Driving directions question - Ragged Mt

[Bumpsis]

What's the best way to Ragged Mt coming up from Boston?

I've always been taking exit 23 off I-93 to 104 through Bristol to Ragged Mt. Road. This usually gets me there in about 2.5h from my home.

The route using exit 17 off I-93 to rt 4 and New Canada Rd saves some miles and looks more direct but in past I thought that road conditions (rough roads??) were iffy and thus the time of travel was about the same as the 1st route. Is it still so?

 

[deadheadskier]

New Canada is 10-15 minutes faster. It's a bumpy dirt road, but not terrible. Even during mud season I've never had issues driving a sedan on it. There is occasionally local PD on that road around the middle where there's a few houses. I'm guessing at the request of the people who live there.

 

[Whitey]

I think I do it different than most. I go 89 to exit 10 and take Kearsarge Valley Rd up. Usually pretty quiet and I've always made pretty good time going from north of Boston to Ragged. We day trip there pretty often.

 

[Rushski]

I always take exit 17 off 93. Sometimes cut through New Canada Rd., sometimes not. From what I've seen it's not always a great option as it can be much less than a clear road...

Either way it usually takes me 1:20-1:30 (from Nashua).

Would be nice if they had more open right now as really enjoy the place.

 

[hammer]

We usually continue up 4 to Danbury town center. Guessing it adds a few minutes. The rest of 4 from I-93 is fine, a few slower sections. We have also gone up to exit 23 as well but that does add a bit more time.

Ragged is great when they have more trails open (especially the glades). Replacing the Spear triple with an HSQ was a real game changer IMO.

 

[dlague]

Route 4 can be tough if you get behind a slow vehicle. Local PD on that route as well. New Canada Rd gets shut down sometimes and gets limited to local traffic only. I think mostly in the spring. We take both routes based on how we feel. Think route 4 is a tad faster. Someone mentioned going up 89 - that is an interesting route coming from Boston.


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[joshua segal]

Exit 17 thru Boscawan to New Canada Rd.

Cautions: There are regular speed traps in Boscawan and occasional ones in Andover.

I disagree with the earlier poster about driving New Canada Road in mud season. The ruts can be in excess of a foot deep and if you do not have high ground clearance and/or 4-wheel drive, you'll probably need a tow.

 

[deadheadskier]

Well I guess they didn't have bad mud seasons in 2009&2010. I drove a Hyundai Sonata on that road every weekend without issue. Never once saw a car stranded

 

[dlague]

Well I guess they didn't have bad mud seasons in 2009&2010. I drove a Hyundai Sonata on that road every weekend without issue. Never once saw a car stranded

I lived in Andover, NH (backside of Ragged) for 3 years (2002-2005) and our home mountain was Ragged. New Canada Road was our path every weekend as well and there were times when we had to drive through Danbury over to Ragged Mountain Highway. It was generally in the Spring. The locals there are always complaining about traffic. I have also seen that road closed to locals only around Holiday periods and during heavy storms.

 

[Abubob]

What's the best way to Ragged Mt coming up from Boston?

I've always been taking exit 23 off I-93 to 104 through Bristol to Ragged Mt. Road. This usually gets me there in about 2.5h from my home.

The route using exit 17 off I-93 to rt 4 and New Canada Rd saves some miles and looks more direct but in past I thought that road conditions (rough roads??) were iffy and thus the time of travel was about the same as the 1st route. Is it still so?

Google maps shows the New Canada road route to be about 16 minutes quicker. But if you don't care for that way since New Canada Rd is still not paved then stick to the 104 route. There are more amenities on that route if that matters.

 

[Whitey]

No love for the 89 to exit 10 route, eh? Mapquest says its 14 min slower than going 93 to exit 17, but I'd be willing to challenge that. You spend more time on a highway and the roads up to Ragged going that way are pretty quiet & well maintained. No speed traps either since it's not really the "main route" to the mountain.

 

[Abubob]

No love for the 89 to exit 10 route, eh? Mapquest says its 14 min slower than going 93 to exit 17, but I'd be willing to challenge that. You spend more time on a highway and the roads up to Ragged going that way are pretty quiet & well maintained. No speed traps either since it's not really the "main route" to the mountain.

Google maps shows it to be a wash - Almost the same time. Still have to take the infamous New Canada Rd which the OP seemed adverse to.

 

[hammer]

Had one time when my GPS recommended the New Canada Rd "shortcut"...started going up the road and it was rutted and snow covered. Wasn't worth it for me, my car may have AWD but it doesn't have the clearance to deal with the ruts.

 

[Whitey]

Google maps shows it to be a wash - Almost the same time. Still have to take the infamous New Canada Rd which the OP seemed adverse to.

New Canada isn't that bad in terms of condition. My only issue with it is that it's basically a 1 lane road. So you have to kind of pray that the guy coming from the other direction ain't going too fast (and you aren't either). But I've been taking it for several years now and haven't found the condition of the road to be a problem. Width? That's another story.

 

[Bumpsis]

Thank you all for the input. Very useful. In the meantime, I checked in some detail that the trail count at Ragged is rather low. So I have to find a new target for this Saturday. Looks like Sunapee and Gunstock have covered their terrain quite well, but they tend to get really crowded on a Saturday.
Cannon, my favorite is looking quite thin.
Perhaps I'll hold off a bit longer. So far 0 days on skis.

 

[deadheadskier]

Crotched is at 100% open. Edd said conditions there were quite good today.

 

[joshua segal]

Crotched is at 100% open. Edd said conditions there were quite good today.

I can confirm that - and if you have a pair of rock skis with you, I can even show you a few glades that are skiing quite nicely. (I can be found at Ski School).

 

[yeggous]

Crotched is at 100% open. Edd said conditions there were quite good today.

I believe it. Conditions were quite good on Sunday too. Was a little thin on some of the choke points up top, but they've had time to reinforce that.

 

[SIKSKIER]

.
Cannon, my favorite is looking quite thin.
.

I think Cannon is finally getting enough open now.4 of the six trails at the top will be open.All the front 5 are open and the middle will have another route (middle and lower Ravine) after today.Should be close to 75% open on the non glade trails.

 

[Newpylong]

From the south Exit 10 off 89 is pretty much a wash speed wise with Exit 17 off 93 and also Exit 11 off 89. I-93 Exit 17 is the least mileage but has the most lights.

New Canada Rd is a total crapshoot. I have pulled many MA plated SUVs out of the mud with my 3/4 ton on that road. Avoid in the spring and use caution otherwise.

Regarding their trail counts - Ragged tends to bury their runs before expanding. Also, outside of the past week we have had the same cold temps as elsewhere but the humidity has been very high. 20 degree days were marginal snowmaking... Dartmouth Skiway, Queechee, Storr's, Whaleback all have struggled making snow.