Bridal Veil Falls via Coppermine Trail | 4/18/22

One of my favorite aspects of hiking has always been choosing the perfect hike for whoever my partner is for that day. Lately, however, I’ve been falling short of accepting that it is in fact mud season, the monorail is aplenty, and trails that would normally be easy might not be good for most people right now. So when Ryan and I wound up with a sunny day to fill, I looked at my marked-up White Mountain National Forest and the Coppermine Trail caught my eye. Realistically, I never would’ve gazed at this trail before I’d decided to trace the Whites. But now, any trail is a step forward and the low elevation and Northwest facing direction of the trail was enticing for the potential of a dry trail.

On our way over from central Vermont, Ryan and I caught glimpses of the crystal-clear Presidential and Franconia ridges and started to second guess doing something entirely peak-less. Quickly, however, we remembered what happened the last time we tried to overcome the remnants of winter conditions and decided to stick to our plan. Getting off at exit 38 and veering away from my favorite pancake parlor and towards the Coppermine, we were getting more excited by the inviting blue skies.

The trail started off much like a road walk, before turning into a wide, steady-gaining path that we will certainly be coming back to ski at some point. The trail was largely comparable to the first 3 miles of the Garfield Ridge Trail in its steady and river-tracing manner. There were several prime spots for tents along the way, all along the Coppermine Brook, which also inspired future planning ideas. After just 2.3 miles, we arrived at the Coppermine shelter which was a small, open structure that I envision comfortably fitting 4-6 people. There was also firewood already cut and underneath the shelter for use at the nearby fire pit.

Just 0.2 miles up the trail and visible from the shelter, we reached our trail objective: the magnificent Bridal Veil Falls. The base of the waterfall had a small emerald pool, which someone may or may not have swum in, and an incredible multi-tier lead-up. More importantly, it was so refreshing to see something just as beautiful as Arethusa Falls combined with the absence of crowds and surrounding noise.

Though peak-less and a dead-end of sorts, the. The Coppermine trail should not be overlooked. I envision this would be an incredible hike in any season, but I can confirm it was the ideal "feels like summer even though its still April" hike.