| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Flume, Mt. Liberty, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Whitehouse Trail, Liberty Spring Trail, Flume Slide Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, July 18, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The Liberty Spring/Whitehouse trailhead parking lot seems to have been mostly full at some point today, but it never overflowed. No issues. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All were rock-hoppable. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns on Flume Slide Trail, including one that obscures the trail right at a river crossing. There's a herd path continuing on the same side of the brook - don't take that. Besides that, the trails were in good shape. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Flume Slide Trail isn't the best for dogs due to all the very steep ledge scrambling. The rest of the trails are fine, but dog owners need to be careful to not let your dog approach unsuspecting people when they're climbing steep or difficult ledges. Dogs can really get in the way in places like that. |
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 | Bugs: |
I put on bug spray at the start, and didn't notice any bugs at all. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
A dark-colored fleece or sweatshirt was hanging from a tree branch alongside Liberty Spring Trail. We left it there. |
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 | Comments: |
My sister and I headed up the trail this morning to finish her NH48. Flume Slide Trail was straightforward until the river crossing mentioned above that was partially blocked by the fallen tree. The slide started soon afterward. The bottom part is full of very loose rock, and then it reaches some very steep slabs. There were bypasses around the worst areas, and I used a few of them, but my sister wanted to use the actual slide as much as possible. Luckily, the rocks were dry, so they generally gave pretty good grip. The upper part of the slide is, on average, slightly less steep than the part below, but still very steep and scrambly. There are a few places with views through the trees. Near the top, we were passed by a father and a daughter who was probably around 10 - I was impressed by how well she was doing on such a difficult trail. Once leaving the slide, the uppermost part of Flume Slide Trail is still very steep and rough, just without the slabs of the slide. When reaching the junction with Osseo and Franconia Ridge Trail, be sure to take the very short side path to the right (partially blocked by a fallen tree) to get an excellent view.
Franconia Ridge Trail is in good shape, and even though the haze and approaching rain limited the views from Flume and Liberty, we could still see a whole bunch of mountains. Just before reaching Liberty, the main trail turns left to traverse a few difficult ledge slabs, while a bypass trail (which wasn't there 10 years ago) continues straight to bypass the slabs. The summit of Liberty was beautiful, even though we could tell that rainfall was imminent. We were still able to celebrate my sister's successful completion of the NH48.
Liberty Spring Trail was a straightforward descent, even if the steep upper section was slower and some of the rocks were wet. It rained for periods on the lower half of the descent, but it didn't make the trail notably more difficult.
We saw a whole bunch of other people, some with similar itineraries to ours, while others were planning to continue along the ridge to Little Haystack and even beyond. We hope they hiked safely considering the wet rocks they must have encountered. It was a strenuous but still very enjoyable hike. My sister's verdict on Flume Slide Trail was that it was the fun kind of steep climbing, and not quite as difficult or dangerous as the North Slide of Tripyramid. But it's still a T25 for a reason - be very careful on it. |
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 | Name: |
GN |
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 | E-Mail: |
ghnaigles@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-07-18 |
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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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