TOUR 9: From. NORTH WOODSTOCK to JUNCTION WITH US 302, 17 m., State 112.
Via Kinsman Notch.
Accommodations on route, tourist homes and overnight cabins.
Paved roadbed; plowed in winter.
STATE 112, though a short route, is attractive, especially because of the Lost River region, of interest both to the geologist and the seeker after natural wonders.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, 0 m. (see Tour 3, sec. c), is at the junction with US 3 (see Tour 3, sec. c).
Almost immediately west of the village, the Moosilauke River, which has its source high on the mountain of the same name, and its narrow valley come into view and are followed to Kinsman Notch.
At 1.5 m. State 112 enters the White Mountain National Forest, and continues in it for the next 15 miles.
At 1.6 m. is (L) Agassiz Basin, a rock formation of pot-holes and a foretaste of Lost River. The basin takes its name from the naturalist, Louis Agassiz, who visited this region during his researches in 1847 and again in 1870. Here in a ledgy chasm in the Moosilauke River is a tumbled mass of boulders, huge potholes and deep black pools that seem the work of a Titan. Evidences of glacial action are everywhere abundant. Both sides of the stream are edged with overhanging granite ledges, beneath which the water swirls on its way. One point where two overhanging ledges approach over the stream is known as Indian Leap, which would be a hazardous feat whether performed by an Indian or a white man.
On the right, opposite the entrance to Agassiz Basin, a wayside water barrel bears a quaint sign.
West of the little Moosilauke River at 4.5 m. is a glimpse of rugged Kinsman Notch. Up the valley high peaks appear as an insurmountable barrier.
Kinsman Notch received its name from an early pioneer, Asa Kinsman, who hewed his way through the Notch with an axe rather than turn back when he found himself on the wrong road. He is said to have come from the south, with his wife and household goods piled on a two-wheeled cart pulled by a yoke of oxen, bound for Landaff to take up a land grant. When they arrived at Woodstock, then Peeling, they found they were on the wrong track and that Landaff was beyond the lofty mountain, nine miles farther northwest. Nothing daunted, Asa and his helpmate, with the aid of two strangers, proceeded to cut their way through the forest to reach the settlement where they made their home.
At 4.9 m. are (L) the Waternomee Brook Cascades, coming from the shoulder of Mt. Moosilauke (alt. 4810). Mt. Kinsman (alt. 4363), stands out (R) in rugged grandeur. Coming from the left Porcupine and Clough Mine Brooks also fall in beautiful cascades.
At Lost River Reservation (alt. 2300), 5.5 m., is a superb view eastward down the valley where sharp ledges rise abruptly on either side.
Lost River Reservation, containing some 900 acres surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest, is owned and controlled by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. Near the entrance is a Nature Garden (no fee), with all its trees, shrubs, ferns, and mosses carefully labeled. Indigenous mountain flowers are featured, including trailing arbutus, mountain laurel, pitcher plant, and native orchids. From the middle of June to the middle of July a nature camp for the training of teachers, Boy Scout workers, and others is maintained here.
Lost River is entered from the Administration building. (Adm. 25¢; sneakers, overalls, and frocks are available for those wishing to visit the underground caverns; guides in attendance.)
There is a tradition that some 50 years after Kinsman hewed his way through the Notch, two boys, Royal and Lyman Jackman, went fishing there. Suddenly, according to Royal, Lyman disappeared ‘as though the earth had opened and swallowed him.’ He had dropped down a dozen feet through a hole into a waist-high pool. Badly frightened but unhurt, he was fished out by Royal. Many years afterward, Royal came back to North Woodstock to visit, and with a group of boys found his way through the woods to the present Cave of Shadows. This, the old man declared, was where he and his brother found ‘the lost river.’ The name is more probably derived from the fact that the Moosilauke River has a way of losing itself here and there beneath huge rocks, riven by frost action from the side of the mountain to the north and tumbled down the river-bed.
Left from the administration hut is the path to the river. For nearly 0.5 mile the path winds down through a series of caves and basins shaped by the swift water into odd and fantastic forms. Various sections are known as the Giant Pothole, the Lemon Squeezer, the Hall of Ships, the Guillotine, the Triphammer, the Hall of Forgetfulness, the Cave of Lost Souls. After walking, climbing and squeezing through the various windings and caves, at the end of the trip the small but superb Paradise Falls are reached, where the stream comes out into the daylight. To aid the sightseer in penetrating the eery passages, rustic walks and steps are provided. Frequent signs give the names of the sections and, briefly, the geological history. One pothole has a width of 25 feet and a depth of 35. This has well been called ‘a geological wonderland.’
At Beaver Meadows, 5.7 m., are junctions with Beaver Brook Trail and Kinsman Ridge Trail.
Left on Beaver Brook Trail to Beaver Brook Cascades, 0.3 m., and Mt. Moosilauke, 3.7 m.
Right on Kinsman Ridge Trail to Mt. Kinsman, 10.1 m., and Profile (Cannon) Mountain, 14.5 m.
Both of these are parts of the Appalachian Trail.
Near the divide of the Pemigewasset and Ammonoosuc Valleys is Beaver Lake, 6 m., a beautiful tarn teeming with trout, with forest-girt shores. Towering behind it is Mt. Blue (alt. 4530).
The little Ammonoosuc, alongside which the highway runs, flows rapidly along the descent from the Notch. Kinsman Brook soon joins it (R), and at frequent intervals other streams add their waters giving an opportunity to see the brook grow into a river.
At 8.8 m., is Wildwood Forest Camp, maintained by the U.S. Forest Service, with picnicking facilities and excellent views of Mt. Moosilauke.
The road now follows the winding Wild Ammonoosuc, as the stream is called when it reaches here.
At 11.4 m. is a junction with a dirt road, Benton Street.
Left on this road 1 m. is the junction with the North and South Road, a fine National Forest drive (see Tour 10, sec. b).
Benton Street is only a string of houses along the highway, but the township of BENTON (alt. 1258, town pop. 255) has a superb background in twin-peaked Moosilauke Mountain (S).
Granted in 1764 the first settlement in Coventry, as it was known, was made 10 or 15 years later in the section known as High Street. Another settlement was made soon after on the meadows bordering on the Oliverian River. In 1840, the present name was taken in honor of U.S. Senator Thomas H. Benton of Missouri.
SWIFTWATER VILLAGE, 15.5 m., is a back-country settlement village that owes its existence to a now extinct logging industry. An old Covered Bridge and a church with a small pointed spire on a hill are features of the plain and quiet scene.
The highway follows the Wild Ammonoosuc until it emerges in the broad expanse of the Connecticut Valley.
At 17 m. is a junction with US 302, part of the Dartmouth College Highway (see Tour 8, sec. c), 4 miles northeast of Woodsville.