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, Galehead Mountain, South Twin Mountain, North Twin Mountain Bethlehem, NH, Franconia, NH Trailheads, measurements, times, distances, and maps are all approximate and relative to the hike(s) as shown below. The bare lower portion of the Garfield Trail Route: Gale River Road, Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, (Mt. Garfield), Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, (Galehead Mountain), Frost Trail, Twinway, (South Twin Mountain), North Twin Spur, bushwhack, (North Twin Mountain), North Twin Trail, bushwhack, North Twin Trail, herd path, North Twin Trail, herd path After spotting a vehicle at Little River Road, we started at west Gale River Road, which was completely snowfree. While the first washed out bridge had been repaired, the second and third were still out. The second was passable via a crude ladder, however the third required a brook crossing. The Garfield Trail was fairly bare for the first mile or so. The water crossings were running a bit high, but nonetheless doable. Above there, we donned snowshoes for the balance of the spring-snow-covered trail to Mt. Garfield, where we had good, though hazy, views. The Garfield Ridge Trail was in better shape than we had hoped - the steeps below the campsite were fortunately mostly snowcovered, though the ice bulges were lurking underneath. From there, we had to go over the many ups and downs on the way to the Galehead Hut. After lunch, we headed up to Galehead, where we had strong views from the normally wooded summit. Back at the hut, we fueled up for the climb to South Twin. By this point in the day, the skies had clouded over and the winds had picked up a little bit. The trek from South Twin to North Twin was tricky - the previous tracks meandered off the trail in many places, some for good reason due to blowdowns. Nearing North Twin, the trees were just barely sticking out of the snow, resulting in views in all directions. After descending to the north viewpoint, the packed route bushwhacked in a direct route, eventually rejoining the trail proper on a switchback. Now down in the lower elevations, many of the water crossings were snowbridged with the type of bridges that collapse as you cross. Finally down below the final crossing, the North Twin had some extended sections of flowing water. Despite these conditions, we were able to still make it to the road by sunset. Hike Ratings Getting To Trailhead: Difficult Destination: Mt. Garfield Length: Moderate Steepness: Difficult Navigation: Easy Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Destination: Galehead Mountain Length: Difficult Steepness: Very Difficult Navigation: Moderate Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Destination: South Twin Mountain Length: Very Difficult Steepness: Difficult Navigation: Moderate Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Destination: North Twin Mountain Length: Very Difficult Steepness: Difficult Navigation: Difficult Views: Excellent Crowds: Minimal Hike Stats Date Hiked: Saturday, March 20, 2010 Hike Commenced: 7:39 AM Parking Elevation: 1,320' Destination: Mt. Garfield Ascent Commenced: 8:07 AM Summit Reached: 11:13 AM Time Elapsed: 03:06 Trailhead Elevation: 1,535' Summit Elevation: 4,500' Distance: 5 miles Vertical Gain: 3,055' Destination: Galehead Mountain Ascent Commenced: 11:17 AM Summit Reached: 1:58 PM Time Elapsed: 02:41 Trailhead Elevation: 4,500' Summit Elevation: 4,024' Vertical Gain: 769' Destination: South Twin Mountain Ascent Commenced: 2:00 PM Summit Reached: 3:07 PM Time Elapsed: 01:07 Trailhead Elevation: 4,024' Summit Elevation: 4,902' Vertical Gain: 1,187' Destination: North Twin Mountain Ascent Commenced: 3:14 PM Summit Reached: 4:04 PM Time Elapsed: 00:50 Trailhead Elevation: 4,902' Summit Elevation: 4,761' Vertical Gain: 321' Hike Ended: 6:46 PM Hike Time Elapsed: 11:07 Hike Vertical Gain: 5,727' The Garfield Trail trailhead Looking at South Twin, Guyot, and the Bonds from Mt. Garfield Looking up the Garfield Ridge Trail on the way to Galehead Mountain Looking at the Osceolas, Scar Ridge, Owl's Head, and Southern Franconias from Galehead Looking down the Twinway on the way to South Twin Looking at Carrigain, Guyot, and the Bonds from South Twin Looking down the North Twin Spur on the way to North Twin Looking at South Twin from near the summit of North Twin Directions to trailhead: From Route 302, take Route 3 South. In late winter 2010, one could park at the end of Little River Road, as well as at the end of the west end of Gale River Road. The Garfield Trail trailhead is a bit over a mile beyond the gated west end of the Gale River Road. Back to Mt. Garfield Profile Back to Galehead Mountain Profile Back to North Twin Mountain Profile Back to South Twin Mountain Profile
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