Lonesome Lake, set snuggly on a small plateau with Kinsman Ridge above and Franconia Notch below is home to AMC’s westernmost hut. The lake, originally dubbed Moran Lake and later called Tamarack Pond, was christened Lonesome Lake by W. C. Prime and William F. Bridge.

William Cowper Prime (1825-1905) was an author from New York. In the White Mountain region he is probably best known for I Go A-Fishing, a guide for and celebration of anglers, though he wrote on topics as varied as travel in Egypt, numismatics, and hymns. William F. Bridge, a New Yorker like Prime, appears under the pseudonym Dupont in Prime’s fish tale. Together these two men purchased the lake around 1876, stocked it with trout, and built cabins for their summer retreat (located on the opposite side of the lake from where the hut sits today).

Here Prime would arrive in May to fish, write and relax, returning to the city in October. His Lonesome Lake cabin was said to be furnished with selections from his extensive ceramics collection. Famed Civil War General George B. McClellan spent many days here with his friends, relaxing by the lake. In September 1904, Prime suffered a stroke at the cabin and was brought back home, where he died the following February. A Boston Herald article from 1886 praises Prime and Bridge for their “Mountain Hospitality.” Luckily this fine tradition has not been lost at AMC’s Lonesome Lake Hut.

For long after Prime and Bridge’s passing, the cabins on the lake were owned by Bridge’s wife. A caretaker was employed to look after them. This was the man for whom the Fishin’ Jimmy Trail is named. He was used as a character in a story of that name by Annie Trumbull Slosson, Prime’s sister-in-law. He took care of the camp for many years until the property passed to Charles H. Greenleaf, owner of the Profile House. Greenleaf eventually sold all of his property to Frank P. Abbott & Son. The camps were used infrequently for fishing and day trips by hotel guests, but after the Profile House burned to the ground in 1923, the cabins were essentially abandoned. Eventually the Abbotts gave up on Franconia Notch, under pressure from conservationists, and sold the land to the state. Soon after, the cabins were leased to AMC, to be operated as a hut.

Lonesome Lake Hut opened as an AMC lodging for the 1929 season. Spacious accommodations were spread across three buildings, as they are today. Fifteen bunks were reserved for men in the barn, 15 for women in one cabin, and a kitchen, dining, and croo room were located in the other cabin. Ray Lavender, who worked at the hut for the first four seasons of its operation, noted that business was initially slow (the start of the Great Depression did not help). Luckily there was plenty of fishing to be done in the lake. Four canoes were kept for the purpose. There were also visits to be made to the construction crew on Mount Lafayette, where they were building Greenleaf Hut. This would become the second stop in the new “Western Division” of huts. By 1932, a continuous string of huts would lead hikers from Lonesome Lake all the way to Carter Notch. In this year radio contact also reached Lonesome, simplifying advance notice on guest numbers and aiding in emergency situations.

In 1941, Lonesome Lake and Zealand Falls Huts became the site of an experiment in caretaking. Both huts were staffed not by the usual college-age boys, but by couples. As the U.S. entered World War II and young men went off to fight, couples seemed a reasonable alternative. However it is reported that young women staying in these huts “rarely concealed their disappointment in not finding strong, handsome young men at the posts.” Couples were hired for several seasons thereafter, but the times stretched the resources of the club, and both Lonesome Lake and Greenleaf Huts were closed for several seasons. Roving caretakers checked in as needed, but Lonesome Lake once again closely matched its name in character.

By 1946, operations were back to normal, with all seven existing huts open. Lonesome itself was by this point starting to show its age. In 1950, the women’s bunk room was demolished and temporary shelter was provided by a large tent on a platform. The now-ancient structure went down easily. It was reported that the “work of demolition was a scant jump ahead of natural decay.” This theme continued until a major rebuilding project in 1963. The Division of Parks of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development decided upon a completely new building in a new location on the lake. The site of the hut was moved to the opposite side of Lonesome Lake, thus taking advantage of the spectacular view of the Franconia Range. The octagonal building looks like no other structure operated by the club.

Innovations continued into the 1970s when the hut hosted the first all female croo. During the summer of 1978, five women ran the hut. That same year the hut hosted a fall caretaker for the first time, now a common sight at the lower altitude huts. Nowadays the hut is open year-round (with self-service lodging in the fall, winter and spring). In 2008, the hut received a facelift in the form of enlarged windows, new doors, a metal roof, cedar shingles on the exterior, and pine paneling, giving it a cozy, bright atmosphere.

Once the loneliest place in the hut system, Lonesome Lake Hut is now popular with families. Little do visitors know that by witnessing the scenery and exploring the lake they are ever perpetuating William C. Prime’s vision to observe the “grandeur in things large and beauty in things small.”


Read more about Lonesome Lake Hut's history in Passport to AMC's High Huts in the White Mountains >>