Soils of the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Their Suitability for Recreational Development

Abstract

Soils are a major component of most geographical environments, and their characteristics should be considered in planning and managing those environments. The process of evaluating soil for recreational land use is illustrated for the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This paper describes the major soils as classified by the U.S. soil taxonomy system; this system is particularly useful in evaluating broad soil groups for specific land uses. For each soil group, restrictive features and ratings for selected recreational land uses are listed; the specific uses selected are low buildings without basements, septic-tank absorption fields, camping areas, picnic areas, and paths and trails.