managable but still quite long dayhike.

-dave-

 

[Waumbek]

I would certainly avoid descending the Flume Slide Trail. I would not advise ascending it in wet weather either. The most common way to hike the Franconia ridge is to ascend Falling Waters and descend Old Bridle Path. That requires only one car as both trailheads use the same parking lot. I agree that reversing that direction gives you the protection of the hut to make a decision if the weather is iffy. Start early enough, though, so you are not trying to descend Falling Waters in the dark.

 

[Puck]

I much prefer having the hut near the end of the trip, so you can take a well earned rest, fill up on water when you're dry, buy a candy bar if you need it, use the restrooms.
-dave-

Some hit the huts early before the baked goods and hot soup run out.

 

[patrickbrusil]

I must second what everyone has already said and to not go down the FLume SLide Trail. That being said people do indeed decend on that particular trail.

The whole ridge s possible to do in a day, although it would be a long ass day.

May i suggest going up the flume slide trail, going over MT FLume and MT Liberty and descending via the liberty springs trail.

 

[sweeper]

Starting at the Basin, bike path, Lib Spr. Fran Ridge, OBP, Pemi tr is about 14 miles. I did it a few years ago and made it home for the four o'clock football game.

 

[Lizzy]

If you don't mind a REALLY long hike (I think about 20 miles), then I suggest going up the Wilderness to Osseo and hitting the ridge from the backside. If you like solitude, these trails are a lot quiter (at least as far as Haystack), and the long flat walk of the Wilderness and the beginning of the Osseo gets you warmed up for the steep parts. And the ladders on the Osseo are way cool !

I did the ridge this way a couple of years ago. It took me about 10 hours RT...and that was with a good long stop on Lafayette for lunch.

Just an alternative from the usual "from the notch" approaches.

 

[una_dogger]

I did the ridge from Garfeild campsite yesterday. I made it to the Lincoln Woods parking lot in twelve hours with some breaks. My pack was still about thirty pounds so I was probably going slower than most. The Osseo Trail down is easy on the feet. I met a hiker who had just come up the Flume Side trail and he was pretty shaken by the experience, it was a wet slippery day all the way across the ridge. I plan on doing this hike again on a clear day and will most likely leave a bike at one end and hike access the ridge via the Osseo and Greenleaf Trails.
Sabrina