Spoiler Alert: what follows has nothing to do with the late Princess or her bath. (Thanks to blogger Sandra for the chuckle about the post title.)
Our May anniversary road trip to North Conway, NH, included a short hike to Diana's Baths a small series of waterfalls near the town of Bartlett, NH, in the White Mountain National Forest. The cascading falls measure about 75 feet high. The main attraction is a 12-foot waterfall which is fed by Lucy Brook and cascades over large granite boulders.
If you're wondering if the waterfalls were named after the Roman goddess of the hunt,. Yes, they were but the details are very scant. According to online sources, around 1859, a Miss Hubbard of Boston, who was a guest ay the old Mount Washington House in North Conway, christened them Diana's Baths, presumably after the mythological nature goddess.
In the 1960s, the name became official in the when the U.S. government purchased the land and made it part of the White Mountain National Forest.
Before time, and still today, the pools were known as Lucy's Baths. The stream that flows into the waterfall is named Lucy Brook after the family that operated a sawmill here in the 1800s. In the 1860’s, the five-acre site was purchased by George G. Lucy, who after building a house and barn on the banks of the brook, built a water wheel powered sawmill in the middle of the cascading waterfalls. In the 1890s, Lucy who recognized the tourist appeal of the falls, built a three-story, 12-room boarding house for visitors. But, the business proved unsuccessful due to competition from five other hotels in the area.
In the 1930’s, Chester Lucy, built a concrete dam with a water feed and turbine system to replace the water wheel used to power the sawmill. However, the site was abandoned when the invention of portable mills was introduced.
Hattie Lucy operated a gift shop beside the falls through the 1940s with an ice house behind it to cool soda that was sold to tourists. Lucy and her son, David, lived in the home through the late 1950s when the house was sold. The new owner, who also purchased the remaining land, wanted to install electric power at the property and live there. Forest officials objected as the power would need to come over national forest land. So, the land was sold to the government and became part of the White Mountain National Forest. In the 1960s, due to vandalism and deterioration any buildings still remaining on the site were torn down and removed. Today, remnants buildings that once stood on of the site are still visible including old cellar holes and parts of the dam system, feed tube and turbine gears that were used to power the sawmill. The waterfalls are popular with visitors, especially children, who like to explore the many rocks, ledges, cascading falls and pools in the brook. There's several levels with numerous small waterfalls and pools. The park service allows swimming here, another reason its large appeal during warmer months.
The hike to Diana’s Baths is a fairly easy, about 6/10ths of a mile on a relatively flat, wide gravel path. It's well-kept and cuts through a forest of tall pine trees. The day of our visit in mid-May was warm and sunny and the site was fairly uncrowded with other visitors. There's a large parking lot at the entrance to the hiking path along with a self-service pay station. Visitors must purchase and display a daily pass on their vehicle's dashboard. However, if you already have one of the various national park passes, as we do, that can be displayed instead.
If you are ever in this part of the White Forest area in NH, a visit to Diana's Baths is highly recommended. We can't believe it took us so long to make our first visit.
