Trapped under ice

A forgotten glacial lake (and railroad) in New Hampshire

One of the cool things about hiking in the mountains during the depths of winter is that it’s essentially an act of time travel. Tens of thousands of years ago, the White Mountains of New Hampshire were encased in a sheet of ice that was thousands of feet taller than Mount Washington. As the glacier moved south, it carved the ridges and valleys that are now home to some of New England’s most heavily-tread trails.

But the glacier also left behind lakes. They would form at the edges of the receding ice sheet and one of the most impressive of these lakes—formerly known as Glacial Lake Israel—once covered the breezy lowlands northwest of the White Mountains. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting Santa’s Village to ride the Yule Log Flume or experience David Lynch-ian terror aboard The Great Humbug Adventure, then you’ve visited the site of Glacial Lake Israel. The village of Jefferson is located within the former basin. But a trace of the glacial lake remains here. And you can hike to it.