Summer drive to Benson Park, Hudson NH

July 16, 2016February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

Hot day, feeling sluggish, mulling over a list of places to go: I finally just got in the car and started driving.

IMG_20160716_115806 — _{Along the Haselton Farms trail in Benson Park}

Zipping through NH Rt. 111 in Hudson enroute to yet another Forest Society property (I’ll get that patch if it kills me), I realized that I was near Benson Park. I hadn’t been on the property in years – since it was Benson’s Wild Animal Farm, in fact. I made a quick detour, found the park, and walked three good miles on its trails and paths. The trails I chose weren’t crowded, even with a couple of Pokémon Go groups intent on doing whatever it is they do.

Download a trail map before you go. I settled for taking a photo of the map at a kiosk on site. Kids, don’t try this at home; batteries are fickle friends.

The history of the property is available on the Town of Hudson website. Indulge me as I recount a grossly oversimplified version: once upon a time in the town of Hudson, New Hampshire, there was an amusement park called Benson’s Wild Animal Farm. The Finer Minds at the state capital decided that a Circumferential Highway would ease all of Nashua’s traffic problems. (I hear you tittering over there in the back.) The Benson’s property was bought up by the state to mitigate the expected loss of wetlands for the highway project. Years passed, and the Circumferential Highway project quietly expired, leaving only exit 2 off the Everett Turnpike to remember it by. Eventually, the Finer Minds released the Benson’s property to the town of Hudson.

More years passed, many people put enormous efforts into rehabilitating the property, and Benson’s Park is now a Hudson jewel with a playground, dog park, memorials, and a trail network. The longest single trail, Haselton Farm, is about two and a half miles long; many shorter ones allow for extended hikes.

On the Haselton Farm trail, some of the pavement remains from the Wild Animal Farm days, and the occasional sewer-access cover along the way serves as a reminder that this used to be a more developed area. On this 90-degree summer day, the trail was wonderfully shady, and a light breeze made bug repellent unnecessary.

This was the best spur-of-the-moment stop I’ve made in a long time. It’s great fun to find a place like this fairly close to home.

IMG_20160716_124751 — _{9/11 memorial at Benson Park, featuring a beam from the World Trade Center.}

Blossoms in a dry season: Nashua River Rail Trail

April 24, 2016February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb / 3 Comments

ground cover plants with small purple petals — photos by Ellen Kolb

I’ve spent nearly three months hobbling with a knee injury. It was a triumph for me to cover three miles in an hour on the Nashua River Rail Trail this morning.

It’s bone-dry in my area, as in most of New Hampshire. Even so, buds and blossoms are turning up. A week ago, a few sprigs of grass were poking through the dry leaves at trailside. Today, bluets and violets were blossoming, and there’s much more greenery despite the drought. Rain is forecast for later this week – and a day of that should brighten up the trail in earnest.

What’s new in your area? What’s blossoming in spite of the weather?

At last, Manchester-Goffstown rail trail link completed

October 26, 2015February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

New Hampshire’s Piscataquog Rail Trail finally reaches across the Piscataquog River, connecting Manchester with Goffstown. I put off some workday tasks long enough to walk the trail from its east end all the way across the new bridge. With all due respect and gratitude to the many people who made the project happen, I didn’t stay for the ribbon-cutting and speechifyin’. Trails are for walking.

pedestrian bridge over a river, blue sky, autumn foliage — On the Manchester side, looking toward Goffstown, at long last. Ellen Kolb photos.

unpaved shaded rail trail — On the Goffstown side.

granite bench etched with "welcome" and placed trailside — I call this right neighborly.

Pedestrian bridge next to bright-red autumn foliage. — Second Street bridge, near east end of Piscataquog Rail Trail.

Merrimack River, deep blue water, with Manchester (NH) skyline — The Queen City: Manchester, New Hampshire, seen from the Hands Across the Merrimack bike/ped bridge.

The Singer family is behind many philanthropic efforts in the Manchester area. Their generosity helped to complete the bridge project.

Easy uphill: Andres Institute of Art, Brookline NH

September 21, 2015February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb / 1 Comment

The Andres Institute of Art – “a sculpture park to delight the whole family,” as its website proclaims – occupies much of a hill alongside Route 13 in Brookline, New Hampshire. Over 70 sculptures are scattered around the property, which is laced with walking trails. The property is open dawn to dusk daily, and there’s no fee although donations are welcomed.

I spent an hour here on summer’s final weekend, and took these photos that show a sample of the artwork to be found along the Andres trails.

Alignment by Hoa Bich Dao. The path uphill cuts a diagonal line in the background.

Manchester-Goffstown rail trail connector: the new span is in place

August 13, 2015February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

August 2015: new span will soon link the Goffstown and Piscataquog (Manchester NH) rail trails. Ellen Kolb photo.

I take back every pessimistic word I ever wrote about the difficulties that would have to be overcome in order to link the rail trails in Goffstown and Manchester, New Hampshire.

A month ago, there was a great big empty spot where the old railroad trestle over the Piscataquog River used to be. Now, sooner than I thought possible, a new bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists is in place. It’s not yet open, but I checked out the area today and saw a serious construction effort underway on the approach to the Manchester end.

Good news, I say.

Rockingham Trail & Lake Massabesic, Manchester/Auburn NH

May 7, 2015February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

Workday or not, an 80-degree spring day calls for some trail time. Decked out in business clothes and dress shoes, I spent midday on a tame but worthwhile path: the Rockingham Recreational Trail from its Lake Massabesic trailhead near the Manchester/Auburn town line.

Rockingham Recreational Trail (Portsmouth branch), Auburn NH, east of NH Rt. 121. Ellen Kolb photos.

The trail extends more than twenty miles east to Newfields, which would make an interesting bike ride some other day. Pressed for time today, I walked only about a mile and a half before retracing my steps back to my car. I took my time to enjoy the birds (quite a variety near the lake) and take a few pictures from a boat launch. The trail is unpaved but wide and well-trodden. It was popular this midday: moms with kids, a guy fishing in a trailside pond, lots of dog walkers, even one dirt biker in defiance of the no-motorized-vehicle rule.

View of Lake Massabesic from boat launch just off Rockingham Rec Trail and NH Rt. 121.

More information on this trail can be found on the New Hampshire State Parks web site and in the book New Hampshire Rail Trails by Charles Martin (available from the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition).