Appalachian Trail Information
Welcome, AT hikers!
Making it to or through the White Mountains is a huge accomplishment. Stop in at the Notch to recuperate, relax, and resupply. Hikers voted the Notch in the top seven hostels on the trail two years in a row on the Trek!
We serve AT hikers from both Kinsman Notch and Franconia Notch and are in an ideal location for slackpacking the 16 miles over Kinsman Ridge. We are located 1.0 miles west of North Woodstock on Rt. 112 (Lost River Road), the same road as the Beaver Brook/Kinsman Ridge trailhead.
Picture: Scott “Aquaman” Benerofe stayed with us during his 2022 winter AT thru-hike.
Directions to the Hostel:
From Franconia Notch/Liberty Springs/Flume Visitor’s Center/Rt. 3: We are about 7 miles from the trailhead. Head south on Rt. 3, go through downtown N. Woodstock. From the junction of Rt. 3 and 112 (set of lights in North Woodstock, by Merland’s Tap & Table and the Imperial Palace Chinese restaurant) turn right onto Rt. 112 west. We are 0.9 mi. down 112 W on the right.
From Kinsman Notch/Beaver Brook trailhead: We are on the same road—Rt. 112—about 5 miles east of Kinsman Notch. The hostel is a large white farmhouse with multi-colored prayer flags on the porch.
Included with Your Stay
- Bed, fresh linens, towel.
- Showers (shampoo, conditioner, and soap provided)
- Bikes for riding into town (1-2 miles flat bike ride)
- Group laundry service is included — this means we wash your laundry along with other AT hiker guests’ laundry (private wash and dry: $8, for guests on foot/two wheels only)
- Coffee, tea, make-your-own pancakes
Mail Drops
Send mail drops to: c/o The Notch Hostel, 324 Lost River Rd., North Woodstock, NH 03262. Non-guests can send and pick up their mail here at no charge. If you are not staying at the hostel, pick up packages from 4-9pm (when staff is guaranteed to be on the property to help you).
Shuttle Info
From June 15 to September 15, we offer free shuttles on a schedule to guests hiking the AT! Text us same day for a pick up; if we don’t get any texts we don’t go.
7am depart hostel for Kinsman Notch, 7:20am Flume Visitor’s Center/Liberty Springs
11am depart hostel for Kinsman Notch, 11:20am Flume Visitor’s Center/Liberty Springs
4:30 depart Kinsman Notch for hostel, 4:50pm Flume Visitor’s Center/Liberty Springs
7pm depart Kinsman Notch for hostel, 7:20pm Flume Visitor’s Center/Liberty Springs
Town shuttle departs at 5:30 pm to Pricechopper; pick up from PriceChopper at 6:30 pm
Local Taxi Services
- Ali’s Rides: (603) 348-3914 (recommended!)
- The Shuttle Connection: (603) 745-3140; $8 one person to town, $5 each additional, $10 per person to/from Liberty Springs or Beaver Brook.
- Rafiki: (603) 715 0539 (Mostly available Mondays – Thursdays)
- The AMC Hiker Shuttle (We are the Lincoln BP/7-11/Concord Coach stop)
Slackpacking
We are in an ideal location for slackpacking over Kinsman Ridge (Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch and vice versa) and have a large selection of slackpacks at the hostel for guest use.
16-mile slackpack from Beaver Brook Trailhead at Kinsman Notch (Rt. 112) to Flume Visitor’s Center (just south of LIberty Springs Trailhead) at Franconia Notch.
See above for shuttle information.
Supplies and Food Sold On Site
Frozen pizza, ice cream, soda and Gatorade sold on site.
Town Food/Services/Resupply Info
Post offices are located in both North Woodstock and Lincoln.
Lahout’s Summits Shop in Lincoln is our local outfitter.
Pricechopper is the large grocery store in town; Wayne’s Market is a smaller resupply option closer to the hostel.
The only place that delivers direct in town is Imperial Palace (Chinese/Japanese).
Enzo’s is the best pizza place in town.
Closest food to us: Streatz (breakfast only in summer) and the ice cream shop, both at Maple Haven Campground.