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Old & New Etna Loop

September 29, 2020

HIKE DIRECTIONS & MAP – Full PDF

Driving Directions

  • From Etna, take Trescott Rd northwest for 0.5 miles to the junction with Partridge Rd.
  • Park in the parking area on the L (W) side of the road at the blue sign reading “Old Highway 38 Trail.” If the area is not accessible, continue up Trescott Rd 0.4 miles to the AT parking lot at R, just before a fence at the Trescott Water Supply Lands.
  • Today’s hike is a loop through the Hudson Farm’s fields and forest on an historic highway, behind Etna village on the famed Appalachian Trail, and down Hanover Center Rd. to the Etna Library, the Audrey McCollum Trail, and Partridge Rd.

What you should know

  • This is a mostly easy hike with a few short steeper sections and some with tricky footing among roots or rocks. The route is well-blazed and signed.
  • The route follows an early road on one of Hanover’s newest conservation lands. In 2017, the Hudson Farm (brown-shaded area on map) was permanently protected as part of the Appalachian Trail corridor.
  • The Audrey McCollum Trail, built by the Hanover Trails Committee from Hayes Farm Park to Woodcock Lane in 2017, was extended in Summer 2020 to Partridge Lane to provide improved access to the central conservation area owned by the Town of Hanover.
  • Trails are maintained by Trails Committee volunteers.
  • Dogs are welcome but must be under your control and must be leashed on the McCollum Trail; please pick up after your pet.
  • Deer hunting is permitted (except at Hayes Farm Park) by archery Sept. 15-Dec. 15
  • Foot travel only; snowmobiles, ATVs, and bicycles are not permitted.
  • Please respect nearby private property.

BRIEF HIKING DIRECTIONS

  • From the Hudson Farm parking area, take Old Highway 38 south to the rise in the meadow.
  • Turn R at sign for Old Highway 38 Trail and 38A Connector.
  • Stay straight at next trail junction; turn R at T toward Appalachian Trail.
  • Turn R (N) on AT, cross Trescott Road, and continue on AT to Hanover Center Road.
  • Turn R (S) on Hanover Center Road; follow to Etna Library.
  • Turn R into parking lot and take trail into meadow to junction with Audrey McCollum Trail.
  • Bear L onto Audrey McCollum Trail; follow this to Woodcock Lane.
  • Turn R onto Woodcock Lane and then L to new section of McCollum Trail.
  • Follow this to Partridge Road.
  • Turn L and walk along Partridge Road to Trescott Road; cross to reach your car.

