The Great Gully Trail rises from the floor of King Ravine to Thunderstorm Junction on the upper Adams ridge, gaining 1,700 feet in roughly a mile. That relentless grade, combined with sustained scrambling over wet rock, earns it a place on the Terrifying 25. The White Mountain Guide describes it as wild and beautiful, which is accurate but omits the detail that the trail and the waterfall are the same thing for long stretches; expect wet feet even in dry summer weather.
The route climbs through three distinct zones. The lower section threads through mossy boulders and hemlock forest at the ravine floor, where the gully narrows and the walls close in. Mid-route, the scrambling intensifies and views open across King Ravine toward the headwall. Near the top, a low-hanging rock forces most hikers to remove their packs and crawl through before the trail emerges at Thunderstorm Junction, just 200 vertical feet below the Mt. Adams summit.
Snow and ice linger well into June and return by mid-October, making the effective season short. Descending this trail is strongly discouraged; the wet slab and vertical exposure that are merely demanding on the ascent become genuinely hazardous in reverse. Most parties combine it with the Chemin des Dames as a descent route, forming a rewarding loop through King Ravine.
