AMC Outdoors, July/August 2007
In the mountains of the Northeast, the shortest distance between two points is often a really gnarly trail. And these seven hikes explore the most extreme of the bunch, routes so wild that only in the Northeast would they even be called "trails." Hand-over-hand climbs, ladder-aided ascents, boulder field scrambles, and heart-pumping exhilaration all await the motivated and fit hiker. Just make sure you head up these routes—none are recommended for descent.
Mahoosuc Notch
Mahoosuc Range, Maine
It is rightly dubbed the hardest mile on the Appalachian Trail, a joint-busting scramble through a deep cleft choked with monstrous boulders. The AT squeezes through this 1,000-foot-deep gash in the Mahoosuc Range, winding past lush greenery as it clambers over, under, and through the jumbled rock pile. The shortest access is via the Notch Trail from Success Pond Road; turn it into an overnight loop by continuing 2.6 miles north past the notch to Speck Pond Campsite, descending via the Speck Pond Trail.
Distance: Loop hike 11.0 miles round-trip
Info: White Mountain Guide, 28th Edition, White Mountains Trail Map 6: North Country-Mahoosuc (AMC Books)
Beehive and Precipice Trails
Acadia National Park, Maine
These two trails are short, sweet, and intense. Iron rungs fasten to the sheer granite cliffs of the 520-foot Beehive and 1,058-foot Champlain Mountain in eastern Acadia National Park, requiring white-knuckle grips to surmount exposed rock ledges. The Precipice Trail is the longer and more extreme of the two, though rockfall from an October 2006 earthquake has closed the trail for the 2007 season. In the meanwhile, head for the Beehive Trail, a shorter—but still adrenaline-juicing—climb from Ocean Drive. Return via the Bowl Trail.
Distance: Beehive Loop 1.7 miles round-trip, Precipice Trail 0.9 mile one-way to summit.
Info: www.nps.gov/acad, 207-288-3338, Discover Acadia National Park (AMC Books)
Huntington Ravine
White Mountain National Forest, NH.
It is the most difficult trail in the White Mountains. Rising 1,400 feet in only 0.8 mile, the Huntington Ravine Trail claws its way up a sheer headwall and over vertiginous ledges to emerge in the Alpine Garden below the summit of Mount Washington. If you’ve ever wondered whether you suffer from acrophobia, this trail will provide the answer. Complete a very strenuous loop from Pinkham Notch via the Tuckerman Ravine, Huntington Ravine, and Alpine Garden trails, returning via Tuckerman Ravine.
Distance: Loop hike 7.0 miles round-trip
Info: White Mountain Guide, 28th Edition, White Mountains Trail Map 1: Presidential Range (AMC Books)
King Ravine
White Mountain National Forest, NH.
Gouged from the flanks of Mount Adams, King Ravine gapes like an open craw. The King Ravine Trail heads straight up its gullet to attain the Presidential ridge, rising 1,300 feet in 0.8 mile as it ascends the headwall. But first it picks its way through rockfall on the ravine floor, winding through a subterranean segment known as the Subway and past caves harboring ice year-round. For an intense loop hike, follow the Amphibrach, King Ravine, and Air Line trails from Route 2.
Distance: Loop hike 8.4 miles round-trip.
Info: White Mountain Guide, 28th Edition, White Mountains Trail Map 1: Presidential Range (AMC Books)
Mount Mansfield
Mount Mansfield State Park, VT
The craggy visage of Mount Mansfield is chiseled with more extreme trails than any mountain in the Northeast outside of the Presidential Range. The Long Trail climbs the mountain spine, aided by steep wooden ladders adjacent to hiker-swallowing rock crevasses. The Cliff Trail skirts the peak’s north face, passing through a fourfoot- wide, 40-foot-deep gash plugged with a six-foot-high chockstone. And the Subway Trail squeezes through multiple caves near the ridgeline. Approach them all from the west at Underhill State Park.
Distance: 7-15 miles round-trip.
Info: Underhill State Park, 802-899-3022, www.vtstateparks.com/htm/underhill.cfm, Long Trail Guide, 25th Edition (GMC Books)
Gothics Mountain
Adirondacks, NY
Steel cables snake down sheer rock faces on Gothics Mountain in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. Located in the Great Range, a linear series of seven 4,000-foot peaks, 4,736-foot Gothics is the centerpiece of an exhilarating loop hike from John Brooks Lodge. From the full-service backcountry cabin, the route heads up the Ore Bed Brook Trail to the ridgeline, makes a cable-aided summit ascent over precipitous rock slabs, and then continues over Armstrong and Lower Wolf Jaw mountains, returning via the Wolf Jaw Brook Trail.
Distance: 8.0 miles round-trip from the lodge (3.5 miles from the trailhead)
Info: www.adk.org. Adirondack Trails: High Peaks Region (ADK Books).
Black Forest Trail
Slate Run, PA
This long-distance trail loops 42 miles around the deep valleys, rocky ridgelines, and remote terrain of north-central Pennsylvania. En route it visits myriad views, streams, and backcountry campsites. It also travels one of the most difficult stretches of trail in the entire state. As it winds clockwise between the village of Slate Run and Route 44, the trail dips into several drainages scrunched between imposing mountain ridges. Knee-crunching descents and pore-busting climbs define this extreme section; one heart-pumping ascent gains 1,100 feet in only 0.7 mile.
Distance: 14 miles one-way
Info: Black Forest Trail Guide and Map (Tiadaghton Forest Fire Fighters Assn.)
Contributors
Robert Buchsbaum, author, Best Day Hikes in the White Mountains; Bruce Clendenning; Malcolm Crawford; Jed Eliades; Paul Fofonoff, Larry Garland; Mike Manes; Mark Mikolas; Paul Shaw, executive director, Keystone Trails Association; Barry SKura; Mark Sondeen
- Matt Heid is Senior Editor at AMC Outdoors.
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