FULL DIRECTIONS

  • Begin your hike by passing the kiosk and taking Old Highway 38 along the treeline up to the rise that is visible from the trailhead. At this season, the old field is filled with nodding goldenrod, small white asters, and periwinkle New England asters. Start “collecting” stone walls! Among the leaves cloaking the hedgerow at L is the first, a low stone wall separating two former pastures of the historic Adams Farm.
  • 5 minutes’ walk brings you to the top of the rise and a brown/yellow trail sign where two mown paths meet. Look back at R – easily visible is a white 20th century home built as a country retreat by retired architect Archer Hudson. Beyond another hedgerow is the Adams Farm house, a 1790 white cape and home of the family that once owned the former farmland you are exploring now. Hudson purchased land that included the Adams barn – and then burned it down. Dartmouth College later bought the property and carved off his house for resale.  While the College referred to it as the “Hudson Farm,” the land ceased to be farmed when Hudson arrived.
  • In June, 2017, this was the site of a grand celebration. A partnership between the Trust for Public Land and the Town of Hanover, assisted by the Hanover Conservancy, resulted in the purchase of 175 acres by the National Park Service to permanently protect them as part of the Appalachian Trail corridor. In addition to major federal funding, many local contributions made this possible.  Owned for many years by Dartmouth, the property had been eyed as a site for everything from a cemetery and golf course to a housing development. Today, the AT Conservancy manages the land.  The beautiful meadows are kept open for their spectacular views and valuable grassland bird habitat.
  • Turn R at the sign to follow the Old Highway 38 Trail and pick up the 38A Connector. The trail heads down to the woods; crabapples at the edge, a remnant of farming days, bear colorful fruit at this time of year. Yellow blazes mark the trail.
  • Two sets of boardwalks offer dry footing across a wetland, built by Hanover Trails Committee volunteers (thank you!). Protecting such headwater wetlands and streams from heavy foot traffic benefits water quality and trout habitat in Mink Brook below. The wetlands act as sponges during heavy downpours, holding water to prevent flooding and erosion in downstream neighborhoods. While they may seem dry at this time of year, the coarse fronds of sensitive fern are a clue to wetter times. Keep an eye out for the intriguing white flowers of turtlehead. Their bee pollinators must muscle their way inside to gather their nectar.
  • Rising up and away from the wetland, you’ll soon see a pair of stone walls at R, reminders that this was once grazing land before the forest returned. The second turns a corner and follows the trail.
  • 7 minutes’ hike from the first trail sign, note another at L where Highway 38 turns L. You continue straight on the 38A Connector for 0.3 miles to the Appalachian Trail.
  • Head over stepping stones on what may be a dry crossing at this season. The trail is now blazed blue, indicating a, AT connection trail. The rolling trail moves through mixed woods in former pastures.
  • 5 minutes from the last junction, arrive at a T. Blue and white arrow signs in nearby trees (which seem eager to devour them) mark your R turn down the hill, following blue blazes. Mark the time – you’ll see why.
  • As you approach the clearly marked boundary of the old AT corridor – an 1800s stone wall, 1980s yellow blazes, and a 2017 boundary pin – you note that the forest understory is more open here. This land has a different history.
  • 10 minutes from your last turn, reach the pine-needle strewn crossing of the Appalachian Trail. It is easy to miss! The connector trail continues beyond the AT, bending around a yellow birch about 50’ ahead. Stop and look for the white blaze on a pine at R.
  • Turn R onto the famed – but here quite humble – Appalachian Trail, heading gently up for 7 minutes to the top of a low ridge. Stop here and note the big old “wolf pine” at L, a pretty impressive character. The growing tip of such a white pine was damaged early in its career, which let side branches develop into competing leaders. No longer valuable for timber, such pines were often left to provide shade for grazing animals – and to spook hikers.
  • 4 minutes later, cross another small wetland decorated with asters and turtlehead.
  • On the far side, the forest understory is suddenly crowded with young buckthorn, an invasive tree. At this season, when most proper New England trees are beginning to shed their leaves or at least turn color, the non-native buckthorn reveals the secret to its grim success – it retains its green leaves and keeps on photosynthesizing well after the natives have checked out for the winter, giving it a competitive edge.
  • 4 minutes past the wetland crossing, arrive at Trescott Road. On the day we were out, during a drought, a thoughtful “trail angel” had left a cooler and big water bottle for thirsty hikers.
  • To continue on the AT, spot the trail across the road at one o’clock. A few steps in, a kiosk appears ahead. A path from the AT parking lot comes in at L, strewn with needles from the pine plantation it crosses.
  • Continue past the kiosk through thickly planted rows of pines, another part of the old farm that is now owned by the National Park Service.
  • After a small opening, watch for an odd rectangular structure of moss-covered concrete at R – was this the farm’s spring house? A few steps further is a spectacular round drylaid stone structure – possibly the foundation of a silo. Etna’s farming history is deep and rich – and its footprints are everywhere.
  • 5 minutes from Trescott Rd, emerge into an opening where the trail skirts the upper edge of the recently reclaimed meadow. A stone wall (the fifth or sixth so far?) appears at R as the trail re-enters the woods. As you leave the Trescott Rd corridor behind, invasive buckthorn in the understory is replaced by native cherry, ash, and striped maple.
  • The AT crosses a low stone wall as you note many blowdowns. These may date from the 2007 Patriot’s Day windstorm that leveled much timber here and on the east slope of Balch Hill, among other places.
  • Cross another stone wall, this one remarkable for its long, angular slabs. Who knew stone walls had different personalities? We’ve only just begun!
  • Continue north on the AT as it rolls along, skirting the W edge of Etna village. Cross yet another stone wall.
  • The trail bears L, arriving at an interesting intersection of stone walls that once must have divided pastures. The AT follows one on your L – note some venerable sugar maples lining it. As the trail rises, this wall becomes even more impressive, nearly reaching chest height. We can’t resist sharing here that in 1870, a government agency estimated that over a quarter million miles of drylaid stone wall had been built in New England and New York, most during a few decades in the early 19th century during the Sheep Craze. Recently, NH’s State Geologist has worked with area volunteers and UNH to create a citizen-based, on-line stone wall mapping tool using LiDAR maps. You can visit this site to see the stone walls you’re “collecting” on this hike (shown in pink on the image), and visit your own home area to see what other walls might exist nearby.
