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Storied Stones of the South Side

September 10, 2021

DOWNLOAD FULL PDF-Mink Brook South Side Storied Stones

Driving directions:

  • From downtown Hanover, drive south on Main Street (Route 10) 0.5 miles
  • Cross the bridge over Mink Brook
  • Turn R into Pine Grove Cemetery and park.
  • Walk across Route 10 to begin your hike.

What you should know:

  • Dogs are welcome but must be under close control (better yet, leashed); please pick up after your pet.
  • Foot travel only. Bicycles are not permitted in the Mink Brook Nature Preserve.
  • Trail maps are posted at trail junctions and are available at the trailhead kiosk near the Brook Road gate.
  • The Preserve is home to bears who may emerge from hibernation as early as March (another reason to leash your dog). If you encounter a bear, do not run but speak softly to it and move away slowly. Mother bears are as protective of their young as we are.
  • After crossing a small town-owned space next to Route 10, you will visit the 112-acre Mink Brook Nature Preserve, owned and managed by the Hanover Conservancy since 1999.

BRIEF HIKING DIRECTIONS

  • Take the Wheelock Trail along the S side of Mink Brook.
  • Continue past the old log crossing to a group of large boulders.
  • Return past the log crossing on the Wheelock Trail.
  • After the Wheelock Trail turns L, bear L onto the Trout Brook Trail.
  • Bear R onto the Mink Link across a set of bog bridges.
  • The Mink Link meets the Sachem Connector at Trout Brook.
  • Turn R onto the Sachem Connector and L onto the Wheelock Trail.
  • Stay on the Wheelock Trail to return to your car.

