Hanover Conservancy

Facebook logo   Instagram   YouTube          
Donate button
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Celebrating 60 Years
    • What We Do
      • Advocacy
      • Conservation
      • Education
      • Stewardship
    • Board & Staff
    • Membership Benefits
    • Contact Us
  • Get Outdoors
    • Hanover Lands
      • Balch Hill Natural Area
      • Mink Brook Nature Preserve
      • Other Properties
    • Hanover Hikes
    • Hanover Trails Challenge
    • Upper Valley Hikes
    • Exploring Nature at Home
    • Hunting
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Spring Wildflower Scavenger Hunt
    • Private Events
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Adopt a Trail
    • Corporate Conservators
    • Planned Giving
  • Education
    • School Programs
      • KAST
      • Connecticut River Studies
      • Hanover High School Scholarship
    • Request a Field Trip or Speaker
    • Research on Our Lands
    • Hanover History
    • Resources
  • News
    • Remembering Bob Norman
    • Reports & e-News
  • Conserve Your Land

Announcing Spring Trips!

March 29, 2023

Our spring roster of trips is now ready! Current Hanover Conservancy members will receive a colorful announcement shortly. Come explore with us! Our trips are free and open to all.

Follow the link below for a list of our upcoming trips.

Spring Trip Calendar

Filed Under: Balch Hill, Birds, Events, Featured, Forest Ecology, Greensboro Ridge, Hudson Farm, Indoor Programs, King Bird Preserve/Hayes Farm Park, Lands, Outdoor Trips, Partnerships, Uncategorized, Wildlife Tagged With: Howe Library, Outdoor Events, Outdoor trips, spring, Spring trips, Vernal pools

Butterfly Hotspots in New England

July 5, 2022

As the spring songbird migration winds down and the butterfly migration picks up, there are some prime viewing sports right in Hanover! The Trust for Public Lands has put together a list of butterfly hotspots across the country including the Mink Brook Community Forest and Hudson Farm! Both spots contain open wildflower-filled meadows that are prime habitats for these pollinators.

Read the full article here

Thank you Kari Asmus for taking these beautiful photos!

Filed Under: Conservation, Featured, Hudson Farm, Lands, Mink Brook Community Forest, Wildlife Tagged With: Butterfly, conservation, Hudson Farm, Mink Brook Community Forest, wildlife habitat

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 stood the Adams Farm house from 1790 until 2024, a former tavern 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 with help from the staff of the White Mountain National Forest.  The beautiful meadows are kept open by carefully prescribed burns, 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

Old Highway 38 & Hudson Farm

September 1, 2018

Trail Directions and Map – Full Hike

 

Hudson Farm hike mapDriving Directions

  • From the traffic light at Route 120 and Greensboro Road, take Greensboro Road east for 1.8 miles to its junction with Etna and Great Hollow Roads.
  • Park at the roadside pull-off. If you prefer off-road parking, turn in at David Farr Memorial Park and bear R and downhill to a shaded gravel parking area.
  • Today’s hike on an historic highway includes a loop through the now-protected Hudson Farm’s fields and forest.

What You Should Know

  • This is a fun and easy hike with a few sections of tricky footing among roots or rocks. The route is well-blazed.
  • The route follows an early road and then travels a loop on one of Hanover’s newest conservation lands. In 2017, the National Park Service purchased the Hudson Farm (brown-shaded area on map) to permanently protect it as part of the Appalachian Trail corridor.
  • Trails are maintained by Hanover Trails Committee volunteers and Berrill Farm neighbors.
  • Dogs are welcome but must be under your control; please pick up after your pet.
  • Snowmobiles, ATVs, and bicycles are not permitted.