  • 5 minutes after crossing the last wall, you reach a height of land. A trail joins at R from the nearby neighborhood, and low wooden signs – along with a mystery object made of iron – invite you to stop and look around. Off just a few paces at L is a large and impressive cellar hole. It is the remains of another Adams farmhouse you’ve discovered. The Adams family once owned all the land between Dogford Rd and the E leg of Trescott Rd, over which you have been walking. When the farm was sold and subdivided to create the Trescott Ridge subdivision in the 1960s, Partridge Rd was re-routed and the Adams farmhouse (R) was removed – another piece of Etna history lost.
  • Continue straight on the AT, following white blazes to avoid a few cross-trails here. Within sight of the cellar hole, another wooden trail marker tells you to turn R; a brush pile blocks the incorrect path ahead. Add to your stone wall collection as you encounter more, many marked with old maples. Did these walls border a garden, a pasture, a cart path, a sheep pen, a lane, or were they just convenient places to store the stones?
  • 10 minutes past the cellar hole, descend toward a plush green wetland, startlingly green at this time of year. The spicy fragrance of drying hay-scented ferns is pleasing.
  • A plank crossing brings you over an often-dry streambed and the path twists toward an open field. On a summer morning, hawks may be hunting mice and other wee things from the perches above.
  • Just inside the meadow, the trodden path forks; bear R and skirt the old field through eye-high goldenrod before reentering the woods. The same dry streambed appears at L and you’ll soon cross it on a log bridge.
  • The trail passes behind the Etna cemetery, where many of those who built the walls and farms of Etna rest.
  • 7 minutes after entering the field, arrive at Hanover Center Road and turn R. A short, more civilized walk along the road gives a fresh view of the forested wetland you just passed.
  • Some of Etna’s most historic buildings – Trumbull Hall and the brick First Baptist Church of Hanover at L, and the former parsonage in the red cape at R – announce your arrival at what was once known as Mill Village, for the many mills that made busy use of the power of Mink Brook.
  • At Ruddsboro Road, a beautiful stone wall (the 13th or 15th?) creates a centuries-old hypotenuse between the roads. This scenic triangle has been protected by the Town of Hanover. It is part of nearby Mink Meadow Farm, home to a long-time Etna farm family. On one side of the historic Yankee-style barn is the foundation of an old silo – on the other, a tiny former milkhouse that now boasts refrigerated eggs and farm-grown vegetables.
  • At R is the white 1767 Bridgeman House; the earliest part of this home is likely the middle section with the chimney. Take a moment to read the plaque mounted on the nearby stone. A tributary of Mink Brook passes behind the home and under the road.
  • Across the way, electric fencing excludes grazing cattle from the mainstem of Mink Brook, protecting water quality by allowing a lush buffer of native plants to grow along the stream to filter runoff. The farm family worked with the Connecticut River Conservancy to establish the fence and plant stream-side shrubs to keep the stream clean. For well over a century, waste from the entire village – including mill waste – was piped directly into the brook.
  • Don’t look now, but stone walls are everywhere in Etna village – among the most beautiful in town.
  • Pass the new fire station at R, and note the historic one ahead at L, a small gray clapboard building.
  • 10 minutes from the farmstand, arrive at Etna Library, one of only three structures in Hanover listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Turn into the parking lot and pick up the trail at the far end.
  • You’re entering Hayes Farm Park, acquired by the Town of Hanover in 2010 from the Hayes family whose farmstead and barn stand nearby at L.
  • Walk up through the meadow toward the kiosk. Glance beyond it at the impressive glacial erratic with early 19th century graffiti done by H. L. Huntington (for whom Huntington Hill takes its name). Take the R fork and continue straight through the meadow, up and around the corner, and through a gap in yet another stone wall. Here, the trail turns R and follows an early farm lane lined with beautiful high stone walls adorned by black, grey, and white lichens. How many tons of stone were moved to create the walls that stitch this rural landscape together? And all without machinery, just with man and animal muscle, patience, a good understanding of physics and gravity, and maybe not much else to do at certain times of year.
  • The path heads uphill to a fork marked by a sign indicating the King Sanctuary ahead and the path to Woodcock Lane to the L. Bear L as you gain the knoll – the wall makes the corner with you.
  • At L is a low cage protecting Trillium from deer browse. This is part of a deer monitoring project being of the Conservation Commission’s Biodiversity Committee. A few feet further stands a sign for the Audrey McCollum Trail. Stay L as the trodden path forks and follow Audrey’s Trail down into the woods, following yellow blazes. Bear immediately R on the needle-strewn path.
  • An ardent and well-known local conservationist, Audrey McCollum lived nearby on Trescott Road. Gifts in her memory allowed the creation of this trail in 2017.
  • Be sure to leash your dog here – porcupines den nearby!
  • Cross another stone wall and skirt the Trescott Wetlands on the somewhat rooty and rocky trail at the base of a dark hemlock and pine-covered slope. Contrast the stony hillside with the lush green ferny wetland at L. Audrey’s Trail goes over a few log crossings as you make your way around the wetland. Take care to stay on the trail and avoid nearby yards.
  • 10 minutes from the start of Audrey’s Trail, arrive at Woodcock Lane. Turn R toward the lane’s end and L at a sign just before the driveways. Be sure to keep your dog leashed, and please pick up after it.
  • This new section of trail was completed in September 2020 after much planning and effort by the Hanover Trails Committee. It provides a welcome path for “bird road” and other Etna residents to explore the natural parts of their neighborhood and to visit friends.
  • The pleasant yellow-blazed trail soon crosses a stone wall (watch your footing for wobblers) and enters the woods. Five minutes later the trail uses a log crossing near a small wetland that is likely a pool earlier in the year. This is a good place to look for animal tracks.
  • Turn L onto Partridge Road and enjoy the 8-minute stroll along this pretty lane. “Collect” your final stone wall at #3 Partridge, where a handsome historic wall has become a valued landscape feature for a later home.
  • Your car appears ahead, across Trescott Road.