FULL DIRECTIONS

  • Begin your hike by walking through the open area toward a telephone pole visible ahead on the easy, flat Wheelock Trail, named for Dartmouth’s founder. This land and a mill privilege just upstream on Mink Brook were offered to Eleazar Wheelock as an incentive to locate his new college in Hanover.
  • You’ll soon encounter a Hanover Conservancy sign as the trail heads into the woods. A smaller sign reminds that bicycles are not permitted on the Preserve, a condition of the generous gifts that made purchase of the land possible.
  • The trail enters the woods and 5 minutes from the road, passes through a natural gate of two impressively large (for them) musclewood trees (R). A look at their limbs hints at the reason for this odd name – they look like they’ve been to the gym!
  • The blue-blazed trail passes briefly under a power line and then through a richly mixed hardwood forest.
  • 4 minutes from the musclewood gate, look for a large multi-stemmed cherry tree at L. Bear L at a Y here, where a private trail enters at R. The Wheelock Trail traverses Mink Brook’s flat floodplain.
  • 2 minutes later, a pair of logs takes you across Trout Brook. This stream rises in Lebanon and flows north to meet Mink Brook. It might not look like much here, but in its upper reaches on the Preserve it provides very high quality habitat for (albeit small) wild brook trout, here almost within sight of downtown Hanover.
  • 4 minutes later, the trail rises to a junction with the Sachem Connector, a red-blazed trail at R. You’ll return on that path. For now, stay L among the big pines.
  • You’ll soon cross a small drainage on a series of stepping stones. Just beyond is the junction of the orange-blazed Trout Brook Trail. You bear L to stay on the blue-blazed Wheelock Trail.
  • A few steps further, at a big double pine, the Wheelock Trail turns R. A spur trail at L leads to stepping stones across Mink Brook to the N side of the Preserve. This is where a bridge was planned to serve a proposed 32-lot residential subdivision in the area you’ve been exploring. Give a cheer for the 500 donors, the Quinn Family, and Dartmouth College for recognizing the natural value of this place and stepping up to help the Conservancy and Upper Valley Land Trust protect it. The Hanover Conservancy now owns and manages the land, with conservation deed restrictions from UVLT.
  • Continue E on the Wheelock Trail for a few minutes to the former log crossing. Crafted in 2009 from a nearby tree, it served as a temporary trail link until the fall of 2021. A replacement crossing is planned. A sign on a tree opposite the log crossing directs you to continue E on the Wheelock Trail toward Buck Road. We’ll turn around well before that, but recommend that route for a summer’s day. Note an island in the brook on your L; until Tropical Storm Irene came through in 2011, Mink Brook flowed mostly between the path you’re on and this island. High water caused the brook to change course to the far side of the island, and this area is wet only a few times each year. Brooks are dynamic!
  • Continue to follow the brook upstream through deepening hemlock and pine forest.
  • 3 minutes’ walk from the log crossing, note a large, flat-faced stone ahead at R. Stop and look more closely – a jumble of large stones nearby appear to have been placed a very long time ago – but by whom?
  • Watch your footing as the trail bears L among boulders, ledges, and roots, past an ambitious hemlock growing over a low stone wall.
  • The most massive stone of all rears up at L. Follow the trail up a few yards to a nearby lookout above a small waterfall on Mink Brook. You have reached your destination.
  • These silent stones clearly have stories to tell. We don’t know what the stones might say, but in our imaginations, they must be eloquent – they are the original and timeless inhabitants of this beautiful stream valley.
  • Through the millennia Mink Brook, or Mosbasak Zibosiz in the Abenaki language, has been a key part of local Abenaki village and subsistence grounds. From the time of Dartmouth’s founding, Abenaki and other Native families lived in this area to support their children who were enrolled in Moor’s Charity School and the College. Abenaki families have lived nearby to this day.  What is known today as the Mink Brook Nature Preserve has long been known as a “woman’s place,” and when Eleazar Wheelock arrived to raise his college, Abenaki grandmothers met with his people to lay out their expectations for how the land would be used.
  • It’s hard to imagine this place as a residential subdivision and yourself standing amid driveways, garages, mailboxes, landscaped yards, and houses with dogs and cats. Turn your thoughts instead to the public-spirited vision of those who worked to protect this place so the stones could continue to speak to all.
  • After visiting with the stream and the stones, retrace your steps past a glistening yellow birch and head W on the Wheelock Trail. Pass the old log crossing and bear L at the forked pine, leaving the brook behind.
  • In a few paces, reach the junction with the orange-blazed Trout Brook Trail. Bear L here, following the little rivulet upstream.
  • In 2 minutes’ walk, pass a big rock at R and arrive at another trail fork marked with a “no bikes” sign. Bear R onto the Mink Link. Cross the wetland here on a new bog bridge.
  • This crossing and another you’ll soon encounter were built in 2019 by Andrew Chen of Troop 45 for his Eagle Scout Project. The task was to create a dry crossing of split and peeled hemlock logs through a wetland that had been trampled by hikers making an informal shortcut. With the bog bridge in place, the wetland has recovered well. An incredible 176 hours went into this project. The Hanover Lions Club and the Rankin family contributed to the cost of materials. Thanks to all!
  • The Mink Link Trail moseys up and among the hemlocks and pines, soon reaching another of Andrew’s log crossings. Note a posted map at L marking the junction of the Mink Link and Sachem Connector. Hop up on the bridge, which crosses Trout Brook.
  • Andrew’s bridge replaces another one that previously washed away in high water. Does the tame little stream you’re viewing today seem capable of such a feat? Had this land not been protected and the area altered with construction of roofs, driveways, and other surfaces that would prevent rain from soaking into the ground, this brook could have become downright dangerous during the heavy storms now associated with climate change. Now, a thick forest canopy and a blanket of natural duff over the soil act as a sponge to let the water flow more slowly and with less force when the hard rains come.
  • Return to the trail sign and bear L to take the Sachem Connector Trail up and around a small knoll. The trail is blazed red, but you won’t see the next blaze until you’ve gone around the bend.
  • 10 minutes from the Trout Brook Trail, you return to the Wheelock Trail amid some impressively tall pines. Bear L at a Y around two of them.
  • You’ve just passed most of the way around one of many oddly steep ridges that mark the sides of ancient channels of Mink Brook. This region was once inundated by the frigid waters of glacial Lake Hitchcock, and the clay/silt lake-bottom sediments were easily sliced by the rushing waters of the brook after the lake receded, leaving steep-sided ravines.
  • 3 minutes later, cross Trout Brook again. Just a few yards beyond, note two large “basket ash” trees, one on either side of the trail. These are a species of ash with pale, finely flaked bark that are favored for the making of baskets by Native American craftspeople.
  • Bear R at the many-stemmed cherry tree to avoid the neighborhood trail at L.
  • 9 minutes from your last crossing of Trout Brook, arrive back at your car. Resolve to return as spring unfurls at Mink Brook. This is a great walk at any time of year.

 Note: The Hanover Conservancy seeks volunteers to monitor trails and help out with occasional work parties. We also warmly welcome donations to our Mink Brook Stewardship Fund to help maintain the Preserve.  Get in touch at info@hanoverconservancy.org. For more about the Mink Brook Nature Preserve, visit www.hanoverconservancy.org/lands/mink-brook/.

