Home States  Connecticut  Maine  Massachusetts  New Hampshire  New York  Rhode Island  Vermont  View All Lists  NE 4,000 Footers  NE 100 Highest  NH 4,000 Footers  NH 52 With A View  NH Belknap Range  NH Ossipee 10 Explanation of Ratings Links Ossipee Mountains Notice Search Trail Conditions Trip Log About	Mt. Garfield Bethlehem, NH, Franconia, NH Trailheads, measurements, times, distances, and maps are all approximate and relative to the hike(s) as shown below. Looking up the Garfield Trail Route: Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, (Mt. Garfield), Garfield Ridge Trail, Garfield After over year, I decided it was time to hike Mt. Garfield again. While I knew it would involve a roadwalk with three bridges out, I figured I'd find a way to the trailhead. Parking at the end of Trudeau Road, I took a leisurely stroll west on US 2 and then down Gale River Road (not plowed). While the first three bridges I encounted were messed up, they appeared to be structurally sound (abutments bad washed out, but otherwise okay). Since each of the water crossings were completely snowbridged, I decided to opt for the easy way around the bridges, rather than try to pull some sort of MacGuyver stunt with my snowshoes. Finally at the trailhead, I was quickly on my way up the Mt. Garfield Trail. As I remembered from my previous hike, it was a long, fairly flat, and rather dull ascent. Arriving at the Garfield Ridge Trail junction, there were some powerful wind gusts. While it had been about 1 degree when I started the hike, temperatures had climbed dramatically, likely reaching the mid 20s at this point. Thus, I was able to continue my ascent in just a long sleeve shirt. Reaching the top of Garfield after the short, steep section of the Garfield Ridge Trail, I was greeted with decent views and strong wind gusts. Too lazy to take off my snowshoes, I somehow scrambled up the bare ledges to the highpoint. After taking some photos, I was ready to call it a day. Doing my best to zone out, I essentially went nonestop (as I had while ascending) back to the trailhead and then parking area. Not a bad day to be out on the trails! Hike Ratings Getting To Trailhead: Difficult Destination: Mt. Garfield Length: Difficult Steepness: Difficult Navigation: Easy Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Hike Stats Date Hiked: Saturday, February 7, 2009 Hike Commenced: 8:09 AM Parking Elevation: 1,343' Destination: Mt. Garfield Ascent Commenced: 8:42 AM Summit Reached: 10:54 AM Time Elapsed: 02:12 Trailhead Elevation: 1,535' Summit Elevation: 4,500' Distance: 5 miles Vertical Gain: 3,055' Hike Ended: 1:16 PM Hike Time Elapsed: 05:07 Hike Vertical Gain: 3,462' The Garfield Trail trailhead Looking at Mt. Lafayette from the Mt. Garfield summit Directions to trailhead: Take US 3 South from US 302. In winter 2008-09, one could park (on the right heading southbound) at the Trudeau Road-US 3 junction, then walk southbound on US 3, taking a left onto Gale River Road. The Garfield Trail is 1.2 miles up Gale River Road, on the right shortly after the forth bridge. Back to Mt. Garfield Profile
	Copyright 2002-2012, All Rights Reserved. www.FranklinSites.com