This Hanover Hike of the Month has been generously sponsored by…

Filed Under: Hike of the Month, History, Hudson Farm, Invasive Species, King Bird Preserve/Hayes Farm Park, October, Trails Tagged With: stone walls

General’s Trail

July 15, 2020

HIKE DIRECTIONS & MAP – Full PDF

 

General's Trail route mapDriving Directions

  • From Etna village, turn R onto Ruddsboro Road
  • Follow Mink Brook as the road curves up its narrow valley for 1.5 mi.
  • Turn L onto Three Mile Road
  • After 1.2 miles, arrive at the AT parking area on L, opposite telephone pole 31-50

What You Should Know

  • Foot travel only.
  • Dogs are welcome but must be under close control.
  • Wear blaze orange Sept. 15-Dec. 15 (your four-legged hiking buddy, too!)
  • Hunting is permitted on the AT and other lands you cross at the beginning and end of this hike, but not on the private land crossed by the southern half of the General’s Trail loop.
  • You’ll visit lands owned by the federal government, Dartmouth College, and private owners including the Shumway Forest, protected by the Hanover Conservancy (outlined in yellow above).
  • As of 2021, some trail names are being updated.

Brief Directions

  • Take the AT east from Three Mile Road
  • Turn R onto the Fred Harris Trail
  • Bear L onto the General’s Trail, following uphill
  • Bear L where Northwest Passage comes in at R
  • Turn L onto AT going west
  • Continue straight back to your car at Three Mile Road

Full Hiking Directions

  • tree with white blazeBegin your hike on the Appalachian Trail on the E side of Three Mile Road.  The federal government bought this 21-acre parcel from the Mascoma Beagle Association in the 1980s. It must have been a lively place with the beagles in charge.
  • The white-blazed AT passes over a rise and then gently down into the valley of Mink Brook.
  • Seven minutes into your hike, cross the brook on a log bridge. Nearby, deep purple infuses the fall foliage of a hobblebush, decorating the scene at this time of year.
  • Cross the brook and follow the AT as it climbs back out of the stream valley.
  • Six minutes’ walk from the brook, step over a rotting log and cross onto Dartmouth College land. On this part, the federal government holds a permanent easement to protect the AT.
  • Just after a log crossing at a small wetland, arrive at a 4-way junction. The Harris Trail, former route of the AT, honors the Dartmouth Outing Club’s founder (1909). It offers wonderful skiing when conditions are right. The AT was re-routed off this path onto the ridge of Moose Mountain in the 1980s.
  • At this junction, the AT continues straight ahead – you’ll return down that path to this point. At L, the Harris Trail looks well-traveled. Today, you’re up for the path less taken – turn R. A few yards ahead, a wooden sign reads, “Old Harris Cabin Access.” [new trail name: North Cabin Trail]
  • The wide and grassy trail soon begins to descend gently through northern hardwoods. For the next 5 minutes, you’re traveling through a part of the 313-acre Shumway Forest that was protected by an AT trail easement in the 1980s and in 2017 by the Hanover Conservancy’s more comprehensive conservation easement. Both easements guarantee public access to the trails.
  • Soon a wood sign with arrow directs you L. You have arrived at another parcel of private property. Say a silent thanks to this generous landowner who gamely goes along with the network of hiking trails on Moose Mountain, and take care to leave no trace of your visit.
  • General's Trail sign
  • red berries by walking poleShortly after the arrow sign, an orange sign at L marks the W end of the orange-blazed General’s Trail, a pine-needle-strewn path that makes a wide loop back to the AT.
  • In autumn, it seems the whole trail is decked out in orange – from the trail signs and blazes to the brightly colored red eft salamander you might spot at your feet, to the brilliant mushrooms that spangle the forest floor and the fallen leaves of red and sugar maples.
  • red leafThe trail initially has the look of an old woods road but soon narrows, offering gentle and comfortable hiking, unlike the often rooty and rocky AT. This trail was built in the early 1990s by a former owner of this property with the help of his boy scout troop. Why the “General’s Trail?” For a quarter century, it’s been the favorite daily hike of a neighbor who retired from the Air Force Reserve as a two-star general. When his friends and neighbors Peter and Kay Shumway met him often on the trail, they decided to name it for him on their Moose Mountain Lodge trail map. Recently, his daughter asked the Dartmouth Outing Club to make the orange signs as a special birthday gift.
  • Ten minutes from the orange sign, you arrive at an open grove of hemlocks – a good place for a snack. The trail swings L here to follow the rim of a steep valley, but before taking that turn, look over the escarpment to the brook far below.
  • "elbow" birchThe trail turns L past an “elbow tree” at R, a leaning yellow birch that lost its top and headed for the sun.
  • white fungi on log
  • Climbing gently up along the stream, the trail soon brings you to an up close and personal look at the tiny Mink Brook tributary. Cross it on impossibly green, luxuriantly mossy logs. You’ll soon encounter a few more “corduroy” log crossings. These places don’t look like much, but they are ecologically valuable. Headwater seeps, kept shaded and forested, serve as an important “sponge” in a downpour and start a stream off on its downhill tumble in the right fashion, cool and clean. Abundant moisture in the forest floor and a rich layer of duff support a fun and fantastic array of fungi.yellow fungi
  • white mushroom
  • The trail reaches the head of the little stream valley and follows the land’s contour as it heads north toward its junction with the AT. As the trail is less distinct here, it’s important to keep an eye out for the orange blazes; stay left at a fork. It’s hard to miss a jumble of pure white boulders of quartz.
  • yellow fungi by leaves20 minutes from the hemlock grove, a vertical white “US AT Boundary” sign appears on a white birch at L, and you know you’re getting close.
  • Three minutes later, arrive at the AT; note the orange “General’s Trail” sign.
  • Turn L and follow the famous path as it heads gently and pleasantly downhill.
  • What a difference thousands of feet per year can make! The AT treadway is well-worn but also well-loved, evidenced by some clever bits of trail work that carry the path over small drainages.
  • Five minutes after bidding the General goodbye, you return to the familiar four-way intersection with the Harris Trail. Cross it and continue straight on the AT.
  • Seven minutes from the intersection, the brook and bridge come into view. If you didn’t stop for a picnic at the hemlock grove, this is a great picnic spot too.
  • These waters 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. They found that “Hanover’s little Mink Brook and its tributaries showed a surprisingly healthy population of native Eastern Brook Trout.” They counted 213 brookies in 16 study sites and noted how important cold clean water is for this species. Almost 70% of the trout were found in five sites (including this one) with an average water temperature of 59.8 degrees. If you have such a stream on your property, what can you do to help brook trout? Keep a lush buffer of trees and shrubs to shield it from the summer sun.
  • Cross the bridge with its handrail and head back up and out the seven minutes’ hike to your car.

