The Mount Washington Cog Railway is considering plans to build a lodge and restaurant about a mile below the summit of Mount Washington on privately owned land to enhance the safety, comfort and experience of those coming to Mt. Washington. 

This project is designed to help alleviate some of the congestion that is occurring at the Summit of Mount Washington.  As part of the project, the Cog Railway intends to help the State Park upgrade its septic operations to help it cope with the current congestion.  A new lodge will have the benefit of affording hikers who get caught in inclement weather another source of refuge.  Unlike hikers, riders on the Cog Railway and the Auto Road spend relatively small amounts of time on the Mountain and they are not as likely to need rescue services.  Users of the Cog Railway and the Auto Road are accessing areas that are well maintained for the use of the general public.  In inclement weather Cog and Auto Road patrons have the option of retreating to their cars or the train and can quickly remove themselves from the mountain when the weather turns bad.  Hikers do not have this option.  Most of the rescues necessary on the mountain are for hikers, not the guests of the railway or the auto road.

The Skyline Lodge will be built with careful consideration of the environment.  This would be consistent with the Cog’s conversion to environmentally friendly bio-diesel locomotives. The Lodge would provide overnight accommodations to hikers who currently cannot access The Lake of The Clouds Hut due to high occupancy, as well as guests who are unable to hike to The Hut.

Many people are not familiar with the history of Mount Washington - Mount Washington has been the site of intense commercial and recreational use for almost two centuries.  It is currently home to a vast communications network, a state park, a weather observatory and in the past has had several lodging establishments on it.  It was also the site of a jet engine testing laboratory operated by the US Government.   Currently it also has a large tank farm for the storage of 100,000 gallons of kerosene to provide heat and backup power to the numerous operations at the summit.

 Notwithstanding this extensive commercial use, every year more and more hikers and visitors are making the journey to the summit.  This increase in visitation has led to a lack of facilities to service the guests visiting the summit and the infrastructure to handle water and sewer problems.  Over the past several years the Auto Road and the Cog Railway have contributed over $200,000 per year to the State and the Mount Washington Observatory to help maintain and enhance their facilities that benefits all visitors to the summit.

Tourism is the lifeblood of Northern New Hampshire.  Tourism takes many forms and facilities need to be available to all who seek to enjoy the mountains not just those with the ability to hike to the summits.    Facilities such as the one proposed by the Cog Railway will enhance the safety, the comfort and the experience of those coming to Mt. Washington.  Therefore the Cog should be allowed to build the facility it is contemplating.  The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is operating similar facilities for hikers already, and from a historical perspective The Cog is simply recreating the ambiance and uniqueness of what existed on the mountain at the turn of the century. 

Please sign this petition if you support this effort.

Related News Links:

The Concord Monitor​

The NH Union Leader​

The Cog Website