| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Gentian Pond, Dream Lake, Dryad Fall, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Austin Brook Trail, Yellow Trail, Mill Brook Road, Mahoosuc Trail, Peabody Brook Trail, Dryad Fall Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Small plowed parking area on south side of North Road. Room for maybe 4 cars if parked smartly. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Paint blazes are lacking on all these trails. Post-extensive 2021 logging, Austin Brook and Dryad Fall Trails are mainly marked with multicolored surveyors tape that is disintegrating and falling off. (Any tape on the ground I carried out as litter.) The hard left going 0.3 mile UP to Gentian Pond Shelter could use better marking. Mahoosuc Trail, aka Appalachian Trail, has virtually no blazes until the relo near Dream Lake; THAT is well marked! Not too many blowdowns... mostly snow laden leaners with the sh*t ton of snow up there. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
My snowflea buddies were out. :) |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found some plastic surveyors tape laying on the ground/snow. Packed out. |
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 | Comments: |
Goal for the day was to pick up 2.2 more miles of Mahoosuc Trail as well as Dryad Fall Trail, so up Austin Brook Trail for the third time this winter. Took Yellow Trail to Mill Brook Road for easier walking. MBR had been snowmobiled and had a lot of bareboot traffic. Less foot traffic after Gates Brook Junction, but still an old snowshoe track.
The hard left 0.3 mile below Gentian Pond Shelter is tricky to find, but there IS a double blue blaze in there; plus I remembered where to go from my last visit. Once on Mahoosuc Trail/AT south, I lucked out and was able to follow the 10+ day old tracks of AT southbounder, Drew Boysen. (Check him out on YouTube if you want to see some REAL winter hiking. haha) Mahoosuc Trail was a gorgeous and peaceful winter wonderland. Quite a few moose postholes had to be negotiated in here.
All of a sudden, fresh new white blazes appeared near Dream Lake. These are due to an AT relocation which I found out because someone had written on the sign (ack!) with a Sharpie "AT reroute not yet marked on FarOut."
No recent traffic on Peabody Brook or Dryad Fall Trail, but oddly it appeared that a few snowstorms ago someone had snowmobiled the upper 2/3 of Dryad Fall Trail accessing it via one of the skidder roads below. The trail was too uniformly wide and smooth and had a deeper trough. Dryad Fall was... dry because it was frozen solid. Had to pay attention in here because of skidder roads that look like the official trail, with multicolored surveyors tape everywhere but no blazes. Incidentally, a good skier (not me) could probably ski Dryad Fall Trail.
Below Dryad Fall Spur, the "trail" is a skidder road already growing up in pricker bushes and whips, with a deep, eroding cut in the bank. Blech. I retraced my steps back down Austin Brook Trail and Mill Brook Road in the increasingly sticky snow, taking the cable car across the brook just for the fun of it. :)
Shelburne area trails are DONE... until more are added. hah
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 | Name: |
Snowflea |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-03-04 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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