This former carriage road to the summit of Mt. Moosilauke is administered by the White Mountains National Forest and Dartmouth College, and is maintained by the Dartmouth Outing Club and the Asquamchumaukee Valley Snowmobile Club. Prospective trail users are referred to the AMC White Mountain Guide published by the Appalachian Mountain Club for detailed information about this trail.
A paved public road begins at Route 118 beside a standard wooden WMNF trail sign for the Carriage Road, and runs sharply uphill past year-round dwellings to the site of the historic Breezy Point Inn. Although a motel-style golf resort had occupied the site of the inn over the last few decades, even that has been recently torn down as a result of a land acquisition by the White Mountain National Forest. A gravel road leads a short distance downhill beyond the site of the inn/motel to the trailhead at the bridge over Merrill Brook.
This roadbed has never been used for railroad purposes, but is included on this Web Site because its history and general characteristics are similar to that of the typical Rail-trail. Rail-trail enthusiasts must recognize that this old carriage road climbs a moderate grade from the trailhead at 1760 feet to the very exposed summit of the mountain at 4802 feet. Accordingly, trail users must pay close attention to rapidly changing weather conditions and other natural hazards of a mountain-top trail!
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USGS
Topographic map of Moosilaukee Carraige Rd Trailhead
Bridge over Merrill Brook adjacent to the trailhead. Digital picture by Kenyon F. Karl on October 6, 1998.
Very limited parking is available at the trailhead. Overflow parking along the road may be available near the recently
cleared site of the Inn/Motel. Note that both the trailhead parking and the
overflow parking is subject to the WMNF parking pass' program described below.
No other trail facilities were observed in the vicinity of this trailhead!
The White Mountain National Forest now has an Official Web Site that contains current information about this 'parking permit' program in the 'Recreation' section of the site.
Please note that this fee currently applies only to unattended vehicles parked on WMNF land. Public transit passengers as well as long distance hikers and bikers that park their motor vehicles elsewhere are totally exempt from this fee!
Local Services DirectoryEach location map on this Web Site is a link to a map on the Mapblast Web Site which in turn contains a link to a Business Directory of the surrounding area.
David Metsky's White Mountains Info Server Web Site contains general information, numerous pictures, and a trail map of Mt Moosilauke. The Carraige Road Trail is included in that coverage.
Most of the trail is owned by Dartmouth College and is private land. It was built in the 1860's as the road to the summit hotel on Moosilauke and used by horse drawn carriages at least until the 40's when the hotel burned. I believe it was last driven by a jeep in the 1950's. It is open for hiking traffic only in summers, no bikes. In winter, hikers, snowshoers and skiers have full access; snowmobilers are allowed up to the turnaround, about 1/4 mile from the junction with the Glencliff trail due to AT restrictions. David Metsky < [email protected] > Friday, October 02, 1998 12:18 PM
Moose Country Press has recently created a Web Site for Mount Moosilaukee which contains historical items about:
