Hiking: Mount Washington's yellow brick road

By Ed Parsons

The Tuckerman Ravine Trail is the first trail described in the AMC White Mountain Guide. For many people in the northeast, whether hikers, climbers or skiers, it is the trail that gets you there on the east side of Mount Washington. Its 2.4 mile lower section is an improved tractor road, allowing for two way foot traffic in the busy seasons, and room for a rescue vehicle in the winter. Whether appropriate or not — the late Joe Dodge was none too pleased when the forest service began moving boulders aside on the original trail to create a wider passage — it has become the yellow brick road up to the great eastern cirques of Tuckerman and Huntington Ravines, and the access route for trails to the summit.