Sabbaday Falls Trail and Parking Lot - Closed

[Damselfly]

This came to my attention:

Closure Order Issued for Sabbaday Falls Trail

The White Mountain National Forest Saco Ranger District has determined that the Sabbaday Falls Trail and parking lot needs to be closed for public safety and to protect National Forest Property. This closure will be in effect from September 20th, 2017 until this order is specifically withdrawn. This includes the parking lot along the south side of the Kancamagus Highway, picnic area, and hiking trail leading to, and running along the Sabbaday Falls of Sabbaday Brook.

 

[TJsName]

This came to my attention:

Closure Order Issued for Sabbaday Falls Trail

The White Mountain National Forest Saco Ranger District has determined that the Sabbaday Falls Trail and parking lot needs to be closed for public safety and to protect National Forest Property. This closure will be in effect from September 20th, 2017 until this order is specifically withdrawn. This includes the parking lot along the south side of the Kancamagus Highway, picnic area, and hiking trail leading to, and running along the Sabbaday Falls of Sabbaday Brook.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/whitemountain/notices/?cid=FSEPRD559518

Odd - I wonder what's up.

 

[egilbe]

Weird. There were some hikers yesterday on top of the Tripyramids that planned on taking Sabbaday brook trail back down to the Kanc. How does one close it off on top off of the mountain?

 

[wardsgirl]

My F0t48 team descended via Sabbaday a couple weeks ago. The trail was quite a mess, with a difficult/dangerous loose gravel section on the upper section and a meandering undefined route on the lower section. Everyone I know lost the trail on the lower section and simply splashed through the brook to follow what appeared to be the most logical route to the parking lot. Perhaps the FS plans to work on trail definition on the lower part of this trail- the area beyond the touristy waterfall viewing area? It certainly looked like it needed some major reconstruction.

 

[TJsName]

My F0t48 team descended via Sabbaday a couple weeks ago. The trail was quite a mess, with a difficult/dangerous loose gravel section on the upper section and a meandering undefined route on the lower section. Everyone I know lost the trail on the lower section and simply splashed through the brook to follow what appeared to be the most logical route to the parking lot. Perhaps the FS plans to work on trail definition on the lower part of this trail- the area beyond the touristy waterfall viewing area? It certainly looked like it needed some major reconstruction.

I would be surprised if it were wilderness trail work. Perhaps structural work in the tourist part? Odds that they didn't list a reason.

 

[jfb]

I would be surprised if it were wilderness trail work. Perhaps structural work in the tourist part? Odds that they didn't list a reason.

Maybe they're building flush toilets?

 

[sierra]

My F0t48 team descended via Sabbaday a couple weeks ago. The trail was quite a mess, with a difficult/dangerous loose gravel section on the upper section and a meandering undefined route on the lower section. Everyone I know lost the trail on the lower section and simply splashed through the brook to follow what appeared to be the most logical route to the parking lot. Perhaps the FS plans to work on trail definition on the lower part of this trail- the area beyond the touristy waterfall viewing area? It certainly looked like it needed some major reconstruction.

Really? I was on it earlier this summer and had zero issues following the trail. Granted, there were a lot of blowdowns, but even the river crossings were marked pretty good. In fact, I had a noob with me and he didn't want Middle Tri, so against my opinion, he descended alone, while I went to middle. he made it out with zero issues and isn't even a hiker. It's wilderness trail, other then the blowdowns, it's fine.

 

[wardsgirl]

The messy area was between the Wilderness boundary and the tourist attraction. Very unclear as to where the trail went. Perhaps there was a weather event in the time between your trip and mine that caused the trail to become less well-defined?

 

[DayTrip]

Was reading a Section Hiker article earlier with a loop starting through here that I have wanted to try and it jogged my memory. Did this ever reopen last Fall? Did the Halloween storms impact the area/work? The WMNF Notices page has nothing beyond the SEPT 2017 closure posting. Curious about an update if anyone knows.

 

[kltilton]

Still closed.

 

[Jazzbo]

I drove by Sabbaday Falls parking lot on 5/21/2018 at around 9:00 AM. I recall noticing a large number of contractor pickup trucks and personnel milling around on roadside and in parking lot. Barriers were still up. It was a Monday. They might not be working on weekends so if you drive by on weekend it might look like nothing is happening. I'm guessing rehab of structures around falls in progress.

 

[DayTrip]

OK. Thanks.

 

[sierra]

Can you just bushwhack around the construction? If they are only working on the Tourist trap, why should the whole trail be closed. I'm going to do the Tri's in a bit and I like the loop down Sabbaday.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

The USFS Facebook page announced today that Sabbaday Falls is now open. No update on the USFS site where the closure notice in the OP is posted.

Tim