White Mountain National Forest · New Hampshire, Maine

Gale River

3.8 mi of trail, end to end · about 1,800 ft of climbing · 1,604 ft–3,392 ft · native material surface · trail No. 31017 · trail class 3 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, bike

1,604 ft 3,392 ft · 3.7 mi high 3,392 ft

Trailhead Gale River Trailhead 1,597 ft Drive there

Gale River Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up

This 4 mile trail parallels Gale River before climbing steeply to access the Garfield Ridge trail approximately one half mile west of Galehead Hut. Gale River trail affords the most direct route to Galehead Hut.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

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About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.