Did a relatively easy lollipop route a few weeks ago, partly to red line a few missing gaps of trail from the ADK's High Peaks Map, partly to scope out the location of designated tent sites for future reference. Wore snowshoes for most of the day- snow was still quite deep, especially above ~1800 ft (that line has probably changed since then, but suffice to say that there is still deep snow higher up in the High Peaks). Funny enough, only one other person had traversed the connector trails between the Washbowl/Nubble and the Roaring Brook Trail in the past month (or more)- and they'd done so earlier that same day.
Designated campsite situation for this corner of the Giant Mountain Wilderness is as follows:
The variety of official DEC maps for Giant Mountain Wilderness do not agree with each other. The interactive DECInfo map, the PDF map published for the Giant Wilderness on the DEC website, the maps that were included with the UMP, and the maps posted at the trailhead kiosks all show a different number of campsites.
There are 3 designated sites at the base of Roaring Brook Falls, marked with "Camp Here" discs. The trailhead map shows a 4th site here, which I was unable to locate.
There are 2 designated sites at the top of Roaring Brook Falls. Both exist and are marked, although one of them is a little tricky to locate. The first site is visible from the spur trail to the top of the falls, and is well-established and well used. From this site, a separate trail continues upstream along the brook a few hundred feet to the second site. This is a small and infrequently-used site. There's also no fire pit, and a sign posted stating that fires are not permitted at this site. (Presumably the DEC is concerned that the presence of a fire pit would take away from usable tenting space, which makes sense as this is a pretty small site.)
There are 2 designated tent sites just before the junction between the Roaring Brook Trail and the crossover trail to the Nubble/Washbowl. Both of these sites exist and are pretty easy to locate. It's pretty apparent that they get less use than the sites further down (probably due to the added elevation gain). In the event that both sites are occupied, the potential for legal camping in compliance with the 150 foot rule nearby seems good, given the open forest here.
There are 2 designated tent sites at the Washbowl- one right on the shoreline on the southeast side of the pond, and another across the trail set back in the woods a bit. Honestly, the site set back in the woods is by far the nicer of the 2- it has a lot more flat ground for easy tenting. The trailhead map shows a 3rd designated site on the north side of the pond, which I was unable to locate.
A few photos from the day are included below. It was nice to be able to explore this popular part of the High Peaks in relative solitude via a mid-week hike in winter.
Continued in next post...