November in Boscawen, NH: Northern Rail Trail

/ Ellen Kolb

One of the southernmost trailheads for New Hampshire’s Northern Rail Trail is on Depot Street in Boscawen, just north of Concord. A little informational sign on the stretch of road shared by US 3 and US 4 points to the side street.

The unpaved well-maintained trail surface is fine for walking and biking. The ambitious traveler with the right kind of bike could go clear to the other end of the trail in Lebanon in one trip. In the winter, the NRT is a popular snowmobile trail.

I found the Depot Street trailhead on an overcast November afternoon that was warm enough for me to walk without my jacket. In the hour I was there, I covered about three miles. Along the way: colorful berries on leafless vines, a bend in the low-flowing Merrimack River, and a wide path carpeted in crunchy autumn leaves.

autumn leaves on a rail trail with a mileage sign left over from the path's days as an active rail line
Northern Rail Trail, Boscawen, 60 miles from White River Junction.
oriental bittersweet berries in autumn
NRT, Boscawen, November: bittersweet’s invasive vines carry attractive fruit that’s good for birds but toxic to humans. I looked but didn’t touch.
New Hampshire Merrimack River autumn
Merrimack River, November, Boscawen NH. The river’s source is a few miles north in Franklin, where the Winnipesaukee and Pemigewasset rivers converge.
sign for Northern Rail Trail NH
The Granite State Rail Trail will someday extend from Lebanon NH to Salem NH, linking several existing trails including NRT.

For more information: Friends of the Northern Rail Trail