Hiking Directions

  • Begin your hike on Greensboro Road at the blue town sign marking the Old Highway 38 Trail, directly opposite the town’s Farr Memorial Park.
  • The old road leads between two contemporary houses and shortly turns R (marked with arrow), immediately diving back into time at a pair of old stone walls – the first of many you will encounter today.
  • tree with yellow blazeDon’t be dismayed by the steep path that suddenly appears– the rest of the hike is gentle and rolling. Follow the yellow blazes into the woods.
  • Town Highway 38 has a murky history. Laid out in 1795, it connected Greensboro and Trescott Roads. It was later discontinued, but its exact route was so hard to trace that when planning began for Berrill Farms in 1979, the town agreed with the developer on a route to be called the “Old Highway 38 Trail.”
  • The trail passes through a knobby landscape covered with ferns and a young forest of white pine. The stubs of lower branches encircling each tree are clues that these pines grew up together in an abandoned field, self-pruning those branches as the canopy closed in and blocked out the sun. A few venerable, much older maples survive.
  • old stone wall
  • Eight minutes from the trailhead you cross a fine stone wall. Follow it with your eyes to another at R, running parallel to the trail.
  • A few minutes later, take care crossing a wet spot, where “tree cookies” placed as pavers can be slippery. A small wooden bridge takes the trail over a space that is wetter in other seasons.
  • Six minutes from the first wall crossing, a trail comes in at L at the top of a small rise. This trail is closed to all but Berrill Farms residents. Continue straight, toward a blaze on a large, triple-trunk white pine. The nature of the forest has shifted, with more deciduous hardwoods, belying a different history.
  • You soon encounter another stone wall, this one built with much smaller stones – a clue that it once bordered cultivated land. The builder wished to spare his plow and give his carrot seedlings a chance by stooping to move and stack smaller stones. Had he been grazing sheep here, he wouldn’t have bothered. Take a moment to peel the years off this scene in your imagination, to a time nearly 200 years ago when the only trees were a few young maples left as shade for sheep, when sunlight flooded the ground you’re walking, and the view stretched E to nearby Mill Village, now called Etna. Time, and the end of the sheep craze, brought back the trees.
  • path in fallen pineSeven minutes’ walk from the trail junction, you pass through a slot in the fallen bole of a big pine, nearly 3 feet through. That’s big – but trace it back to where it fell – it was once part of a massive ring of three trunks! These softwoods grow more quickly than hardwoods like maples and oaks, so despite its imposing size, it’s likely younger than most of the hardwoods.
  • The trail swings up and L and follows a stone wall that retains barbed wire from when cattle, not sheep grazed here. At R, a field appears.
  • Bear R at a fork in the trail, up onto a mown path into the E meadow of the former Hudson Farm, to begin a steady climb to a line of trees at the top. Monarchs and other butterflies join you at this time of year, alighting on milkweed, clover, and goldenrod among the grasses, and cicadas and grasshoppers contribute the music.
  • Five minutes from the woods trail, you arrive at the tree line, where a second field comes into view beyond. You are walking through one of Hanover’s iconic historical farm landscapes.
  • Stop for a moment to enjoy the expansive view. Straight ahead, the open slopes of Lebanon’s Storrs Hill stand out, even more so in winter when covered in snow. At R are the Rix Ledges, some of the most interesting terrain and wildlife habitat in Lebanon.
  • Approach the small white pine growing by itself in the field, 20 paces away. From this vantage point you can see Mount Ascutney rising in the distance, to the right of Rix Ledges. You won’t be the first to have “The Sound of Music” pop into your head – nobody’s watching, so twirl around and sing!
