Hike from Waterville Valley to top of ski lift

A short loop hike done August 2023. Dividing this hike into two halves, north of the ski lift and south. Also I'm calling this a moderate hike; it is steep so not good for the nonfit or inexperienced (it is about 14% average on both halves). It is well marked though with signs and blazes. The north part is a good trail but heading down on the south part the trail is narrower and in turns rocky then rooty and then under the ski lift some loose gravel. I recommend doing this in the reverse direction that we did. Go up on the south side of the lift; it will be safer going up the steep rocky part than down it especially if it is wet or leaf covered. The disadvantage is your back is to the view when walking the cleared area under the lift.

The Wikiloc downloaded base map for NH doesn't show as many trails as the OSMand one does. I navigated using both apps. The trails we used from the parking lot going to the north to the top were Cascade Path and then Elephant Rock. Going down was Greeley Ledges and then a right turn on Snows Mountain Trail. (Not to be confused with Upper Snows Mountain Trail and Lower Snows Mountain Trail).

There is a free to play disk golf course starting with hole one at the top of the lift and going downhill with hole eighteen being near the lift station at the base. You can rent a set of disks there for $13 if you don't have your own. The lift costs $15 per passenger and is good for a round trip; dirt bikes can go up free.

An alternative to hiking our route is to pay to ride up the lift and then hike or bike down the dirt roads Upper Snows Mountain Trail to Livermore Road to Greeley Path to the paved West Branch Road to get to the parking lot. If you do hike this divert off the road to the left when you get to Cascade Path and follow it downstream a ways to view a series of lovely cascades.