Please respect the generosity of these landowners by leaving no trace of your visit and enjoy the memories and photographs you take home.

9/2018, revised 1/2021

 

Filed Under: Hike of the Month, Moose Mountain, October, Shumway Forest Tagged With: Appalachian Trail

Camp Brook Valley Loop

October 1, 2019

Trail Information and Hike Map – Full PDF

 

Camp Brook loop mapDriving Directions

  • From Downtown Hanover and the Green, drive E on E. Wheelock St. and up the hill 1.7 miles to Grasse Road. Turn L onto Grasse Road.
  • Park at the public ballfield parking area at 41 Grasse Road, outside the fence at the water treatment facility.

What You Should Know

  • Today’s hike takes you on a loop that tours the east and north slopes of the Balch Hill Natural
  • Area from neighborhood lanes and returns on the historic Wolfeboro Road, on lands owned by Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover.
  • Dogs are welcome if under your control. Please pick up after your pet.
  • Archery season begins Sept. 15 and it is wise to wear blaze orange until Dec. 15.

Brief Hiking Directions

  • Turn L onto Grasse Rd to MacDonald Dr.
  • Turn R onto MacDonald Dr. and L onto Morrison Rd.
  • At far end of cul-de-sac, take steps up to trail
  • Turn R on the Garipay Trail
  • Take sharp R onto the Maple Trail
  • Turn L on Dot Strong Trail; at private drive, turn R
  • Turn R onto Reservoir Rd; cross to Wolfeboro Rd.
  • Take Wolfeboro Rd for 15 min
  • Turn R onto smaller path; cross brook
  • Turn L onto Reservoir Rd and Grasse Rd and return to your car.