  • A group stands with honorary plaques during the June 2017Hudson Farm conservation celebrationIn 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 purchase of the 175-acre Hudson Farm by the National Park Service to permanently protect it as part of the Appalachian Trail corridor. In addition to major federal funding, many local contributions made this possible, including a major contribution from the Hanover Conservancy to help with caring for the land into the future.
  • Owned for many years by Dartmouth College, 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 with help from the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) and, for trails, the Hanover Conservation Commission’s Trails Committee.
  • The beautiful meadows are kept open by periodic controlled burning for their spectacular views, to keep invasives under control, and to rejuvenate valuable grassland bird habitat. Without such treatment, grassy thatch would build up to prevent ground nesting of bobolinks. WMNF crews conduct such burns every 3-4 years, after careful advance planning. Burns take place during the brief window of time in late April just before the fields burst into lush green and before birds arrive to begin nesting. Coordinating with local officials and consulting weather forecasts, trained crews stage fire-fighting equipment nearby before conducting a small test burn to confirm that conditions are right. If they are, the burn continues.
  • Returning to the tree line, cross a low stone wall to the other field and a brown and yellow trail sign where two mown paths meet. From here, you can see a 20th century home built as a country retreat by Archer Hudson, a retired architect. Dartmouth College later purchased the property and carved off the house for resale, keeping the land. While the College referred to it as the “Hudson Farm,” the property ceased to be a farm when Hudson arrived. In fact, he burned down the large barn that once stood here!Old Highway 38 sign
  • [NOTE: To return along Etna Road, bear R here and take the mown path down through the meadow to Trescott Road and the Hudson Farm trailhead. Turn R on Trescott Road and R on Etna Road to your car.]
  • To continue today’s hike, bear L toward the woods to the lowest point in the rolling field.
  • Two sets of boardwalks offer dry footing across drainages. The second, larger one was built in 2018 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.
  • Soon you’ll see a stone wall at R, reminder that this was once grazing land. Continue as the trail heads gently downhill, with the slabby stone wall on your R until the wall neatly turns a corner of the old pasture.
  • Shortly after, a blue sign at R indicates you are heading toward the Appalachian Trail.
  • [NOTE: For a much longer adventure, continue straight here, turn L (southbound) on the AT to the Conservancy’s Greensboro Ridge Natural Area, L at Oli’s Trail, L at the Greensboro Highlands Trail, L at the Silent Brook Trail, and then L onto Greensboro Road and walk 1.6 miles back to your car.]
  • To continue today’s hike, turn L at the blue sign and follow the yellow blazes past impressive white pines. The trail slabs along the contour. It is discouraging to note the invasion of non-native barberry (a prickly shrub) and glossy buckthorn (find its black berries underfoot among the pine needles). Consider volunteering for organized work parties to remove these pests from conservation land. Or, volunteer to remove them from your own property, to help keep them from spreading. Learn more about these invasives from the Hanover Conservation Commission’s Biodiversity Committee.
  • Continue down the hill to a small drainage that may be nearly dry at this season. The trail crosses it in two places and bears R. About 15 minutes from the top of the fields, you return to the path you took into the first meadow. Continue on the woods path and stay L to avoid a R fork leading over a stone wall. It’s another 15 minutes back to your car from here.
  • The trail soon swings R and down toward Greensboro Road. Listen for the two-part whistle of a broad-wing hawk and keep an eye out for mushrooms. These fungi decorate the forest floor at this time of year, in colors ranging from purest white to bloody red.
  • The sound of traffic is a clue that you are nearing Greensboro Road. A pair of granite boulders serve as your gateway back from Hanover’s past to its present.

