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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Magalloway Mountain, NH
Trails
Trails: Tower Road, Coot Trail, Bobcat Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, May 27, 2023
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: ***** Tower Road is closed at junction with Magalloway Road due to flooding at first low spot on road, requiring a 3 mile (one way) to reach trail heads. ***** Other than the flooded area (which can be walked through without getting feet wet on a dry day such as today) Tower Road and the walk isn't too difficult. However, there is a total of 500 feet elevation gain on the walk in and 250 on the return trip (half of this is in the last .2 mile), so it isn't easy either. The road is severely damaged and a lot of water encroaching on the road, so it will take some considerable work to repair. So, for the near future expect to add 6 miles to this hike. Since I live in western Maine, it is much shorter, both distance and driving time, to take Magalloway Road from the eastern end. Here are the key directions for others who might want to try an eastern approach. From the Bethel/Newry area, take ME26 northwest to state line, where it becomes NH26 and proceed 8.3 mi to Errol, NH and junction with NH16. In 8.8 mi you cross back into Maine and road becomes ME16. Continue 6.0 mi and turn left onto Parmachenee Road (gravel, road sign). [The first part of this road is rough with several ruts and pot holes and some recent road repairs. Once past these, the road is a typical back country gravel road; nothing major, but care needed to watch for the random protrusion or depression.] At 3.6 mi on P road, the road bends sharply right and in another 2.7 miles, take a left onto Magalloway Road. (Note P road crosses back and forth over the ME/NH border.) Take Magalloway Road 9.6 miles to the junction with Tower Road, which is now effectively the trail head. The first segment of this road is the roughest part due to current logging activity having rutted the road, some logging debris and today had 5-6 loads of logs stacked alongside the road. There are many junctions along Magalloway (east); just keep on the main roadway and head toward the mountain, which is in view for much of the drive on this segment. BTW, if you are coming from the Rangeley area, you need to get on ME16, heading west, turn right at Parmachenee and follow the remaining directions. I had to do this the old fashion way with paper maps as my GPS doesn't display some of these roads. It ID'd them as I was driving on them, but the roads didn't display on the map and the routing software wasn't able to use them. Plus I had no destination address I could find that was close to the Tower Road junction. Also, some of the other map services were missing pieces of the routes. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Only water crossing on Coot is bridged;likewise Bobcat (the footbridge right at the trailhead). All water crossings on Tower road run through culverts, except for the flooded area about .2 mi from Magalloway Road. Today deepest water walking through flooded area was about top of toe box (and maybe that could have been avoided with more careful foot placement.) 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Only noticed one blue blaze on the summit portion on the descent. Didn't notice any others on any trail, but footpath was generally easy to follow (with a few exceptions in the comment section). No trees blocking trail on Coot. All but one on Bobcat had been sawed or moved to the trail. One large pine was lying lengthwise on the trail about at the midpoint of the trail. A bypass path exists (right on ascent, left on descent). This would take a lot of effort by maintainer to cut up and remove. There are a couple of sets of bog planks in the wet areas in the lower .1 or .2, but they are so deteriorated, they are all but useless. The mud was easy to walk through today. I suppose in super muddy conditions, the planks might be of some use, but if needed, these should be replaced. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: While parts of the trails are wet I didn't notice any flowing water except right at the Bobcat trailhead and at the first (and only) crossing on Coot in the first .1 or so. There are numerous culverts along the roadwalk with flowing water both under the road and alongside a few spots. The road is in the open the entire way so will be very toasty on sunny days. Both trails are steep, but nothing technical, so any trail dog can handle them.  
Bugs
Bugs: They were swarming in the wetter areas and at the summit, but didn't seem too hungry. They didn't bother while moving, but swarmed if you pause for any reason. There was a very light breeze that didn't help on the sheltered trails and summit, but was enough to make the road walk bearable, bug-wise that is. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Found numerous red plastic bits of broken taillights/reflectors and other broken plastic parts from various machines, especially on the Coot trail, but also on the road walk. Didn't see any on Bobcat.  
 
Comments
Comments: So I was disappointed to find Tower Road closed as I expected this to be a quick hike and then was going back to the Rangeley area to get a hundred highest peak on the way home. The travel along the gravel roads took more time than I planned so between that and the extra time on the road walks, by the time I got to the second trailhead, there wasn't enough time to chance a bushwhack hike.

As noted above, the road walk wasn't bad as road walks go, just not in the frame of mind for that today.

Ascended via Coot. Lower part was muddy, but not terrible. Entire trail (up to upper junction with Bobcat) is very steep with few flat spots to take breathers. Footing would be treacherous on descent, especially with the mud. After the junction, there is one last steep pitch and then the trail becomes more gradual for the final .1 or so. All trail reports pretty much say the same, but seeing as this is probably my only visit, I had to see for myself. If I were to do again, I would use Bobcat both ways.

Bobcat has better footing, but still has several very steep segments. However, there are some flatter segments to break these up. There are two junctions in the first .1 or so from the top. At the first, the path to the left goes uphill and the path to the right goes down. Since I was descending, I would be inclined to take the down route. However this branch connects with Coot, so the correct path is to go back up and then continue descending. (I had noticed the side trail on the Coot ascent, so I was forewarned.) At the second junction, both paths go down, but the right branch again connects with Coot, which you can see through the open trees. Of course if you ascended Bobcat, you would know which is the correct path, but I share this with others who might want to try the loop. Other than the blowdown mentioned in the maintenance section and some much in the lower .1-.2, there is nothing unusual to mention.

This was a cloudless, sunny day and temp was 52 degrees when I arrived, so I decided to do the roadwalk to take advantage. Plus I didn't want to drive another 200 plus miles (round trip) and drive over the gravel roads again. Temp warmed up quickly and it was 76 degrees when I got back to the car, so the roadwalk out was less than pleasant.

 
Name
Name: SpartyHikerfromMaine 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2023-05-27 
Link
Link: https:// 
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