The Full Story

  • Turn L onto Grasse Rd and walk along the shoulder past Camp Brook Dr. to MacDonald Dr. At this season, asters, goldenrod, and white-flowering turtlehead decorate the drainage ditch by the road. You might hear Canada geese announcing their flight south (let’s hope they didn’t linger on nearby Fletcher Reservoir).
  • Turn R at MacDonald Dr into a neighborhood developed for Dartmouth faculty and staff housing in the early 1990s. In fall, old apple trees hint at the history of this land, an orchard on the Garipay Farm.
  • 5 minutes’ walk from your car, turn L onto Morrison Rd and walk up the short lane to the cul-de-sac and trailhead sign.
  • Garipay Trail stepsYou can thank the Upper Valley Trails Alliance’s High School Trail Corps and the Hanover Conservation Commission for the friendly steps at the trail entrance. Built in 2019 on Grasse Rd Homeowners’ Assoc. land, they lend easy access to the Balch Hill Natural Area trail system.
  • It’s just a few paces to the junction of the Hunter East (L) and Garipay Trails. Turn R onto the blue-blazed Garipay Trail, named for the farm family that most recently owned this land. At this season, the many small drainages off Balch Hill are dry, but at wetter times of year, the wooden crossings are most welcome. The split log one was built by Hypertherm volunteers in 2019 and the lumber one by a Conservancy volunteer a few years earlier.
  • A low stone wall follows the trail at R; could this be a relic of the sheep days in the mid-1800s, when the entire hill was open pasture and orchard?
  • 5 minutes’ hike from Morrison, the Garipay Trail rises to meet the Maple Trail. Turning L would bring you to the summit with its beautiful views – if you have 10 minutes to spare, it’s worth the detour. For this trip, take the sharp R turn, cross the stone wall, and follow the yellow-blazed Maple Trail. You’re now on town land, bought from the Garipays in 1978 with help from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
  • 2 minutes later, look for deer research plots at R. A small sign explains their purpose.
  • colored mushroom
  • Watch for color underfoot, not just among the maples overhead. It’s mushroom time!
  • 5 downed treesThe entire E side of Balch Hill suffered blowdowns from the Patriot’s Day Windstorm in 2007. At one point on the Maple Trail, you’ll see the “undersides” of 5 downed trees in a row, with their boles all pointing W away from the source of that wind. Eventually, the root masses will melt back into the landscape, leaving the “mound and pit” (sometimes called “pillow and cradle”) micro-topography typical of wind-influenced forests.
  • 10 minutes’ hike from the Garipay Trail, the Maple Trail enters more open coniferous forest and onto another piece of Dartmouth land, where the college kindly granted a trail license to move the trail onto a more sustainable path. By now you’ve gathered that the Hanover Conservancy, Hanover Conservation Commission, Upper Valley Trails Alliance, and Dartmouth are closely cooperating partners on Balch Hill.
  • A few minutes farther, look for a yellow Wildlife Safety Zone sign as the trail swings L and then out to the wide Dot Strong Trail. A glance to the R confirms this is a sewer line connecting two neighborhoods. Bicycles are allowed on the flat, comfortable path. Dot Strong was an ardent conservationist who lived nearby on Reservoir Road.
  • Turn L on the Dot Strong Trail and enjoy the easy 0.3 mile walk to Reservoir Rd. In 5 minutes, reach the metal gate posts at the edge of town property. Continue a few paces to the private drive at 29 Reservoir Rd (you’re allowed!), turn R down the drive, and note the trailhead sign at R – in case you’d like to try the loop counter-clockwise sometime.
  • Turn R onto Reservoir Rd. As you walk along the shoulder, look down into the forested ravine at L, listening for Camp Brook as it falls from the Fletcher Reservoir down to Storrs Pond. The brook has only this short distance to cool off in the shade of the hemlocks on its banks before reaching the pond. While smaller brooks run dry at this season, controlled releases from the reservoir keep water in the channel.
  • Cross the brook; look for the brown/yellow Wolfeboro Rd trailhead sign, just R of the Storrs Pond sign.
  • Take the Wolfeboro Rd trail up and around the metal gate. Five steps in, and you’re on the clearly discernable, original route of the Wolfeboro Rd. Our forebears chose a good path – it is safely out of the way of Camp Brook, which washed out Reservoir Rd a few years back.
  • Walk up through the hemlocks that shade the valley of this brook. You can imagine the relief of Royal Governor John Wentworth, after several days’ ride on the new road in 1772, as he made his final descent toward his destination, Dartmouth College’s second commencement. He had ordered the cutting of this road, linking his home in Wolfeborough with Hanover, two years earlier. At a public meeting on July 30, 1770, a committee of Hanover citizens was appointed to “…run a line from near the southwest corner of Hanover to the Great Pond, or Governor’s seat, at Wolfeborough, and view the situation of the land and convenience for a highway, and make return the first Monday in October next.” Members were paid four shillings and sixpence per day and spent ten days surveying the route. In October, they gained approval to lay it out from the College to the Canaan line. Hanover landowners were assessed a penny and a half per acre to raise the 120£ needed to complete the road.
  • The old road moves steadily up the side of the valley, past some large old pines that are still too young to have been here when the Governor passed through. Two Oak Hill trails join at L; continue straight.
  • At this season you can hear birds flitting in the branches overhead, preparing to join their migrating brethren following the nearby Connecticut River south.
  • 10 minutes’ hike from Reservoir Rd, the canopy opens up and the trail is crowded by young white pines eager to fill the space. This is your cue to watch for a less worn trail at R. (The Wolfeboro Rd continues with two detours through the Trescott Water Supply Lands, over Moose Mountain, and on to the Lakes Region.)
  • Turn R on this smaller path and head downhill for 5 minutes among the brash and brushy white pines. As you approach Reservoir Rd., note the barbed wire and sign on a big pine at L, marking the boundary of the restricted area around the Fletcher Reservoir and its dam. Just beyond at R are two study plots helping the Hanover Biodiversity Committee measure deer browse pressure on Trillium, a native wildflower. One plot is fenced from deer and the other, marked with blue flagging, is not.
  • Fletcher Dam construction in 1893A small footbridge leads over the natural channel of Camp Brook, nearly dry at this season, and soon you pop out on Reservoir Rd just as it curves into Grasse Rd. The Fletcher Dam looms above at L. Constructed in 1893, this is the first of two dams built on Camp Brook to provide safe drinking (and fire-fighting!) water to downtown Hanover and Dartmouth College. This image shows the many teams of horses and men employed in building the dam. We aren’t certain, but we believe that the white horses in the foreground are standing on what would eventually be flooded land behind the dam, and that the hill in the background topped by the tuft of trees is Balch Hill.
  • Follow Grasse Rd to return to your car at the public parking area just beyond the ball field and swings.

This Hanover Hike of the Month has been generously sponsored byJMH Wealth Management logo

October 2019 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Balch Hill, Hike of the Month, October Tagged With: aster, Oak Hill, turtlehead, Wentworth, Wolfeboro Road

New Trails and Old Names at Balch Hill

October 1, 2017

Balch Hill ~New Trails-full PDF

Balch Hill trail loop mapDriving Directions

  • From Downtown Hanover, take E. Wheelock St to Park St, turn L at light and R at next light onto Rte 10/Lyme Rd
  • At first rotary, bear R onto Reservoir Rd
  • Just past Ray School, turn R onto Hemlock Rd, pass Rip Rd, bear R at Y for Ledge Rd.
  • Continue ½ mile up Hemlock Rd, around hairpin turn to its end at a private drive.
  • Park in the circle here, being careful not to block the drive.

