The Cohos Trail will soon be no more.

Billed as "the longest single foot trail venture in New Hampshire's history," the Cohos Trail Association will soon disband and most or all of its 162-mile trail system will be closed.

Morning view from the Panorama Lean-to, Cohos Trail NH.
Photo courtesy Cohos Trail Association.

The reason?

Money. Or the lack thereof.

Cohos Trail founder and chief advocate Kim Nilsen says the group doesn't have enough money to properly maintain this extensive wilderness trail.

How sad!

Never heard of the Cohos Trail, you say?

Maybe that's part of the problem.

This incredible hiking route is right next door to us Mainers and yet I'm betting that few know about it.

The Cohos Trail traverses the length of New Hampshire's Coos County (the trail takes its name form the original spelling). It begins at Crawford Notch and the Dry River Trail, peaks out atop Mount Eisenhower, and then runs north to the Canadian border at Pittsburg through some of the most remote and rugged backcountry in New England.

Wilderness shoreline, Second Connecticut Lake, Cohos Trail NH.
Photo courtesy Cohos Trail Association.

"The Cohos Trail is not a walk in the park. The Cohos Trail is not a trail for those in T-shirts and sneakers or dress shoes. It is an isolated, remote trail system that winds in some places for dozens and dozens of miles without ever encountering a town," so says the CTAs website.

Was the CT too much for the average Joe hiker? Taken in small day or weekend sections I find that hard to believe.

Inadequate marketing? Maybe, but the group has a terrific and very detailed website, plus maps and a guidebook to boot.

Poor money management? Who knows.

A lack of dedicated volunteers? Always a possibility. With all due respect, you know that the 80/20 rule or even the 90/10 all too often applies when it comes to true get-it-done volunteers.

Whatever the reason(s), the Cohos Trail is going away after only a decade in existence. And that can't make any of us in the hiking community happy.

I've only been on one part of the route--up to Mount Martha--and now wish I'd gotten to more. Ironically, in the interest of saving money on travel this year, I was seriously considering a thru-hike of the Cohos Trail this coming summer. And closed or not, maybe I still will!

The new Baldhead Lean-to, Cohos Trail NH.
Photo courtesy Cohos Trail Association.

So, my trail friends, I must ask: What can we do to save the Cohos Trail?

Money appears to be the immediate issue. But I haven't yet spoken to Nilsen to ascertain whether donations would even be accepted at this point. Perhaps, I'll try him and see what he says.

In the meantime, your ideas and comments on the Cohos Trail are welcome, whether or not you've hiked parts of it (or all of it) or not. Do you want to see the Cohos Trail remain open to the public? What to do?