In the past, Keene Supervisor Joe Pete Wilson has referred to the hiker parking along Route 73 as a “55-mile-per-hour parking lot.”
That certainly seemed to be case on Saturday, September 12, as people looked for parking along the highway and at the lot at the Roaring Brook trailhead for Giant Mountain outside of Keene Valley. In less than an hour, I witnessed several near accidents as vehicles came to a halt after coming down the hill at 55 miles per hour or more from the direction of Chapel Hill.
Drivers seemed to be confused about where to park, and the number of people interested in parking outnumbered the number of legal parking spots.
Meanwhile there were about 20 vehicles parked illegally alongside 73 next to the Giant Mountain parking lot across from Ausable Road. All of the vehicles were perpendicular to the road, meaning most would have to back onto the highway when they left.
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There was also a fairly regular stream of hikers walking along the highway in places where the shoulder was tight, forcing passing vehicles to cross the middle yellow line as they went by.
The above images were ones I took from along that stretch of Route 73 and of hikers entering the nearby trailhead for the Adirondack Mountain Reserve trailhead during the time period described.
The photos don’t mention where the cars are “parked illegally” perpendicular to the road, but it does looked like designated parking spots, off the roadway. It looks to me like hikers being considerate in trying to conserve space, rather than parking parallel, although it is dangerous and illegal to back onto the road when leaving. Any hiker walking along the shoulder (which is not illegal) only has a few feet of shoulder in a lot of places. It might be a good idea to walk on the other side of the guardrail, although in some places it is hard to do. This story doesn’t have much info, I’m trying to discern what the point of this story is — is he trying to point out that there is severely limited parking for demand (truth) or is it just more of the same in blaming hikers for trying to access the land?
What’s the purpose of this story? To point out that there is no place to park or more of the same illogical hiker blaming?
The Town of Keene has repeatedly urged the DOT to reduce speed limits from “Malfunction Junction” all the way to Alstead Hill in Keene, only to have those pleas fall on deaf ears. The MAXIMUM spead limit should be 45mph, with in-town speeds reduced to 25mph. It’s safer for drivers, hikers, and bicyclists. Also, do away with any and all passing lanes, too. There’s literally no point to having them within town limits.
As a avid hiker myself , I am very concerned about the over crowding of parking lots and various trails. I am concerned that the permit may not be the answer , for fear people will be parking along the roads or in area’s not safe or able to park a vehicle.
I am happy to see hikers , but they need to respect the Adirondack’s.
Well there are 30+ available legal spaces right across the street that the Ausable Club closed off from people using. Maybe if those were made available again it would help a little bit? State still needs to add a lot more parking spaces though.
Get rid of the shoulders and people wont park there anymore.