 This Hanover Hike of the Month is generously sponsored by Snyder Donegan Real Estate Group

September, 2021

Filed Under: Conservation, History, March, Mink Brook, Trails

Corey Road and the AT

March 1, 2018

Corey Road & the AT – full PDF

Corey Road and AT hike mapDriving Directions

  • From Etna village, turn R onto Ruddsboro Road
  • Follow Mink Brook as the road curves up its narrow valley for 1.5 miles
  • Turn L onto Three Mile Road
  • After 1.2 miles, arrive at the AT parking area on L opposite telephone pole 31-50 (if parking area is not plowed, park on shoulder)
  • Today’s out-and-back hike, shown on the map at R, takes you to two fascinating historic sites.

What You Should Know

  • In winter, we suggest hiking poles and micro-spikes or snowshoes for traction, especially for the brook crossings. If rising temperatures threaten to melt snow/ice cover on the AT, we strongly advise taking your hike in the morning while surfaces are still frozen, to protect the treadway. Corey Road can be wet if snow cover has melted, and boots are advised.
  • You’re about to visit lands owned by the federal government (permanently protected) and a small portion of private land protected for AT corridor. Corey Road is a Class VI road open to the public subject to gates and bars.
  • The Corey Road portion of this hike makes for great skiing. If you’d rather do that, enter Corey Road at its south end, at the junction of Three Mile, Old Dana, and Chandler Roads. Park with respect for the private residence at the historic cape here; walk up the driveway and through the gate to continue on the Class VI portion of this road.
  • If you can’t bear to stop, you can combine this hike with a one-hour loop on the E side of Three Mile Road, posted as the February Hike of the Month: Mink Brook & the Harris Trail.
  • Dogs are welcome if under your control; please pick up after your pet.

Brief Directions

  • Take the AT westbound from Three Mile Road for about 15 minutes to Corey Road.
  • Turn R and follow Corey Road for about 20 minutes to an historic stone bridge.
  • Return the way you came.

Full Hiking Directions

  • Begin your hike at the wooden AT sign set back from Three Mile Road and proceed gently downhill through a young mixed forest of pine and northern hardwoods. Here and there, the gleaming bark of yellow birch catches the sun.
  • The 1855 and 1892 maps show no homes on this side of Three Mile Road between Chandler and the Wolfeboro Road, and so it was likely that most of this land served as sheep pasture then.
  • turkey prints on the snow
    We missed the turkey parade!

    If snow conditions are right, you can mark the passage of many creatures in these woods. Red squirrels, deer, and turkey are the most obvious.

  • Begin your hike at the wooden AT sign set back from Three Mile Rd and proceed gently downhill through a young mixed forest of pine and northern hardwoods. Here and there, the gleaming bark of yellow birch catches the sun.
  • The 1855 and 1892 maps show no homes on this side of Three Mile Rd between Chandler and the Wolfeboro Rd, and so it was likely that most of this land served as sheep pasture then.
  • If snow conditions are right, you can mark the passage of many creatures in these woods. Red squirrels, deer, and turkey are the most obvious.
  • 8 minutes’ walk from your car, you encounter the remains of an ancient tree that split like a giant lily at its base. Three large trunks fell at R, and another to the L was cleared away.
  • 5 minutes further, some kind soul has placed rough planks to help you cross a series of small rivulets. Send silent thanks to the dedicated trail maintainer of this section of the AT (we know who he is!) for keeping your feet dry.
  • The largest of these brooks marks a transition to larger pine, and you note five blowdowns at L. Their fallen boles all lie SW of their tipped up root systems, hinting that a nor’easter took them down. As the years pass their root masses will decay, leaving only the mounds and pits we find all over New England forests that speak softly but eloquently of such forest disturbances.
  • Corey Road wooden trail sign
    Corey Road

    Soon you reach a stone wall lined with large sugar maples, signaling your arrival at Corey Road. A close look at L reveals strands of barbed wire caught in the wood of one old tree, still on duty to keep the cows out of traffic.

