| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Gardner Mountain, Whitman Mountain, ME |
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 | Trails: |
Whitman Ridge Trail, Denny Pond Road, Denny Trail, Gardner Loop Trail, Waterfall Loop Trail, Crater Trail, Deboullie Loop Trail, Whitman Valley Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Monday, June 23, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The directions in the guidebook were accurate and we came in from Portage Lake. While the peaks we did on this day involved WAYYY more driving on dirt roads than I ever did when working on the NH500 Highest up in northern NH, the roads are in MUCH better condition. They are private logging roads that are well taken care of. Expect the main ones to be very wide and, each turn from there generally speaking, the roads will get narrower and narrower. Low clearance should be okay; just watch out for the potholes and logging trucks (mainly Monday through Thursday and they don't run on weekends). While the road to Deboullie East is rougher and may be better for mid clearance, on this day, we bore left on the access road that heads toward Perch and Togue Ponds and this road was much like the others: wide and in good shape. Large, grassy parking area with room for over a dozen cars at the start of Crater and Whitman Ridge trails. I seemed to be the only one there all day. $18/person for non-ME residents ($13 for residents) for day-use fee to North Maine Woods. $110 for season pass, and $15 on top of day-use fee for camping. Day-use free for those under 18 and over 70 and camping free for those under 18. Note that there is a small section of the roads in that my iPhone GPS got confused on and tried to tell me that we were off the route when we actually were not. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All trivial or easily rock hopable. Water was low at that time. One possible exception, if you can call it a water crossing, is the crossing of the "seasonal waterfall" described in the guidebook along Waterfall Loop Trail (South Fork) which wasn't flowing but still very wet and a little sketchy. Those afraid of heights and/or newer hikers may want to avoid this. Exercise caution and avoid in high water and spring. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Many jcts are not signed or even necessarily that noticeable, so a GPS was helpful. The trails are blazed in blue, and, generally speaking, fairly well, but beyond that, most trails are very lightly travelled (most seem to come to Deboullie to camp and/or fish, not to hike), and perhaps even more lightly taken care of. Beyond the most travelled trails (Tower Trail, the easternmost section of Black Mtn Trail maybe, and the section of Deboullie Loop Trail that connects them, except lots and lots of blowdowns. The list below is probably only partial though I will say I'm not sure if any of these trails were in quite as bad of shape as some of the ones I encountered a few days before on the north side of the park. I ran into a mid-sized spruce that hadn't been delimbed right at the start of Whitman Ridge Trail. Denny Trail was mostly okay as it's just an old road but could use some bog bridges or something to help with a very wet area just after the start of the true trail. There was also a large leaner/widowmaker followed by a very small stepover a couple minutes before the spur to Galilee Pond. Between 5-10min after the waterfall on Waterfall Loop Trail South, there were 2 big messes of blowdowns, followed by a smaller one not long after. Small, delimbed stepover somewhere around the summit of Gardner, then other small clusters of blowdowns and debris closer to the view spurs to Crater and Togue ponds, followed by a mid-sized widow-maker above the trail 5min from the parking area. Duck-under/widow-maker shortly before parking area on Crater Trail. A couple small leaners 5min into the south end of Whitman Ridge Trail. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Dogs are allowed but must be leashed and are not allowed on beaches from April 1st through September 30th. I think that most hiking dogs would be okay with the level of steepness and any minor scrambling involved in this hike. I would be cautious with them on the waterfall on Waterfall Loop Trail though. |
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 | Bugs: |
They were probably awful. The flies don't seem to be repelled by anything whereas at least the mosquitos (and maybe black flies) do. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Apologies for an excessively late trail report. My redliners route: Whitman Ridge Trail - OAB on Denny Pond Rd to main access rd - Denny Pond Rd and Denny Trail (including spurs to campsite and Galilee Pond) to - Gardner Loop Trail (west) - Waterfall Loop Trail (South Fork) - OAB on Gardner Loop Trail to Waterfall loop Trail (North Fork) - Gardner Loop Trail south to Togue Pond trailhead and back to - Crater Trail back to car - Whitman Ridge Trail - Deboullie Loop Trail east and road walk to Deboullie East then back to Whitman Valley Trail - Whitman Ridge Trail to car.
I'd meant to go up Crater Trail first, but wasn't attending to the fact that more than one trail left from the parking area so switched up my route. The 1/2mi of Denny Pond Rd between the start of Denny Trail and the access road is arguably not needed for redlining (it's kind of described as a spur) but I think this road was very rough, so most people will probably end up hiking part of it anyway. Galilee Pond did seem quite cool but unfortunately, the view from the end of the spur trail (signed) was not terribly open and did not give a great view of the pond. As mentioned in the trip report for the trails in the northern part of the park, Gaia differs a bit from where Gardner Loop Trail actually is around the outlet of Gardner Pond. The guidebook casually mentions that Waterfall Loop Trail (South Fork) crosses a seasonal waterfall near its base. While the water wasn't flowing, it was still slick and wet of course. I would absolutely avoid this in high water or presumably in spring when it's flowing and exercise caution here. There's definitely footholds, but I was still a bit unnerved here as I'm sure some others would be. Though wet, the rock proved to be grippy enough. The trail was also a little difficult to see on the other side. The OAB along Gardner Loop Trail to the north wasn't too bad; just overgrown but not a lot of gain. For redlining, you need to complete the Deboullie Loop Trail by walking the road back to Deboullie East. That being said, the trail is blazed through the woods to cut a corner of the road and passes through by a bathroom. This very short section of trail is mentioned in the guidebook and connects Pushineer South to the road just south of it.
Overall, I think these trails weren't quite as much as a mess as the ones on the north side (with the exception of the one or two well or moderately travelled ones) but still excpect a rougher trail than the contour lines and low elevation may make you think. If memory serves correctly, the only trails that neglected to have something steep on them were Whitman Valley Trail and Denny Trail. Near the south end of the former, the trail swings east of where it's shown on Gaia. Even with dry weather, expect the requisite boot sucking mud in some sections. Gaia had me at 17.4mi, 2650ft of gain, 8hr48min.
Also, no need for a separate trip report but just for your own amusement, I'll admit that I somehow managed to miss the 0.1mi of Deboullie Loop Trail between Whitman Valley Trail and Gardner Loop Trail. I realized this most of my way through Whitman Valley Trail. Unable to bring myself to turn around to get it, I got back in my car after this 17-18mi hike, drove Denny Pond Rd to its end (I guess the road couldn't be that bad if I made it in my Buick Encore), and hiked Denny Trail and Gardner Loop Trail to access this very short section of trail. I think this was the first time I made a mistake like this and man was I not happy with myself!!! I got an additional 3.1mi, 125ft, 1hr12min of hiking due to it :P. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-07-05 |
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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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