Terrifying 25: Goodrich Rock Trail

Saturday, June 13, 2026 - Today's hike started out as a Trinity North Shore (our church) Men's Hike - unfortunately, there were no takers, so I did it myself. Today's "Terrifying 25" is (relatively) close-by (Waterville Valley), and short (4-miles-round-trip), going up Goodrich Rock Trail, which is on "The List" because of a big ladder that goes to the top of the glacial erratic.

On the map:
Yellow = "Required", have not climbed
Blue = "Optional", have not climbed
Green = "Have Climbed"

Of 33 total trails, I have climbed 19 of them, with 14 to go:

I'll be going up "Livermore Trail" for 0.3 miles, then up "Greeley Ponds Trail" for 0.9 miles, then up "Goodrich Rock Trail" to Goodrich Rock:

I started the day watching a boy and his dad on Singing Beach:

An easy drive up to The Trailhead:

I was up at The Trailhead at 11 AM:

Nice morning walk up The Trail. After 0.3 miles I came to an open field, with a trail going off to the left, before a stream. There was no "official sign", but I figured it would be ok.

I have to remember that if I am hiking in "civilized Hew Hampshire", there is (almost) always "Good Signage". If I don't see it, I'm on the WRONG TRAIL. Oh well, lessons learned. Pretty view going up the trail - maybe that is one of the "Greeley Lakes":

Pretty nice trail:

And then I came out onto "Moose Run", which I didn't recognize (and it wasn't on MY MAP):

The Trail ran North, so I walked on it for another 5 minutes. Yup, I had taken the wrong trail, but I had a wifi signal, so I opened Google Maps in satellite mode:

It was good to see I was just south of Goodrich Rock. I figured I could follow a trail a little bit east, then bushwack just a little bit to get to the "real trail":

I went east for about 5 minutes, and hit a Big Dropoff. I was up on a ridge (running north/south), so I turned north. 20 minutes later I intersected "Goodrich Rock Trail":

There are various VERY COOL Glacial Errata on The Trail:

At one point you have to walk through this V. When you hit the end, you turn left to follow The Trail:

15 minutes later, I was at The Ladder:

You climb up it, and get a nice view of the Waterville Valley ski slopes, with Mount Tecumseh in the background. At 4003 feet, that was my 1st 4000-footer, hiked back on June 22, 2014 (read that blog here):

It took 1-and-1/2 hours to get up here - let's see what it is like on the way back down. The lower part of "Goodrich Rock Trail" is nice, and a very enjoyable trail:

And, as you can see, going down "Greeley Ponds Trail" (right next to Mad River) is wonderfully easy:

At 1:14, looking back up "Greeley Ponds Trail" (and the OFFICIAL Sign):

To give you an idea of "how far off" I was originally, I turned 90-degrees left and took this picture of the field, with the signpost and wrong-trail-I-took:

I finished at 1:18 PM, hiking 4.44 miles in 2 hours 19 minutes - a Lovely Hike:

I did a Market-Basket run, and home just after 4 PM. Thank You God for this GREAT "Terrifying 25" Adventure! Singing Beach in the morning, Goodrich Rock in the afternoon!

For my listening pleasure today:

Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball, 1995 album, last heard never:

Fleetwood Mac - Tango in The Night, 1987 album, last heard 10/05/2020:

Field Report - Summertime Songs, 2018 album, last heard 8/27/2021:

Fleetwood Mac - Behind the Mask, 1990 album, last heard 11/13/2017:

Genesis - Invisible Touch, 1986 album, last heard 10/24/2025. I listened to it twice because I had the windows rolled down, and I knew this music well enough to enjoy it:

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about visiting Art Museums and National Parks (and hiking in the Rockies)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/