Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mtn.

• Start out on Falling Waters Trail (which for the first 0.2 mile is also the same trail as Old Bridle Path).
• After 0.2 mile, turn right to stay on Falling Waters Trail and follow that until its end on Little Haystack Mountain, 3.2 miles from the parking area. The first mile of this trail is pretty easy but then becomes quite steep. About halfway up this trail you will start passing a series of pretty cascades. And 2.8 miles from the parking lot, there is a 100-yard spur path leading downhill to the right to Shining Rock. The detour is worth it just to see this huge slab, but it also provides an outlook over Franconia Notch.
• From the end of Falling Waters Trail, turn left onto Franconia Ridge Trail which is also part of the Appalachian Trail (AT).
• Follow Franconia Ridge Trail/Appalachian Trail on moderate grades 0.7 mile up to the summit of Mount Lincoln.
• Continue on Franconia Ridge Trail/Appalachian Trail across moderate grades for 0.9 mile which will lead you down the other side of Mount Lincoln and then up to Mount Lafayette's summit.
• From Mount Lafayette, turn left to descend on Greenleaf Trail, being careful to avoid Garfield Ridge Trail which goes straight ahead.
• Descend steeply on Greenleaf Trail for 1.1 miles until reaching Eagle Lakes and Greenleaf Hut.
• Turn left to get on Old Bridle Path.
• Follow Old Bridle Path for 2.9 miles all the way back to the parking lot (upon reaching the junction with Falling Waters Trail 0.2 mile before the parking lot, turn right). Most of the descent will be on steep grades but the last mile eases up considerably.

• Take I-93 North through Franconia Notch.
• Once in Franconia Notch State Park (where there is no median strip and the highway signs are brown instead of green), take the first exit after The Basin.
• After driving past The Basin parking area, you will see a sign for "Trailhead Parking 1/4 mile", and then the exit sign will simply say "Trailhead Parking". This is the Lafayette Place parking area even though it isn't signed as such from the highway.
• The trailhead is located directly off of this parking lot.

• Take I-93 South through Franconia Notch.
• Once in Franconia Notch State Park (where there is no median strip and the highway signs are brown instead of green), take the first exit after Exit 34B.
• After driving past Exit 34B, take the next exit signed as "Lafayette Place Campground - Trailhead Parking".
• The trailhead is accessed by taking the pedestrian tunnel beneath the highway to the parking lot on the east side of the notch.

• Mt. Garfield, Garfield Pond, and Mt. Lafayette on 7/11/2009
• Mt. Garfield, Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mtn., Mt. Liberty, Mt. Flume 2-day backpack on 5/21/2009
• Cannon, Lafayette, Garfield, South Twin, Guyot, Zeacliff 5-day backpack on 6/20/2006
• Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Lincoln, Little Haystack Mtn. on 10/21/2000

Website by LeapfrogProgramming.com

© 1998-2023

The information on this site may freely be used for personal purposes but may not be replicated on other websites or publications. If you want to reference some content on this site, please link to us.