In 1930, Gallant Fox, ridden by Earl Sande, won the Triple Crown; the planet Pluto was discovered; and a bit closer to home here in New Hampshire, AMC’s Greenleaf Hut in the Franconia Range welcomed hikers for its first season.

The AMC huts opened for the full-service season June 1, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of Greenleaf’s opening. Three-quarters of a century later, hikers still eagerly climb to the hut and nearby Mount Lafayette to take in some of the finest hiking and greatest views in the East.

In the age of the grand hotels, Col. Charles Greenleaf, for whom the hut is named, operated the posh Profile House in Franconia Notch. In his will, he left funds for the AMC to build a mountain shelter.

Construction on Greenleaf Hut, a simple building with a central dining area, kitchen, and two bunkrooms, started in 1929 and was completed in 1930.

“Now,” legendary AMC huts manager, Joe Dodge, told his biographer, William Putnam, “the Colonel has his hut right up at timberline on the crest of that ridge west of Mount Lafayette, where you can look across at the same mountains he would see from his hotel.”
Greenleaf offers a magnificent setting in the Franconia Range, and sits just over a mile from the summit of looming Mount Lafayette and the breathtaking Franconia Ridge Trail.
The AMC had begun leasing Lonesome Lake cabins in Franconia Notch from the state the previous year, but Greenleaf Hut marked the first newly constructed hut building west of the Presidential Range, and it marked the opening of the hut system’s western division, as Dodge referred to Greenleaf, Lonesome Lake, Zealand Falls, and Galehead huts, the construction of which he would plan and direct in the ensuing years.

Those huts joined Madison Spring Hut and Lakes of the Clouds Hut in the Presidential Range and Carter Notch Hut on the eastern end of what would become a chain of huts each located a day’s apart along a 56-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail in the White Mountains.

In 1965, Mizpah Spring Hut opened below Mount Pierce, bringing to eight the total of trailside AMC huts in the White Mountain National Forest and Franconia Notch State Park. Those eight huts continue to provide food, lodging, and educational opportunities for hikers today, AMC members and non-members alike.

Hut guests can count on a bunk with mattress, pillow and blankets; a multi-course dinner prepared and served by the hut crew; various opportunities to learn more about the mountain environment through naturalist-led walks and other programs; and a hearty breakfast the following morning, on which to fuel up for the day’s hike.

AMC built its first hut, in the saddle between Mounts Adams and Madison in the Northern Presidentials in 1888. Club members fashioned the new structure, and those that would follow, after the alpine huts of Europe.

With accommodations and meals provided, hut guests can travel with less weight in their packs, since they can leave tents and cook stoves behind. Meals are served family style, and dinnertime conversation fuels the camaraderie for which the huts are known, as hikers share stories and recall the day’s hike.

Hut guests can get involved in hands-on “citizen science” by participating in AMC’s new Mountain Watch program and helping to track environmental trends, and kids can earn their AMC Junior Naturalist patches by observing nature and completing activities in their Junior Naturalist activity books.

The huts are reached via hiking trails that begin at roadside. Hikers can also travel from hut to hut along backcountry trails.

Distances to the huts and the steepness of the trails vary. Families with younger children often opt for the gentler grades and moderate elevation gain of the trails that lead to Zealand Falls Hut and Lonesome Lake Hut.

Lakes of the Clouds Hut, on the shoulder of Mount Washington, and Madison Spring Hut, near Mounts Adams and Madison, are located above treeline and offer challenging hiking and superb views.

For those seeking a lower level of service, Carter Notch Hut operates on a self-service basis year ‘round.

The AMC operates seven huts under special use permit from the U.S. Forest Service. Lonesome Lake Hut, in Franconia Notch State Park, is operated in partnership with the State of New Hampshire Division of Parks and Lands.

Reservations are required for overnight accommodations in the huts.

In addition to the huts, the AMC operates Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and Joe Dodge Lodge at the base of Mount Washington in the White Mountain National Forest and the Highland Center at Crawford Notch, AMC’s newest destination for adventure, learning, and lodging in the White Mountains.

Like the huts, these are open to the public. This summer, the Highland Center is offering a wide variety of family friendly outdoor activities for guests.

In celebration of Greenleaf’s 75th anniversary, AMC is offering a reduced-rate family package for first-time hut guests. For more information on the huts, or to check on space availability, visit the Web at www.outdoors.org/lodging or call 466-2727.