Great Park in the White Mountains - Crawford Notch State Park
Written: Jul 16 '04 (Updated Jul 19 '04)
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Pros: easy road access to whole park, scenic, plentiful recreational opportunities
Cons: none really...
The Bottom Line: Crawford Notch is one of many wonders in New Hampshire, but no matter if you’re hiking, driving or looking for a place to camp, is worth some of your time
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| jps246's Full Review: Crawford Notch State Park |
Crawford Notch State Park is located in, as you can probably tell, Crawford Notch. It’s one of the 4 major notches in the White Mountains (the others being Pinkham, Franconia and Zealand) and one of the 3 notches with highways traveling through them (the others being Franconia and Pinkham). Crawford Notch lacks many of the tourist attractions of Franconia and many of the rugged wilderness characteristics of Pinkham, but it is in its own right a wonderful place to drive though and to visit.
The state park generally covers the majority of the notch, from the narrow northern entrance to about halfway down its southern extent. It goes up slightly on the sides of the mountains on either side of the notch and is surrounded by National Forest lands on all sides except the south, where there is some residential development.
Several trails begin or travel through Crawford Notch. This includes the Appalachian Trail and the Crawford Path (which is the oldest maintained trail in New England) starts at the northern end of the notch. There are also smaller trails throughout the notch traveling to waterfalls and small ponds. The trailheads for these trails are scattered throughout the park and identified by “trailhead” signs and parking areas.
If you’re not looking to hike or walk and just want to enjoy the scenery of Crawford Notch, there are several maintained pull-offs along Route 302, which is the highway that runs through the notch. There’s one at the very northern tip of the notch, followed by two just to the south. If you park in those lots and walk across the road, you can look up small river ravines and see waterfall cascades coming off the mountains. On the other side where you parked, you can look down into the gorge that the Saco River has carved through Crawford Notch.
Beyond those initial pull-offs, there’s a large parking area for the Willey House historic site, which also serves as the headquarters for the park. On the parking lot side of the area is a small pond with several short nature trails and across the street is the Willey House home. It was here when the area was first settled that the Willey Family was killed by a landslide in the notch – they had thought the house was going to be destroyed and ran out – but instead of the landslide taking the house, it caught them instead. The Willey House today is a replica of the original and has a gift shop, vending machines, park information and is a good representation of what life would have been like for the first settlers in the Crawford Notch area.
Going past the Willey site, you’ll come to the campground portion of the state park. This campground is along the banks of the Dry River, which like its name suggests is dry for most of the year, beyond some pools in the deeper portions. The majority of the water flows underground in the rocky and gravely soils. So don’t expect to be camping and hearing the sounds of a babbling brook. There are quite a few sites and they are generally wooded and separated enough from each other so that you’re not camping on top of one another. This is a popular area and sites do fill up fast, so you need to get reservations through the state reservation system.
Nearby the campground is the parking lot for the Appalachian Trail where it crosses Route 302. From here you can either go north or south on the Trail. Going north you’ll ascend the shoulder of Mt. Willey and you will have a terrific view of notch and soon start climbing the Presidential Range. To the south the trail makes its way across a series of mountains of increasing height until it reaches Franconia Notch.
There’s also another trailhead to the south that has a series of trails. These trails are generally flatter and easier to walk – but don’t end up going up any mountains – they are forest walks and with some planning can provide a couple of day-long camping trip.
For those looking for a new effort experience beyond simply driving through the park – a tourist train operates on the railroad that travels through the notch. It leaves North Conway in the south and travels to just north of the notch before turning around and going back.
The entire notch is an experience. In the north where the notch is at its narrowest, the highway and the railroad slice through solid rock and then as the notch widens, the slopes of the mountains on either side are scarred with landslides. The Saco River starts at the head of the notch is a deep ravine and as it travels south flattens out and wanders through the notch’s floor. The river is often flooded by beavers and provides habitat and foraging for Moose – you usually can catch a glimpse of one in the wetter and swampier areas of the notch.
Experiences
This is my favorite of the four notches in the White Mountains – maybe because I’ve spent the most time here – but my favorite nonetheless. The mountain cascades at the top of the notch are always worth a stop – especially right after a rain when they are roaring waterfalls and the park provides plenty of opportunities for some exciting hiking trips.
The Willey Slide, which is across from the Willey House site is one such adventure. I wouldn’t suggest people try it (I think the area is closed at the moment due to safety concerns), but I did climb it – the first part of the slide is about a ½ a mile of boulders and then you reach about another ¼ of a mile or so of smooth, slick, bare rock where all of the vegetation and soil slipped off and caused the landslide. It’s not so steep you’d need climbing equipment, but it is very exposed and can be difficult for some people. As I reached the top of the slide, it ended in a cliff, several hundred feet below the summit of Mount Willey so I had to traverse across the side of the notch until I reached a break in the cliffs and then had to do that over and over until I finally made it to the top of the mountain. It was worth it – the entire time there are incredible views from the slide and when you get to the top – people look like little ants in the parking lot down below and you can see what look like matchbox cars traveling along the road.
Another fun thing is to walk along the railroad grade. The easiest way to do this is to park in the northernmost parking lot and then follow the railroad tracks through the cut at the narrowest point in the notch and then along the side of the notch. There are trains that run in the summer and early fall – so later in the fall or in the spring is the best time to do this. You’ll traverse across the sides of the notch with excellent views of Mt. Willey and the Presidentials beyond and if you make it to the large trestle – you’re in for some excitement. See if you can make it across this rail bridge that is about 200 feet in its highest point above the stream valley with only the railroad tracks and ties between you and the bottom. Even nowadays I have trouble with it since I’m somewhat afraid of heights, but its one heck of a rush to make it across.
Getting there
The park is located in Crawford Notch and Route 302 travels through the notch. This is the only way to get to the park and provides access to all the trailheads, the campground and then pull-offs.
The notch is about 45 minutes north of North Conway, New Hampshire about an hour and 15 minutes south of Littleton, NH. You can get to Route 302 from Interstate 93 right after it goes through Franconia Notch (so that puts Crawford Notch about a ½ an hour from I93).
There are hotels available in North Conway, Littleton and Twin River, along with a few private campgrounds outside of the National Forest and the state park boundaries.
In Closing
So why should you go here? Are you going to make an entire vacation out of Crawford Notch? Probably not, but it’s just one of the many natural and man-made attractions in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Miles and miles of hiking trails to the stunning beauty of the mountains, the quiet solitude of the forests, the hustle and bustle of North Conway, it all adds up to a great place to visit and enjoy.
Crawford Notch is one of many wonders, but no matter if you’re hiking, driving or looking for a place to camp, is worth some of your time.
In light of the controversy that my original review on Crawford Notch State Park garnered, which has since been deleted by me (I chose to delete the original review because as correctly stated by some members, I too liberally paraphrased or copied text from the state website on the park), I thought that since this is a park I love and have enjoyed many times, that I still want to have a review of this park. So here you go, this is what Crawford Notch State Park is to me and to me alone.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: June-August
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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