  • From the center of the road, turn completely around to note two wooden signs placed (thank you, Hanover Trails Committee volunteers!) to identify the historic road. You’ll want to keep an eye out for them on your return trip.
  • Corey Road was laid out and surveyed on November 14, 1793 from the Wolfeboro Rd S to Chandler Rd, and was once an important link between Hanover Center and Enfield. One house stood on the road in 1855, but it was gone by 1892. By 1948, Corey Road was in disuse and Town Meeting voted to discontinue it subject to gates and bars. The AT was busier – Dr. Goldthwait noted a crossing of “the D.O.C. trail to Moose Mountain” when mapping the area in 1926.
  • Turn R and head N down Corey Rd. Stone walls line both sides. As you proceed, some sections of the R wall are composed of much smaller stones than elsewhere, hinting that the ground nearby may once have been tilled. This more intensive use would have motivated the landowner to remove smaller stones that could damage a plow, and dispose of them in the wall.
  • 6 minutes from the AT junction, you’ll head down a short, steeper pitch toward a brook – the same one you crossed on the AT. A formidable stone foundation appears at L on the other side. Stone walls and barbed wire mark boundaries.
  • Cross this small brook carefully. The size of woody debris caught just below indicates that this brook can punch above its apparent weight during a heavy rain.
  • dog on cellar hole stones
    Corey-Woodard cellar hole

    Hike back up a few yards beyond the brook and past the stone foundation. Just as you reach more level ground, step off the road to discover a cellar hole, about 20 paces to the L. Likely the original Corey homestead, it was the home of one O. Woodard by 1855. The cellar hole is lined by a drylaid stone foundation. If it seems too small, consider that a cellar was needed under only a part of the home, and a glance to the N reveals a flat rectangular area where the rest of the house stood. Sited just above the road with SW exposure for solar gain and a good water source close by, this must have been a fine place to live. What happened to prompt its abandonment by the 1890s? We don’t know.

  • After exploring the cellar hole, return to Corey Road and continue N. Here, the stone wall at R is composed of coarse boulders topped with barbed wire – the edge of a pasture, not a garden.
  • 7 minutes after leaving the cellar hole, you arrive at a second brook crossing, this time forded with the most impressive surviving drylaid stone culvert in Hanover.  Walk down to
    Corey Road culvert
    Corey Road stone culvert (fall 2012)

    the L on the S side to get a good view up to the moss-covered structure that has lasted here for 225 years. A close look reveals a flat stone lintel that carries Corey Road across the brook. The opening is tall enough to accommodate a short person. Imagine what it took to build this crossing!  Even more incredibly, the home-grown engineering created a stable bridge that has withstood not only the centuries but also – so far – the sudden, higher flows from microbursts and other heavy storms associated with climate change.

  • Bright sky appears across the brook and above to the L, indicating an open field. Below the slope and along the streambank is a collection of what can politely be called “cultural debris,” such as an old milk can. It was once common practice to toss unwanted items over a bank, often near a stream. This spot is a little open air museum thanks to that habit!
  • Like us, you’re probably tempted to linger by the bridge a bit longer, so we’ll tell you about the stream. This is Monahan Brook, the principal N tributary of Mink Brook. It rises N of Wolfeboro Road and flows SW to the Third Reservoir near Hanover Center Rd. From there, much of the water is diverted from Mink Brook and piped under the road and into the woods above the Parker Reservoir in the Trescott Water Supply Lands. Then it’s a short trip to downtown kitchens and drinking fountains. You’ve been hiking through more drinking water supply lands! However, the watershed of the Third Reservoir is only minimally protected – the Town owns only a narrow strip within 175-200 yards of the water’s edge. Federal land and AT easements protect a bit more, as do two privately conserved parcels at Monahan Brook’s headwaters, but otherwise this watershed is protected only by the good will of private landowners.
  • Monahan Brook and the rest of the Mink Brook watershed were part of a statewide study by Trout Unlimited and NH Fish and Game biologists in 2011, assisted by the Hanover Conservancy. They found that “Hanover’s little Mink Brook and its tributaries showed a surprisingly healthy population of native Eastern Brook Trout.” You are now standing at one of those study sites.
  • Corey Rd continues as a Class VI Road up to Wolfeboro Rd, but today we’ll retrace our steps and head S.
  • 9 minutes’ walk brings you back to the first brook, where several channels join upstream of your crossing. Make a note of the time.
  • Step over the brook and continue a gentle but steady uphill walk for about 8 minutes. Even under the snow, you can see the depression of the old road bed even though it has not been traveled for at least 70 years. Keep an eye out for the Corey Road sign at the AT crossing.
  • Reach the AT and stop to listen to the sighing pines overhead, imagining the open sunny pastures that once flanked the road on both sides, shaded only by the old maples lining the stone walls.
  • Turn L onto the AT and head E toward Three Mile Rd (and ultimately, N to Maine!).
  • 15 minutes’ hike on the gently rising trail will bring you back to your car.
  • A reminder – if you can’t bear to stop, you can combine this hike with a one-hour loop on the E side of Three Mile Road, the February Hike of the Month: Mink Brook and the Harris Trail.

