| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Garfield, Galehead Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Gale River Loop Road, Gale River Trail, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Mt. Garfield Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, April 27, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Garfield Winter lot, 1 camper van there at 7:15am. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
If wading through knee deep rivers is not your thing, I'd wait a few days. Heading up to Galehead, the first crossing has some logs you can sort of stay dry on, but the second one required wading through shin deep, I crossed where the trail was heading diagonally upstream, not too bad. The rest of the way up was hoppable (the definition of hoppable gets lenient after you just waded...some of the hops required slightly submerged rocks). Not technically a crossing, but heading up the very steep section towards Garfield Tent site is basically a waterfall...which is nice in that there is no ice but you are going to get your hands/feet wet. I went up with bare boots. The switchbacks coming down from Garfield are basically a stream, and the final crossing ~1 mile from the Garfield summer TH required another shin deep wade but wasn't bad. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A lot of blowdowns on Garfield Ridge Trail, and a few stopovers coming down from Garfield. Gale River Trail was in good shape. A pretty big tree down about 1/2 mile from the summer Garfield lot, trail has rerouted around it. Might be easiest just to leave it. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I'm sure there are some ninja hiking dogs that could handle the Rivers and climbing up the waterfall, but if you aren't sure you have a ninja dog leave them home for a few weeks at least. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
TLDR: Conditions are very challenging on this loop right now. You'll want snowshoes, spikes, and you are going to get wet.
A little bit of everything on this one. Bare boots in the rain up Gale River Trail. Monorail started at 2800' and was consistent (ie no bare spots). I continued in bare boots (no issue with traction), but would switch to snowshoes if doing it again. 3 guys in front of me also bare booting and they were frequently going crotch deep which showed me where not to step (monorail 4' deep in places). I put snowshoes on at the hut for the out/back to Galehead, was definitely glad to have them. (The 3 guys put on spikes at the hut and went up to S. Twin and didn't do Galehead. If it was anything like GRT, they likely suffered w/out snowshoes).
Garfield Ridge Trail between Galehead and Garfield had seen more traffic than I expected (but there was 4" of new snow on top from this AM) and in spots there is supportive monorail. You could sort of tell where the monorail was, but even with snowshoes were punished for straying. There are some sections of bare rock which I did in my snowshoes (sorry snowshoes) as well as a few sections of mud/flowing water, but I kept the shoes on until the base of the climb up the waterfall to Garfield Tent site where I switched to bare boots. Basically, climbing up a waterfall. Not a ton of water coming down, and the rocks were grippy, but you are going to get your hands and feet wet. I continued bare booting to the Mount Garfield Trail because I'm lazy, but it was a struggle and snowshoes would have been preferable.
There are a couple of places where blowdowns caused the trail to fracture on the GRT and people had different opinions on the best route, but I managed to rejoin the established trail fairly quickly, if anyone is hiking it in the near future you could do much worse than following my tracks if they are visible. The snow is very deep in sections along this trail and I would not advise trying it w/out snowshoes.
Coming down from Garfield, there is mostly stable but narrow monorail until 3800', where the trail basically turns into a stream that continues for most of the switchback sections, mostly 1-2" deep. You get a few sections of monorail mixed in where the stream diverts, which lasts just long enough that you are glad when the stream resumes again. |
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 | Name: |
Borealis |
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 | E-Mail: |
kdwelch1@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-04-27 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.strava.com/activities/14307170836/overview |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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