peakbagger
05-21-2018, 15:51
Hikers Paradise in Gorham has been for sale for years and i was quite surprised to see an "under contract" sign out front recently. Not sure how long the current owners have been serving hikers but its been 20 plus years. Initially they advertised heavily along the trail and I remember seeing an ad posted in a shelter in PA long ago. They also did shuttles and participated in "slackpack the whites" informal group of shuttles and hostels. In later years they cut back on shuttles and the facilities tended to get less care. Many older hikers usually elected to stay elsewhere but they did seem to fill up when the bubble came through town. They were somewhat famous for "selling" a hiker a bike to get around town to avoid liability if the hiker got injured but I am not sure if they still do it.
The overall facility hasn't had a lot of upgrades over the years. What has changed is the major influx of ATV traffic into town. It always has had great location, just down the road from the bus station at the Irving gas station and on the main road to Walmart plus just down the road from the Mahoosuc trailhead.
It will be interesting to see what a new owner will do to the place. I could hope for an upgrade but expect it could just as well be for a tear down and some new ATV business.
The overall facility hasn't had a lot of upgrades over the years. What has changed is the major influx of ATV traffic into town. It always has had great location, just down the road from the bus station at the Irving gas station and on the main road to Walmart plus just down the road from the Mahoosuc trailhead.
It will be interesting to see what a new owner will do to the place. I could hope for an upgrade but expect it could just as well be for a tear down and some new ATV business.