A Haunted Road Trip Around Crawford Notch New Hampshire
A road trip adventure exploring some haunted and interesting sites around the White Mountains. Many of the sites were inspired by the book Haunted Hikes by Marianne O’Connor.
Devils Footprint
Our adventure began deep in the woods on Sandwich Notch Road searching for the Devils Footprints. The Devils Footprints are a series of holes eroded into the granite in the shape of shoes and spaced like steps. It is said that when the devil left the area, he left the area.
They are located about 2.2 miles from the start of the road. There is some parking right next to the footprints.
P. Wentworth 6mls 1838
Across the street from the Devils Footprints is one of Americas oldest billboards. The words “P. Wentworth 6mls 1838” are chiseled into one of the large rocks on the side of the road. According to the Sandwich Historical Society the sign would let passersby know that Paul Wentworth’s store was 6 miles ahead. It was very cool to still see this advertisement after 184 years.
Pulpit Rock
From here we made our way down the road to Pulpit Rock. A large rock that jets up from the ground near the side of the road. The rock is quite large and would certantly make a grate platform to preach from. We explored the area around it and climbed up to the top. History says that Joseph Meader, a Quaker minister would preach Sunday sermons to local residents from the top of this rock.
Town of Livermore, NH
We left Sandwich and headed north toward the old New Hampshire ghost town of Livermore. The town is located on alongside the Sawyer River Road in Hearts Location. There are several pull offs along the road. Fortunately, we had a map of the former town so we could locate and identify a number of buildings and artifacts.
Livermore is an old logging town that peaked in the early 1900’s. There are many foundations that still exist including a school foundation, store, sawmill and a number of artifacts.
There was a lot to look at and made sure to explore the sight thoroughly. One of my favorite spots was the cellar of the old General Store. Inside this celler was an old safe with the door removed and placed next to it. The safe still had some of the ornate design around the edges.
We searched for a while to locate an old cemetery in the town but were unsuccessful so we decided to move on to our next stop and then have some lunch.
Nancy Barton Grave and Marker
Our next stop looked like it was right off the road and would be a quick one. But we were wrong.
We made our way up to Notchland Road to search for the site where Nancy Barton was found frozen to death and buried. There is a well-marked trail at the end of the Notchland Road that leads you to this site. When we got out of the car we were greeted by Mia the local dog that lives at the Notchland Inn at the start of the road. Mia walked with us on the short hike to the Burial spot. The trail is well marked and we had found the site pretty quickly. The book mentions a plaque too so we started searching the grounds looking for it.
We spotted an old cemetery and thought the marker we were looking for would be there but it was not. However we did find the grave of Able Crawford, one pioneers of the White Mountains and that was pretty cool.
We continued to search but could not find the marker anywhere. We read the description in the Haunted Hikes book over and over again but were coming up with nothing until we noticed it mentioned the plaque was in the Inn.
So we ventured over and inquired with a worker who invited us in to the Inn. The plaque was located in the parlor of the inn leaning up against the fireplace. The Notchland Inn is a beautiful place, in a beautiful setting and I would love to stay the night here sometime.
Lunch At The Willy Family Landslide Site
We were both now very hungry and headed over to the Willy Landslide site for lunch. I was surprised to see how many people were out and about at this stop but we found a sunny picnic table and ate.
After lunch we explored a short trail before heading over to the site of the Willy Family Tragedy. A family that was killed when a landslide fell from the mountain behind their house. We saw the outcrop of rocks that would have saved them if they had just stayed inside their house. There is also a plaque at the front of the site that memorializes the tragic event.
The Hermit of Crawford Notch and His “Ship”
We moved up the notch to an area called the “Gateway” in search of English Jack also known as the Hermit of Crawford Notch. We were looking for his old shanty shack that he called the “ship”. Here he would entertain tourists and sell them postcards and walking sticks. The structure is no longer there but we were hoping to find a couple of old artifacts and maybe some sort of foot print of his cabin. We were unsuccessful on this attempt to locate the site of the “ship” or any sort of artifact that might have been left behind.
We bushwhacked high above the “Gateway” of the Notch and surrounding area but were not quite sure where he might have set up. I’ll have to do some more research on him and the location of this dwelling. If anyone knows where I could find this information out please let me know.
Saco Lake Pet Cemetery
Next stop was a quick one. We were looking for a pet cemetery near Saco Lake in Crawford Notch. The cemetery is located near the northern entrance of the Saco Lake Loop trail. We walked a short ways in and just after a stream crossing there is a small spur trail to the cemetery. If you reach the lake you’ve gone to far.
There are three pet graves visible. Munchen, Betty and Puck were all buried here. Not sure if they were dogs, cats or some sort of other pet though.
Crawford Path Sign
Next a quick stop to the start of Crawford Path. Americas oldest continually used hiking trail. Also the site of “100’s of Deaths” and undoubtedly one of the most haunted trails around. There are a number of different ghost stories associated with this path and the mountains it goes over.
The Hermit of Crawford Notch and His Grave. The grave stone for the Hermit of Crawford Notch also known as English Jack
The sun is getting low in the sky so we decided to make one more stop in Twin Mountain on our way home. Since we did not find the Hermit of Crawford Notch’s home we could find his final resting spot in the Straw Cemetery of Twin Mountain. His grave was easy to find and appropriately marked.
This was a really fun road trip and was pretty accessible for people of all ages and abilities.