8/30/2018

Filed Under: Hike of the Month, Hudson Farm, September Tagged With: Appalachian Trail

Hudson Farm & the AT

January 1, 2018

Hudson Farm Trail Guide in PDF form

 

Driving Directions

  • From Etna, take Trescott Road north for 0.5 miles to the junction with Partridge Road.
    Park in the new parking area on the L side of the road (if it is plowed) at the blue sign reading “Old Highway 38 Trail.”
  • If the parking area is not accessible, continue up Trescott Road for another 0.4 miles to the AT parking lot on the R, just before a fence at the Trescott Water Supply Lands boundary. Your hike will end just across the road. To begin your hike, walk down Trescott Road to the new parking area at Old Highway 38.
  • Today’s hike is a loop through the Hudson Farm’s fields and forest on an historic highway and the famed Appalachian Trail, highlighted on the map at R.

What You Should Know

  • You’re about to visit one of Hanover’s newest conservation properties! The National Park Service has purchased the Hudson Farm, owned for many years by Dartmouth College, to permanently protect it as part of the Appalachian Trail corridor. The conservation project is a partnership between the Trust for Public Land, Hanover Conservancy, and Town of Hanover, celebrated in June, 2017. In addition to major federal funding, many local contributions made the farm’s protection possible. Over the years, the property was eyed as a site for everything from a housing development to a cemetery and golf course. We like it just the way the bobolinks and deer do.
  • Hudson Farm kiosk in winterThe Appalachian Trail Conservancy manages care of the land. Trails on the property are maintained by Berrill Farm neighbors and Hanover Trails Committee volunteers. The beautiful meadows will be kept open for their spectacular views and grassland bird habitat.
  • Dogs are welcome but must be under your control; please pick up after your pet.
  • Snowmobiles, ATVs, and bicycles are not permitted.
  • In spring, wet areas make parts of this route difficult. Hunting is allowed in season.

Brief Hiking Directions

  • Follow the Old Highway 38 Trail up along the edge of the field for 0.2 mi.
  • Turn L at brown & yellow “Old Highway 38 Trail” sign for a brief detour to the nearby meadow for views.
  • Return to the sign in the first meadow and walk straight, down the hill and enter the woods.
  • Continue over boardwalks and through the woods to a junction with sign on L. Continue straight.
  • At the next junction, bear R; trail is now blazed blue.
  • Travel 0.2 mile and watch for pink flagging on trees and AT crossing (easy to miss).
  • Take sharp R onto AT; note white blaze on tree on R.  If you reach a playground you’ve gone too far.
  • Follow AT & white blazes 12 minutes to Trescott Road. Turn R.  Note orange sign at L at road.
  • Continue 0.4mi back to start.  Parking area will be at R at the base of the hill.

