The Goodrich Rock Trail's place among the Terrifying 25 electives comes down to one piece of hardware: a 20-foot ladder of pole-pine logs lashed from scavenged forest material, ascending the face of Goodrich Rock, one of the largest glacial erratics in New England. The boulder is a remnant of the last ice age deposited in Waterville Valley, and the climb to its summit is the kind that tends to feel harder on the way down than on the way up.
At roughly 0.65 miles, the trail segment is short but eventful. The route passes through the Davis Boulders, a field of house-sized glacial debris that includes a formation shaped like the prow of a battleship, then squeezes through a V-shaped crevice where a single boulder has been cleaved apart; the narrow slot with its tight turns will unsettle anyone prone to claustrophobia. The ladder waits beyond, positioned on the upslope face of the rock. Getting up is manageable. What greets hikers at the top is a sheer, unrailed 50- to 60-foot drop on the downslope side, with fractured granite boulders below and views across to Sandwich Dome and the ski slopes of Mt. Tecumseh.
The full out-and-back via Livermore Road and the Greeley Ponds Trail covers about 3.9 miles with roughly 700 feet of gain. White Mountain National Forest parking fees apply at the Tripoli Road trailhead. The ladder is slick when wet or icy, and descending demands considerably more care than ascending; sturdy footwear is essential.
