The forecast called for fog and storms this afternoon. I have a fear of lightning, so below tree line was the only option. Our friend Tim, owner of the cottage we stay at, loves this hike. Three years ago when he invited us up he insisted this was a must do hike. Well, isn’t everything in the White Mountains, at some point, a must do hike?
It was just a short drive to Franconia for us and the trail head was easy to find, on Coppermine Road. Plenty of parking, as we witnessed at the end of the hike (more about that later). We started the hike on Coppermine Road, a packed dirt road.
At the .4 mile mark hang a left onto the trail.
It is a pleasant and easy stroll along the trail, walking at times close to the Coppermine Brook.
We never spotted the famous Bette Davis marker, thanking the man (her future husband) who discovered her lost in the woods. Well truthfully, I forgot to look for it because I was so busy focusing on the smells, sounds and beauty of the forest.
Right before we came upon the shelter, a sign notified us we are in a Forest Protection Area.
At 2.3 miles, a bridge appears, crossing over the brook.
From here we passed the shelter, where an outdoor recreational group of teens were staying. There were packing up from their overnight. Right past the shelter are the falls. First you have to do a short rock hop to get to the falls.
Once at the falls, we lucked out and had them all to ourselves, the kids staying at the shelter didn’t arrive after packing up. I quickly took off my shoes and waded in the cold mountain water. Yes, I did let out a little yelp, it was cold, but oh so refreshing. Mike did a little venturing, but the rocks up to the next set of falls were slippery and the path way was blocked by blowdowns, so he descended.
We sat around for about 35 minutes. I caught a quick snooze on the perfect rock.
Time to head back. On our way back we noticed that the group at the shelter had left, however they didn’t finish putting out their fire. Mike took care of that.
The air was so warm and the water so cold, that fog was hovering over the water. This picture isn’t blurry or doesn’t have water on the lens, it is our attempt to capture that fog that just sat over the water.
When we hit the road walk, I said to Mike, a group is coming up. The group was 129 people from a Catholic Kids Summer Camp. I am thinking 129 people at once is to many for any trail. When we got to our car, another bus pulled in carrying at least 30 more kids from a different group. So happy we had the falls to ourselves. I just can’t image all those people up there.
As for the weather, no storms rolled in all day by us, maybe we could have been above tree line, but I’m not a big gambler and glad we played it safe. We had a great hike in beautiful scenery.
The Details: 5 miles out and back, 1100 elevation gain. Total time was 2 hours 38 minutes, that includes our time of hanging at the falls. Great family hike.
CTHikergal Travels 
Beautiful! I love the Bridal Viel!
Thanks Jackie for the comment. It was a beautiful fall, glad we had it to ourselves.
Reblogged this on New Hampshire Mountain Musings and commented:
It is a great hike! I think I’ve got good directions to the plaque on my blog. You DO have to go off trail slightly; not something u will just happen upon. Re the large groups you saw…NOT cool! We had the same experience last year on Lonesome Lake trail. Two busloads!
Thank you for reblogging my story. I will check out your blog. Yes there were to many people on the trail. Great to take kids out, but they need to teach respect the trail etiquette.