Mount Lafayette via Greenleaf Trail is a 6 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Franconia, New Hampshire that features a river and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking, nature trips, and bird watching and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Dogs on leash
Hiking
Nature trips
Bird watching
River
Views
Wild flowers
Wildlife
Sun Jul 05 2020My first attempt to conquer a trail rated as “hard”. Very muddy near the greenleaf hut area but we were not well prepared for this (only one of us brought waterproof boots). It took us 4.5 hours to get to the Mt Lafayette and another 3.5 hours back to the tramway parking lot. Expected to finish in 7 hours but we are slightly out of shape after three months lockdown. The view at the top is spectacular!
Sat Jul 04 2020
Sat Jul 04 2020Sat Jul 04 2020completed this trail on 7/4 with a couple friends. We were planning to do the ridge trail going up falling waters and down bridle, but the lot was already full when we arrived at 8am. We honestly should've just chosen another mountain completely but I had my heart set on doing the ridge, so we drove a couple exits up on 93, to the overflow lot near cannon mountain. That overflow lot was already more than 40% full when we pulled in...again this should've been a red flag for me but we pressed on, albeit with a new course, out and back on greenleaf trail to mount lincoln. We started at 8:45 and it took us 3 hours to make it to the greenleaf hut which is 2.7 miles up. The amount of people on the trail added too much time to this hike because the trail is narrow throughout. We were constantly stopping to let people pass in either direction. And there were a ton on ill-prepared hikers, not to mention inconsiderate hikers. But I guess thats what you get on a clear 4th of july in the white mountains. After we re-filled our water and had a snack, we headed up the 1.1 miles to Mt. Lafayette. About a quarter of the way up the ascent, my friends bailed because the amount of people was frustrating them. I would've stopped too if I wasn't peak bagging, so I was determined to make it to at least Mt. Lafayette. Once you are out of the tree line, the trail is all scree and larger boulders, so it takes a lot of mindful steps. I reached the summit at 2pm (the views are bonkers!) and decided to not go further because of time constraints. We finished the whole hike at 6pm, with 8 hours total moving time (my recording got messed up because my phone was dying). I don't normally hike on the weekend, so I have learned my lesson in that regard. I will retry the ridge sometime this fall during the week instead. SIDENOTE: why are people bringing small dogs on these hikes?!?!
Mon Jun 29 2020The trail was tough but has nice views up near the top. It did, however, take a lot longer than expected since with the vertical ascent it was about 11 miles total to the top of Mount Lafayette and back. It’s a bit narrow at the start but widens up after entering the alpine terrain region. It was pretty heavily trafficked on the way up.
Thu Jun 25 2020Weather and trail conditions were great! Took a little longer than expected because of the 5-9 year olds we drug up there but the views were so worth it! Even saw 2 Bear on the trail within 20' of us!
Mon Jun 15 2020Sun Jun 14 2020It was a great hike, a lot of mud and ended up with wet shoes and socks. Oh well, I definitely would recommend this trail!
Sat Jun 13 2020Sat May 23 2020Pretty snowy and icy for around 1/2 the trail. Made it to the hut up top but didn’t go up to Franconia ridge.
Sat May 23 2020hiked may 23rd. lafayette lot was full by 10 so parked an exit north and did greenleaf to the peak. pretty icy still, but managed without spikes. great views.
Thu Apr 09 2020Great but very difficult trail. We attempted to make it all the way to the summit but only made it to 4,100 feet before we ultimately got tired and realized we weren’t prepared for the terrain at the top. Lots of overgrown trees that need to be cut this summer. Most of the trail was snow/ice covered, and we had our snow shoes but didn’t end up wearing them. The way down was more tedious but took half the time going down than going up. We were being very sure-footed and that seemed like enough but I do recommend bringing snow shoes and spikes in the spring time. Total time on the mountain was around 7 hours, would have been more if we summited.
Tue Dec 31 2019Hikes Dec 28, 2019. Planned to summit Lafayette via the Greenleaf trail. Snow covered and icy most parts, used micro spikes all the way up and down. First section held average pace until Eagle pass. Last mile before hut was relentlessly steep. Not enough snow yet to cover all the rocks, so lots of up, down and around. At the hut, the summit and ridge were in clouds, but the frost on the trees was beautiful. By the time we got to the hut, we decided to come back down. The sun came out and actually made some of the trail slushy! Made really good time coming out. Would like to try this trail again and keep a better pace going up.
Sat Sep 28 2019Coming down
