| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Madison, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Great Gulf Trail, Osgood Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 15, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
GG lot was plowed, bathrooms were open |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction, Ice Axe |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Few small stream crossings on GG were not bridged but crossable. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Half-dozen blowdowns or so on Osgood between the tent site and treeline. One required going off-trail a distance to bypass, one required some on-trail acrobatics, rest were easy duck unders or step overs. Map of the FPA on Osgood approaching the tent site from the S was barely hanging by tape, and the sign at treeline had lost its paper. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw some good ones on GG! |
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 | Bugs: |
Not yet |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Out-and-back yesterday from GG to Osgood to Madison summit and back. Conditions are no longer super useful with today’s rain and subsequent freeze-thaws, but maybe a useful reference for a future season.
GG was a mix of ice and dirt below ~2” of overnight snow at the bottom, then deeper loose snow (~4”) above snow closer to the GG-Osgood junction. There were a few tracks before us, mostly bare boots — the flatness of the trail and looseness of snow meant spikes wouldn’t have done much for you. We barebooted until close to the Osgood JCT, where we switched to snowshoes for an easier time since we knew we’d need them on Osgood. No one had been up Osgood past the tent site in a while. Trail was pretty easy to follow as the trees are quite dense off-trail.
We kept snowshoes on until treeline. With the thaw last week, the steep parts of Osgood were mostly bare rocks under 4” of snow. Snowshoes were the most appropriate choice, but the screeching of snowshoes crampons/decks on rock often had us wondering if one of us would break a snowshoe. Closer to treeline, the snow got deeper, and it felt more like there was more dirt underfoot than roots and rocks.
We hit treeline, where there wasn’t much snow remaining except small bits between rocks (90% was snow and ice free). Unlike reports this weekend from other trails in the Northern Presis, we found very little ice (except for a few small patches of flow ice and glaze ice that could be avoided). We barebooted from treeline to the summit and boulder hopped, happy with our traction choice. We pulled out our axes on the descent for additional confidence/in case of a slide on the couple of snow fields, but we stayed traction-free until treeline, where we put on spikes until GG got very flat (and our spikes kept balling up). Snowshoes on the below-treeline Osgood descent would’ve been a risk due to catching on rocks, and spikes were the most appropriate. We’re glad we brought crampons even though they went for a free ride.
Above-treeline navigation was challenging as many cairns are quite small and drifts obscured things. I imagine it’s worse in normal winter when everything is white and rimey. I’m pretty happy navigating in a whiteout, but I’m not sure I’d want to be on Osgood Ridge in a whiteout. That said, no one really goes here in winter anyway! The cairns are probably appropriate. Osgood Ridge on a clear winter day is a breathtaking view almost no one gets to see. |
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 | Name: |
cmehike |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-03-16 |
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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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