Parking near NH/ME border for AT

[Eureka]

Hi Folks,
This summer I'll be section hiking the New Hampshire section of the AT NOBO and I'm looking for a safe place to leave my car for approx. 3 weeks near the NH/ME border. Does anyone know of a business, fellow hiker, etc. who I might contact?
Mike

[burger]

Why take a car? Take a train or bus from CT to Hanover, and get off the trail at Gorham, NH, which has bus service to Boston (and from there, to anywhere you want to go).

[warraghiyagey]

Not sure but try the White Birches just outside of Gorham. . . they are relatively new to catering to hikers but are very friendly folks and are certainly tuned in to the hiking community - and they've got lot's of parking space - give them a try

[Slo-go'en]

Humm, once you leave your car in Gorham, how ya gonna get to the other end of the trail? No easy way to do that. Any idea when you'd be doing the hike? It is possible I could suttle you, but its a long drive of at least 2 hours, maybe more - no direct way to get from Gorham to Hanover. Its all back roads. I might even consider going with you if you don't mind a partner. Ironically, NH is the only section of the AT I haven't thru-hiked, even though its my back yard! Been meaning to get around to doing that.

[Eureka]

I'm planning on hiking with someone else, so a car left in Gorham area and the other being used to get us to Hanover and the Dartmouth parking lot. We're planning on starting around mid-August and taking 15 days to do the hike (give or take a couple days). I'll give White Birches a call to see how close they are to the trail.

Slo-go'en, you'd be welcome to join us. We were averaging about 14-15 miles per day in Vermont last year. Not sure what NH will bring, heard alot from SOBO's last year though so I'm thinking about 11-14 miles per day in the Whites. Won't know for sure until I'm on the trail.

[peakbagger]

The ME/NH state line is roughly in the middle of the Mahoosucs and unless you want to park on a logging road , you need to pick whether you want to stop short of the border in NH or go long and park in Maine. Logistically its easier to stop in NH at the RT 2 crossing in Shelburne.

White Birches Campground is an easy hitch or short walk down RT 2 towards Gorham. The owner doesnt do long distance shuttles but one of the long term campers at the campground did (not sure of 2009). The AT parking in Shelburne at Hogan road also has had recent breakins. The Rattle River lot on RT 2 is more visible and has some adjacent houses and doesnt seem to have many break ins.

A suggestion would be to leave the car at White Birches, hike to the campground NOBO, take a day off in Gorham and then arrange a shuttle to RT 26 crossing in Maine and SOBO back to White Birches in Shelburne. Note the shuttle from Shelburne to Rt 26 is a long one!.

[weary]

Why take a car? Take a train or bus from CT to Hanover, and get off the trail at Gorham, NH, which has bus service to Boston (and from there, to anywhere you want to go).

This strikes me as an excellent plan, though it forces you to skip 10 or 15 miles of the trail. between Gorham, NH and the border. If you have the time, and are able to find a shuttle I would continue north over the Mahoosucs to Grafton Notch. In good weather the Mahoosucs are my favorite section of the trail.

As others have noted, there is no good access to the Maine/New Hampshire border. Trails lead there, but only after driving miles on private logging roads, where safe parking is always a bit risky.

Grafton Notch parking is also away from civilization, but it is on a main road, with quite a bit of traffic. Call the Cabin in East Andover (207 392 1333). They have given up hosteling, more or less, but are friendly folks who make frequent visits to Gorham, N. H. and may be willing to shuttle you back to a car parked at the Birches or elsewhere in the area.

BTW, the Maine portion of the Mahoosucs are reasonably protected -- thanks to the rediscovery 30 + years ago of 400,000 acres of Maine-owned land that the state had forgotten it owned.

Underway as we write, is forest legacy funding to protect the New Hampshire section.

IN Maine the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust has a project proposal that would protect the fragile trail corridor a few miles north of Grafton Notch in the High Peaks region -- think Saddleback and Bigelow. All we think we need to make it work is a million bucks of seed money to garner $12 million in federal forest legacy funds.

Regardless. The Mahoosucs rank among the wildest, and least developed portions of the whole trail. Visit them if you can. You won't be disappointed.

Weary www.matlt.org

[burger]

BTW, the Maine portion of the Mahoosucs are reasonably protected -- thanks to the rediscovery 30 + years ago of 400,000 acres of Maine-owned land that the state had forgotten it owned.

That sounds like a really good story--care to elaborate?

[Rambler]

http://www.hikersparadise.com/hikersparadise.htm

hikethewhites.com

You can get bus transportation to Lincoln, NH near Mt. Mousilauke. and then maybe AMC shuttles to Gorham via Crawford or Franconia Notch. Lincoln has hikers.

[Eureka]

Thanks for the information and website links. I'm going to get in touch with White Birches campground about leaving a car there and then either drive our other car to Hanover or find a shuttle to start the hike. I'm finding lots of good information about hiking NH on this website. Thanks to all who post information for us newbie hikers.

[Jack Tarlin]

Another possibility is to leave your vehicle in the long-term parking lot at Dartmouth College in Hanover, and to then return to Hanover by bus from Gorham. (At present, there's one bus a day that'll do this, and it'll take you all day long).

Or as Weary suggested, take the Train to White River Junction, VT, which is very close to Hanover. Local bus service or a cab will get you here to Hanover to tart yoru hike. At trip's end, take the bus from Gorham or North Conway or wherever to Boston and then get home from there. Unless you want or need a car on your trip, this might be the best way to do it.