sap buckets in snow

March  2018, revised July 2020

Filed Under: Hike of the Month, March Tagged With: Appalachian Trail, cellar hole, Class VI Road, Wolfeboro Road

Trescott Trails: Knapp Road & Ascutney View

March 1, 2016

HIKE DIRECTIONS – full PDF

Driving Directions

  • From Downtown Hanover and the Green, drive east onto East Wheelock St. and up the hill 1.7 miles to the junction of E. Wheelock, Grasse, and Trescott Rds. The Balch Hill trailhead will be at L.   Bear R to continue on Trescott Rd and drive 1.2 more miles to a sharp bend and the Trescott gate.
  • From Etna village, turn W onto Trescott Rd and drive 1.3 miles to the Trescott gate at bend in road.
  • Park at the marked trailhead parking area. Please do not block the gate.

What You Should Know

  • Trescott Water Supply Lands logoThis is the perfect hike for Mud Season, when most trails can be too soft and vulnerable as frost leaves the ground.
  • Welcome to your water source! Drinking water for much of Hanover and for Dartmouth College comes from these lands, so special rules apply for recreational use.
  • Check the kiosk display to acquaint yourself with these rules and pick up a trail guide.
  • Dogs are welcome but must be leashed at all times; please pick up after your pet.
  • You may encounter forestry vehicles; they have the right of way.
  • Plan on 1 ¼- 1 ½ hours; longer if you spend time enjoying the views.
  • Many hiking routes in the Trescott lands make use of historic and/or logging roads.

Knapp Road map

Brief Hiking Directions

  • Take the short path at R of the kiosk to reach Knapp Road
  • Turn L on Knapp Rd and walk past Parker Reservoir, the Four Corners, and up hill to a junction where the road flattens out.
  • Turn L and soon L again on a path through a pine plantation to the viewpoint.
  • Return the way you came.

Full Hiking Directions

  • After visiting the kiosk, take the short path to the R that leads around the fence. This takes you to Knapp Road, where you turn L to begin your walk. Laid out on Nov. 13, 1793, the road named for Lt. Peter Knapp of Hanover’s Revolutionary War-era militia. You will pass the site of his homestead.
  • After 5 minutes’ gentle downhill walk, Parker Reservoir comes into view. A sign at the road’s edge asks you to remain on the road as you walk through the reservoir’s 250’ protective buffer zone. To safeguard the water supply, the public (dogs included) is not permitted within 250’ of the water (or ice) except on Knapp Road. State law protects these waters.
  • Built in 1924 by damming Camp Brook, Parker Reservoir is the second in a string of three reservoirs that collect water to send to Hanover homes. The oldest and lowest is Fletcher Reservoir, near Reservoir and Grasse Roads. Together, they hold 425 million gallons of water. The third is the Hanover Center Reservoir, in the Mink Brook watershed. Its water is diverted to flow into the Parker Reservoir.
  • From this point, look ahead for an open area on the hillside above. This is your destination.
  • Continue on Knapp Rd below the earthen dam and cross Camp Brook. Note the semi-circular stone structure on the R, part of the early earthworks. An interpretive sign nearby illustrates the dam’s construction and explains forest management to protect water quality.
  • Camp Brook flows out of a concrete spillway in the earthen dam near some venerable maples. One wonders if these might once have been dooryard trees for a farmhouse that once stood nearby. All structures of the ten farms that once existed on this land were removed by 1912.
  • Continue on Knapp Rd; 15-20 minutes from your car, you’ll reach Mason’s Four Corners. Look for a sign posted on a tree at R indicating your location (photo at R)
  • Occasionally serving as a log landing, the Four Corners was once a major intersection. Here, the historic Wolfeboro Road crosses Knapp Road. Colonial Governor John Wentworth proposed this road in 1770 so he could attend commencement exercises at Dartmouth College. He and his party supposedly traveled it from his home in Wolfeboro in 1772. The historic road is easily viewed looking W; to the E, it is obscured by brush.
  • #4 Schoolhouse building
    #4 Schoolhouse; Knapp Road in foreground

