Traversing the Great Gulf Trail

The Great Gulf on the northern side of Mount Washington is named well. Looking north from the top of its headwall located near the cog railroad tracks, you are confronted with great space and an abundance of impressive mountain features, including the Northern Presidentials. The tiny Spaulding Lake at the bottom of the Great Gulf headwall is seen by thousands who go up the Mount Washington Auto Road, and is a vision of the inaccessible.

Local Madison geologist Brian Fowler calls the Great Gulf a “cirque complex.” Unlike the singular ravines located elsewhere in the Presidentials, the Great Gulf not only contains its own steep headwall but also Jefferson Ravine and Madison Gulf.