Alpine Garden: Alpine Zone
Description: The Alpine Garden is a broad plateau, high above treeline on the eastern shoulder of Mt. Washington. This is a spectacular place to visit the rare plants and exemplary natural communities of the alpine zone. The site contains a wide diversity of low-growing alpine plants, and when the weather is good the views are truly extraordinary. The best time for viewing plants in bloom is early June. As with all areas above treeline, the vegetation here is fragile and extremely susceptible to trampling. Please stay on the marked trails and keep impact to a minimum.
The Alpine Garden contains a diverse mosaic of alpine natural community types, and is a good place to see all of the component communities of the alpine tundra system.
Directions: Accessible by a number of hiking trails up Mt. Washington, or take the Mt. Washington Auto Road to the 7-mile post, park, and take the Huntington Ravine Trail down to the Alpine Garden (about a quarter mile, but steep!). Visitors must pay very careful attention to and be prepared for the weather on Mt. Washington, where conditions change rapidly and some of the world's highest windspeeds have been recorded!
Landowner: White Mountain National Forest
Images (hold mouse over image for caption)
The Alpine Garden plateau (middle of image) as seen from
the summit of Mt. Washington (photo by Ben Kimball)