    At the NW corner of this intersection stood the one-room District #4 schoolhouse (1807). Lt. Knapp’s home (c. 1793) stood across the way on the NE corner. Knapp was one of three school district commissioners for District 4. You can find the remains of his house’s cellar hole by looking (carefully!) through the brush.  By 1855, J. J. Mason lived here, followed by Charles Mason by 1892. The 160-acre Mason Farm had a 100-tree apple orchard and 200-tree sugarbush. Mason also kept 12 dairy cows and 70 Merino sheep. The water company purchased his farm by 1903 for $4000.

  • After imagining the busy neighborhood that once existed here, continue up Knapp Rd. In a few minutes another sign at R marks the Poor Farm East Trail to Dogford Rd.
  • Continue up Knapp Rd and reach the top of a small rise. Look for a cellar hole at R among a clump of trees near a large maple. Views are beginning to open up.
  • The Town Poor Farm stood not far from this spot, on the W side of Knapp Road. Several large foundations, a well, and a curious piece of farm equipment can still be seen. In 1840, the Town of Hanover purchased the James Tisdale Farm for $4250 to provide a place where the community’s orphans and other unfortunates could live and work to help support themselves. Unlike other towns, Hanover did not send its poor to the Grafton County farm when it opened in 1864, keeping this farm operating until 1903, when it was sold to the water company for $4000. Interpretive signage provides more insights into the farm.
  • Is your dog still on its leash? Give yourself a gold star and know that there are porcupines nearby.
  • Having caught your breath, continue your march up Knapp Rd. The road is lined with stately old maples, but the hillsides beyond are partly open and are being replanted. These lands experienced major blowdowns during the 2007 Patriot’s Day Windstorm. Two million board feet of logs and 3,100 cords of pulp were salvaged. This storm hit heaviest in the plantations, leaving natural stands largely unaffected.  The forest management plan calls for moving toward more natural, uneven-aged stands rather than even-aged plantations, although some spruce plantations have recently been planted nearby on the hillside.
  • Knapp Rd now climbs more steeply. Pass over two sets of grates covering water diversion channels to protect the steep road from erosion and protect the reservoirs below from sediment. The grates were paid for with a grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
  • Note the stone walls that follow the road in this area. The small size of the stones used to build them is a clue that the nearby land was cultivated at one time. One imagines the Poor Farm’s residents picking stones from among their potatoes and adding them to the walls.
  • At a little over half an hour from your car, Knapp Rd levels out. Look for a sign on a tree at 11 o’clock. Before heading to the hike’s big reward (the view!) take a moment to visit another historic site.
  • Continue straight on Knapp Rd for 90-100 paces toward a log landing. About 20 paces off the road at R in the woods is another cellar hole. This one is L-shaped.
  • Return to the intersection and turn R (west), taking care to stay on the road, not the skid trail at R.
  • After about 100 paces, turn L toward a gap in the pines.
  • Walk a short distance through a pine plantation, being thinned. The path brings you to an open hillside with dramatic views. We suggest taking a few steps to the left into the field for the best view, taking care not to trample young red pines.
  • The panorama before you is among the most beautiful in Hanover. Far below is Parker Reservoir; you can pick out Knapp Rd curving around on the SW side (your route back to your car).
  • Mt. Ascutney dominates the scene, of course.  At R in the near distance is Velvet Rocks. Ski areas in Vermont are also visible farther west.
  • Resolve right now to return in mid-October! The many sugar and red maples in this scene put on their own spectacular show at that time of year.
  • After you’ve inhaled the view, return the way you came.
  • Walk back up through the plantation and turn R on the far side of the pines
  • Turn R again onto Knapp Rd. As you walk down the hill, enjoy views of some of Etna’s surviving high fields and pastures, visible at L. These are remnants of the much more open landscape of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the native northern hardwood/white pine forests had been cleared for agriculture and thousands of sheep, later cattle, grazed on these hills. In the days before the Civil War, Hanover was one of the four top sheep towns in NH (with Walpole, Lyme, and Lebanon).
  • Knapp Road takes you past Parker Reservoir and back to your car.

Learn more about the Trescott Water Company Lands  and download the most up to date trail map.

March 2016, revised July 2020

 

Filed Under: Hike of the Month, March, Trescott Tagged With: cellar hole, Wolfeboro Road

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