On most days, the rugged alpine peaks of Franconia Ridge in the White Mountains are visible from the trailhead parking lot. But on a recent Tuesday, an eerie haze descended into the notch, blocking the view.

“That's the wildfire smoke from Canada,” says Alex DeLucia, director of trails for the Appalachian Mountain Club. “Really wild.”

Somewhere in the smoke is a walking path, traversed by Indigenous people for thousands of years and then first formally blazed in 1826. The Old Bridle Path to the north and Falling Waters Trail to the south, connect hikers to one of the most stunning ridge lines in the northeast. The trails cross the peaks of Mount Lafayette, Mount Lincoln and Little Haystack, linking a strenuous 8.9 mile loop that reaches 5,260 feet in elevation, well above treeline.

“The Franconia Loop Trail is rated, like, best loop hike in the country,” says DeLucia. “It's been featured in Backpacker magazine. I mean, it is phenomenal.”

The trail’s beauty, however, comes with a price.

A surge in use during the pandemic means that up to 1,000 hikers a day pass through this sensitive alpine zone on a summer weekend, putting the mountain’s ecology under severe pressure. Add in the effects of climate change, including heavier, more frequent rainfall, and you have a recipe for erosion, washouts and overall trail degradation.

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