What You Should Know

  • This loop hike explores new and rebuilt trails on the Balch Hill Natural Area, with a stop at the summit to enjoy its beautiful views.
  • You’ll be walking on lands owned by the Town of Hanover, Hanover Conservancy, and Dartmouth College. Some but not all of this land is permanently protected.
  • Trails have occasional short up-and-down grades but are easy for the entire family.
  • Archery hunting for deer is permitted Sept. 15-Dec. 15, when blaze orange is a good wardrobe choice.
  • Dogs are welcome but must be under your control; please pick up after your pet.

Brief Directions

  • Take the Hemlock Trail up over stone steps, across a stone wall, and up to the summit.
  • Take the Grasse Road Trail down the E side, turning L at a stone wall.
  • Bear L onto the Chapman Trail to a bench and eastern view.
  • Continue to the Hunter East Trail and turn R.
  • Bear L onto the Garipay Trail and L again onto the Maple Trail.
  • Turn R onto the Fire Trail and follow it down to a driveway.
  • Turn R and follow the drive back to your car.

Full Hiking Directions

  • dog on stone stepsBegin your hike on the orange-blazed Hemlock Trail, marked by a brown sign with yellow lettering. A series of stone steps (R), terracing, and switchbacks help you navigate the steep (and in winter, icy!) beginning of the trail. In a fine example of partnership, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance’s high school trail crew built these steps in 2017, on land owned by the Town of Hanover with funds contributed to the Hanover Conservancy by the Chapman Family.
  • Soon the trail straightens and passes through pleasant hemlock and pine woods.
  • 7 minutes from your car, cross a fragment of an old stone wall. Look for the shells of 2 ancient maples at R. We’ll meet more of their fellows later.
  • old oak on Balch
  • You’ll soon come to the remains of an enormous old oak, its split trunk and massive limbs now draped across the landscape like an opened lily, having lost their battle with gravity and time. The trail passes under a fallen limb. Here’s what it looked like in 2014 (R).
  • The trail continues up and L into an opening framed by old crabapple trees, and the summit bench comes into view.
  • 12 minutes from your car, arrive at the summit kiosk, dedicated to neighbor and Hanover Conservancy volunteer educator Alice Jackson. Here, you can read about views and pick up a trail guide.
  • skiers on Balch Hill The bench honors one of Balch Hill’s most important benefactors, Ralph Hunter. Ralph, who took this photo of a young family skiing here in 1965, lived nearby and developed 7 building lots on Hemlock Rd. In 1970 he was instrumental in helping the Hanover Conservancy (then known as the Hanover Conservation Council) acquire 6.26 acres at the summit, donating some of his own land to bring it to 10.3 acres. Then in 2001, Ralph and his wife Betty (below) donated another 10 acres to the Council, protecting the W side of the hill.
  • Ralph and Betty Hunter on Balch Hill
    Ralph and Betty Hunter

    Pay your respects to the fine summit maple, standing 920 feet above sea level – can you find the heart shaped pattern in its bark? From here, you can enjoy views as close as a monarch butterfly on milkweed at your feet or as far as Killington, 29 miles away. The stone bench was given in memory of Betty Latham.

