| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
The Basin , NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Bike path, Whitehouse Trail, Cascade Brook Trail, Basin-Cascades Trail, Basin herd paths, Pemi Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I parked at the Flume Visitor Center because I wasn’t sure if I had redlined the small section of the bike path between The Flume and the hikers parking area just north of it. There were a half dozen or dozen other cars there and room for several dozen. It seemed like most were snowmobiling and only one or two others were hiking. The lot was cleared of any snow/ice but I imagine that’s since changed ;) |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Although there are a few major crossings on this route, they were all very well snowbridged on Tuesday even after all of the warm weather. I’m sure they’ll only strengthen given all the snow today followed by the colder temps this weekend. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The bike path is wide, clear, and packed by snowmobiles (watch out for them!). Whitehouse Trail is very well blazed in blue on the part that doesn’t coincide with the bike path. I don’t recall any blowdowns along it. Cascade Brook Trail coincides with the AT so is blazed in white although the white blazes I recall were faded and often far apart. There was at least one small blowdown ascending to the jct with Basin-Cascade Trail and another leaner just after you cross Cascade Brook. Basin-Cascade Trail was blazed in blue although I’d not recall how often or if there were blowdowns along it. Pemi Trail is blazed in blue. Some sections are blazed quite frequently and others not so much. As the trail pulls away from the Pemi and into open forest, there isn’t much of a corridor and could be hard to find particularly if trail breaking. All trail jct signs were above the snow but depending on just how much snow we get and any drifting, I imagine it’s possible for them to become at least partially covered. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I saw one while walking along the myriad of trails around the Basin and had a nice conversation with the owner. I explained what redlining was to her. She’d done the 48 many years ago :) I imagine these trails are good for dogs as they aren’t usually too steep and have lots of water on them. You might want to watch them where the trails come near the edge of the brooks/cascades with steep drop offs. |
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 | Bugs: |
None |
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 | Lost and Found: |
There was a hat at the very large trail sign next to some benches near the Basin. |
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|
 | Comments: |
Got a late start Tuesday shortly before noon and finished at 4:30pm. Forgot to bring my guidebook along with me so I stopped in Lincoln to get a new one at The Mountain Wanderer as my old book is taped, still falling apart, and water damaged anyway 😂. Always nice to talk to Steve Smith inside :)
My planned hike was 6.3mi but with all the little paths to views on Basin-Cascades Trail and all the herd paths around the Basin, I ended up walking 7mi. From the Flume Visitor Center I took the Franconia Notch Recreation (bike path in summer and snowmobile trail in winter) —> Whitehouse Trail —> Cascade Brook Trail (AT) to Kinsman Pond Trail then back to jct with Basin-Cascade Trail —> Basin-Cascade Trail to the Basin —> made a little loop around the Basin and some herd paths to parking lot and other viewpoints —> Pemi Trail south to —> Cascade Brook Trail to —> Bike Path back to car. Note that the way it’s signed, the Pemi Trail coincides with Cascade Brook Trail and Whitehouse Trail in part.
I basically wore snowshoes the entire hike and it felt like the right choice. The bike path and Basin-Cascade Trail were packed well enough that you’d be okay without (Cascade Brook hasn’t seen as much traffic and was choppier from bareboots/divots although wasn’t postholes badly and Whitehouse Trail and Pemi Trail I don’t recall so much) but the snow is warm and wet so your boot sort of slides around in the snow and snowshoes are just easier so I’d wear them. Don’t be silly like me and throw them on at the Flume Parking area just to have to take them off in the hiker parking lot to get to the Whitehouse trailhead.
Another warm day in the high 30s and 40s with just a base layer and hard shell most of the time. I took a million pics on this hike which I normally don’t do but I don’t think I’d ever been to the Basin and there were just lots of cool things to see and enjoy. Someone hiked right over the cascades on Basin-Cascade Trail as there were snowshoe tracks over it. Very cool to see although there’s definitely been some melting here and I don’t know if I would have risked that. Have fun regressing these trails in all the new snow 🤣 At least there should be a good base! |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-02-27 |
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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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