Full Hiking Directions

  • Begin your hike where the Old Highway 38 Trail meets Trescott Road. The Town of Hanover constructed a parking area here, opposite Partridge Road.
  • Take the path beyond the trailhead kiosk to an open field, keeping the tree line on your left. Winter is a good time to visit this expansive rolling field, which is alive with nesting bobolinks in spring and summer (when your dog should be on a leash, at least here).
  • Continue up the rise along the tree line that marks an old stone wall. You are walking through one of rural Hanover’s iconic historical farm landscapes.
  • Seven minutes’ walk up from the trailhead, you’ll reach the far corner of the field. Here you’ll notice a brown and yellow trail sign where two paths meet, directing you to the right. Instead, turn L for a brief detour through an opening in the stone wall to a second, equally beautiful meadow.
  • Stop for a moment to enjoy the expansive view. Straight ahead, the open hillside of Storrs Hill in Lebanon stands out, especially when covered in snow. At R are Rix Ledges, some of the most interesting terrain and wildlife habitat in Lebanon.
  • Approach the small group of trees in the field, 30 paces away. From this vantage point you can see Mount Ascutney rising in the distance, to the right of Rix Ledges.
  • RETURN to the first field and its brown and yellow trail sign. Until recently, you would have caught a glimpse of the late 18th century Adams Farm house. Once a lively tavern, it was likely home to the family that once owned the abandoned farmland you are exploring today.  To the R, amid a clump of trees, is a 20th century home built by later owners.  Archer Hudson, a retired architect, constructed the house as a country retreat and burned down the Adams Farm’s barn–the foundation of which remains.  Dartmouth College later purchased the property and carved off the house for resale, keeping the land.  While the College has long referred to it as the “Hudson Farm,” this is historically inaccurate as the property ceased to be a farm before the Hudsons acquired it.
  • From the trail sign, with your back to the second meadow, follow the arrow on the sign and walk straight (turning R would return you to your car) to follow the tree line down to the lowest point in the rolling field. Here the yellow-blazed Old Highway 38 Trail enters the woods. A bog bridge offers an easy way across a small wetland. On this hike you’ll encounter some huge, open-grown “pasture pines” – white pines that grew up on abandoned agricultural land, with many lower branches. Some of them are monsters!
  • Town Highway 38 has a murky history. Laid out in 1795, it originally led from Greensboro Road through this land to Trescott Road. In time it became a Class VI highway, but its exact route was so hard to trace that when planning began for the Berrill Farms neighborhood, the town agreed with the developer in 1979 on a route to be called the “Old Highway 38 Trail.” New LiDAR imagery of the Adams Farm just north shows traces
    of the old road heading toward the old tavern and then on to Trescott Road by today’s Bob Adams Road.
  • Soon you’ll ford another drainage on a crossing built in 2018 by Hanover Trails Committee volunteers. Protecting such headwater wetlands and streams from the erosion and runoff that comes with development is another reason to conserve this land – and will ultimately benefit water quality and trout habitat in Mink Brook from Etna to the Connecticut River.
  • Rising back to dry ground, you’ll encounter not one but two stone walls on the R, another reminder that this land was once open pasture. The second wall forms a corner as you approach and follows you for a distance. Fresh yellow blazes mark your path.
  • Soon, a sign at L indicates a turn in the Old Highway 38 Trail, where it will reach Greensboro Road in 0.9 miles. Instead, you continue straight toward the AT, 0.3 miles ahead.
  • As you continue, an open area is visible downhill at R; this is the forested wetland that is the source of the small drainage you crossed earlier.
  • 25 minutes’ walk from the trailhead, you reach another junction. The trail coming in at L originates at Bblue arrow sign in a treeerrill Farms. Above to the L, a tree seems to be gnawing on a blue arrow. Ahead at R, another tree has made less progress consuming its arrow sign. Bear R here and follow the arrow and blue-blazed trail downhill past a large old wolf pine at R.
  • You’ll soon reach the yellow-blazed boundary of the original federal land embracing the Appalachian Trail corridor, before the corridor was expanded with the addition of the Hudson Farm. If there’s no snow cover today, you’ll notice the stone wall forming the old property boundary and the AT boundary pin next to the trail. Continue on the blue-blazed trail. Watch for ice underfoot as you cross a small drainage.
  • Keep an eye out for bits of “cultural debris” such as a sap bucket. This is a good time to note that hunting is permitted on the AT and federal land surrounding it, so it’s wise to wear orange if you’re out between Sept. 15 and Dec. 15.
  • A few minutes after passing the sap bucket, the famed Appalachian Trail crosses your path. While it is well marked with fresh white blazes, it can be easy to miss as the old trail continues straight. Turn R onto the AT and head for Mt. Katahdin (or maybe just your car). This is your second historic trail of the day. Benton MacKaye conceived of the regional trail in 1921, and after overcoming many obstacles including the 1938 Hurricane, World War II’s drain on trail maintainers, and the kind of political intransigence that is all too familiar, his vision became the National Scenic Appalachian Trail in 1968.
  • Hemlocks shelter the trail here; if weather conditions are right, it’s easy to see how their stiff needles and short branchlets capture and hold snow before it can fall to the ground. Deer and other wildlife take advantage of the shallower snow depths under hemlocks, where it’s easier to move around. Wildlife managers call such hemlock groves “deer yards” for this reason.
  • Soon you leave the hemlocks behind as the AT heads up a gentle knoll dominated by northern hardwoods. Continuing back down the north side, the trail enters evergreen forest again.
  • About 8 minutes after turning onto the AT, you’ll encounter another wetland. The log crossing may be buried in snow – watch your footing. In summer, this place begets very dirty dogs.Velvet Rocks trail sign
  • Four minutes later you’ll reach Trescott Road and the Dartmouth Outing Club’s orange sign for the Velvet Rocks Trail. The AT parking lot is visible to the L across the road.
  • If you left your car here, it’s time to end your hike. If not, turn R on Trescott Road and walk the 0.4 miles back down toward Etna and your car.

updated 9/1/2020

 

Filed Under: Hike of the Month, Hudson Farm, January Tagged With: Appalachian Trail, bobolink

71 Lyme Road
Hanover, NH 03755
(603) 643-3433

info@hanoverconservancy.org

Facebook logo   Instagram   YouTube

Get Involved

Become a Member

Volunteer

Business Sponsors

Conserve Your Land

Employment

Our Mission

Advocacy

Conservation

Education

Stewardship

Explore Hanover

Hanover Hikes

Upcoming Events

Upper Valley Hikes

Trails Challenge

Copyright © 2025 Hanover Conservancy | Design by Chase Brook Software