  • Continue your perambulation of Balch Hill by heading toward the balancing rock reminding that no fires are permitted here.
  • The views of Mount Ascutney, four ridges to the southwest, are inspiring and hard-won. For over a century, the open, breezy summit of Balch Hill served as pasture first for sheep and later for cattle, but once the grazing stopped, Nature had other ideas and began to clothe the hill once again. By the 1990s, a threat lurked amid the puckerbrush – non-native invasive buckthorn, barberry, burning bush, and honeysuckle. Major grants to the Hanover Conservancy from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, plus private donations, paid to push back the invasives, improving wildlife habitat and restoring views. Resulting brush piles were tucked into the woods to provide cover for small mammals.
  • Follow the red-blazed Grasse Road Trail down from the summit. The woods are quite different here on the S side of the hill – young hardwoods with some pine. As the trail bends L, look for a big maple snag at R. Its size compared to its companions is a clue that it once stood alone on an open slope.
  • A few minutes’ walk from the summit, pass the “candelabra tree” at L – a dismembered pine with marvelous grain where its whorl of branches once met the trunk.
  • The trail turns sharply R into a hollow at the Link Trail junction. Bear L on the Grasse Road Trail over the double log crossing, built by volunteers from Hypertherm.
  • Soon the Hunter East Trail – named for Ralph Hunter – comes in at L. Bear R as the Grasse Road Trail follows a series of mossy ledges. Here on the SW side of the hill, the glacier plucked stones away from the ledge as it ground its way over. But where did they go?
  • stone wall on Balch HillThe answer appears in a few more paces – the settlers plucked them for stone walls! Straight ahead is the S boundary line, marked with an old wall topped with wide wire sheep fencing (R), relics of the mid-1800s. In 1840, over 10,000 sheep grazed on Hanover hillsides, including this one, while the human population stood at around 2,000.
  • The trail swings L along the stone wall. Soon, at the top of a small rise, arrive at a Y with the Chapman Trail, marked with a sign at L. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance’s high school trail crew built this trail in 2017, again with a gift to the Conservancy from the Chapman family. The trail crosses Dartmouth land with the College’s permission.
  • Rob Chapman by trail signTurn L onto the purple-blazed Chapman Trail, which rises gently. In this area, Dartmouth ecology students conducted a study to determine the effect of deer browse on the vegetation. Two identical plots, one fenced against deer and the other unfenced, were compared each year. Results show that deer browse reduced the number of wildflowers, especially Canada mayflower.
  • bench on the Chapman TrailSoon you arrive at an Aldo Leopold bench, designed by the legendary conservationist himself and built of black locust by a Conservancy volunteer. The trail and bench are recent additions to Balch Hill, named for long-time Balch Hill neighbors. Rob Chapman (L), early chairman of the Balch Hill Stewardship Committee and former member of the Conservancy’s board of directors, had long envisioned a trail to this knoll, where views E to Moose Mountain are being opened up.
  • Take a moment to relax on the bench and consider the many families that have been touched by Balch Hill – and those who have given back in return. Some might spend a morning helping to clear a trail, and others, like the Chapmans, Hunters, Stapleses, and Jacksons, have given deeply over many years in this and many other ways.
  • Continue on the Chapman Trail as it curves L and re-enters the hemlock forest, winding gently down off the knoll. In 3 minutes, reach the blue-blazed Hunter East Trail, marked by a large downed hemlock.
  • Check your watch – if you’re in a hurry to get back to your car, turn L here, take the Grasse Road Trail to the summit, and return on the Hemlock Trail the way you came (about 20 minutes).
  • To continue exploring (30 minutes), turn R on the Hunter East Trail, through the gap in the fallen hemlock and down into a ferny glen. In 5 minutes, Morrison Circle appears between the trees and the trail swings L at a large red oak.
  • Soon you’ll arrive at a sign for the Garipay Trail. The Garipay family farmed this area in the 1940s-70s, with land holdings that extended from Lyme Road to Grasse Road. Earle Garipay’s 185-cow dairy farm was based on Reservoir Road. Young stock were kept on Balch Hill.
  • Head up the blue-blazed Garipay Trail, crossing a small wooden bridge built by another Conservancy volunteer over a little drainage that Is dry in fall. The trail continues along a fragment of stone wall and bears L uphill past rosettes of evergreen Christmas fern.
  • 5 minutes’ walk from the Hunter East Trail, the Garipay Trail ends at the yellow-blazed Maple Trail. Bear L to continue uphill. Openings at R are tangles of raspberry canes thriving in the sunlight as several pines gave way. Soon you’ll pass among blowdowns from a sudden windstorm on Patriot’s Day, 2007. All the trees are laid to the SW, indicating that the wind came from the NE. Root systems, still clinging to rocks and soil, are tipped up and will melt into mounds next to the pits where they once grasped the earth. This “mound and pit” micro-topography is a common feature in New England woods, where it tells stories of forests past.
  • old maple on Balch5 minutes’ hike up the Maple Trail brings you within sight of the summit through the trees – and what magnificent trees they are! Now you know the story behind this trail’s name. Four enormous sugar maples, three still living, march in a line, the ancients standing out among their much younger brethren. A few more appear just ahead. How many people would it take to encircle one of these giants?
  • These venerable maples, possibly 250 years old, may have marked one of Hanover’s earliest roads. Laid out in 1764, Half Mile Road passed just E of the summit of Balch Hill and ran parallel to and ½ mile E of the Connecticut River.
  • A double blaze marks a turn to the R; ahead is the most marvelously gnarled maple of all.
  • In a few more yards, reach the unmarked Fire Trail, a wide old farm lane. The summit is visible up the hill at L; across the way is the shell of yet another ancient maple.
  • Turn R onto the Fire Trail – this time it’s a practical name – the Fire Department can use this old road to reach the summit in an emergency.
  • At R is a curious depression that may be dry in fall but is full of water in spring. Earle Garipay dug this pit to provide water for his cattle; these days it serves as a vernal pool!
  • Head down the Fire Trail; in 5 minutes, approach an opening that gives a broad view into Vermont. A blue arrow directs you R to skirt this privately owned former (and possibly future) house site. Soon the Fire Trail meets the drive. Turn R down the drive. A formal arrangement with the landowner provides for public foot access here. The dark hemlock forest at R reminds you what the N side of Balch Hill once looked like.
  • The drive swings L and your car comes into view. Be careful to heed the cable across the end of the drive.

The volunteer Balch Hill Stewardship Committee cares for this place and always welcomes help.
Contact us if you’d like to get involved!
We welcome contributions to the Balch Hill Stewardship Fund
to help with the costs of annual mowing, vegetation management, and trail improvements.

October 2017; updated July 2020

Filed Under: Balch Hill, Hike of the Month, October Tagged With: Canada mayflower, deer

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