One way to celebrate a birthday – part II: Presidential Rail Trail & Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail

September 10, 2025February 28, 2026 / Ellen Kolb / 2 Comments

When last we met, I described a stop in Franconia Notch as I headed north for a birthday hike. Ultimately, half of my trip’s miles were along the Presidential Rail Trail (PRT). No two hikes there are alike, even from one day to the next.

Was I hiking, or was I walking? I know there are trail lovers out there who would scorn my use of the word “hike” to describe travel on any path that’s flat. I humbly ask their (your?) indulgence. If I’m on a paved surface, or an unpaved well-maintained town road, I’m walking. Anyplace else, I’m hiking.

Just go with it. Let’s get back to the PRT.

A cloudy day in Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge

Two days and half of my miles were on the PRT, my favorite rail trail. The first day was cloudy, the second brilliantly sunny, and each was splendid.

I began with the PRT’s path through Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge. My first stop was the viewing platform at Cherry Pond, an easy mile and a half from the Airport Road trailhead in Whitefield. The pond was covered with waterlilies. The only sounds were crickets, bees, some shy songbirds, and one distant jet way overhead.

Cherry Mountain and the Pliny Range were out the open, but the Presidentials to the east refused to come out from behind clouds. I gave them a chance, as I spent several hours between the trailheads at Airport Road and NH 115-A, but they simply weren’t going to show off for anyone not climbing them.

Meadow with summer wildflowers on a cloudy day with a mountain in the background — *_{Cherry Mountain and Joe-Pye weed along the Presidential Rail Trail. Ellen Kolb photo.}*

Wild blossoms lined my way. I was pleased to see that Joe-Pye weed, while fading a bit, was still plentiful. I like its bold height and pink blooms. I was to see much more of it in the coming days.

Coming back at dusk to chase some sunset photos, I was surprised by a snowshoe hare popping out of the dense brush along the trail. Accustomed as I am to the pesky Eastern cottontails that abound in my southern New Hampshire neighborhood, I wasn’t used to seeing a larger, darker rabbit. But there it was!

Forested mountain range at sunset — *_{A late afternoon view from the PRT: Mount Waumbek and the Pliny Range. Ellen Kolb photo.}*

The Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail

The next day, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was doomed to get sunburned.

The xNHAT – I’ll use the abbreviation favored by the trail’s founder, about whom more in part III – includes much of the PRT, but also a quiet residential unpaved Jefferson road called Valley Way. That’s where I got my sunburn. It’s also where I had all the views of the Presidential Range that were missing the day before.

Panoramic view of the Presidential Range mountains in New Hampshire, seen from a nearby road — _{The Presidential Range seen from Valley Way in Jefferson NH. L-R: Mts. Madison, Adams, Jefferson, and Washington. Mt. Washington is the tallest, but seems shorter due to the angle from which I took the photo.}

(I’ve written before about the xNHAT, which extends all the way across the state from Woodsville past Shelburne, ending in Bethel, Maine. My trip included only a couple of segments. Take a look at xnhat.org to learn about the whole trail.)

I started from Bowman, a trailhead off U.S. 2 in Randolph. From there I hiked west to NH Route 115, and then reversed direction as far as the Appalachia parking area. Having the car in the middle of my route gave me a place to eat lunch with my feet propped up. (My celebration, my rules.)

I started on the shady PRT, and when I got to Jefferson Notch Road I cut over to Valley Way. After all the clouds the day before, I was going to take the scenic route and enjoy the view of the Presidential range in all its summer glory.

Thumbs up to the friend of the trail who has established Paradise Meadow on Valley Way! This generous supporter has set up a little oasis on his own property for the benefit of xNHAT travelers. There’s room for a couple of tents, for the convenience of bikepackers or backpackers. More important for me as a day hiker were his other amenities, including a picnic table, a cooler full of bottled water, and a tidy discreetly-located pit toilet. I left him a thank-you note and a small donation in the little lockbox nearby.

Valley Way was superb, but I eventually switched back to the PRT for its soothing shade. While the PRT is parallel to and close by U.S. 2, the highway’s traffic is muted by the trees between trail and highway. A soft surface to walk on, shade above me, and wild black raspberries here and there made for a fine afternoon.

Shady woods trail — *_{Shade along the PRT, and a rock cut dating back to rail days. Ellen Kolb photo.}*

In part III, I’ll take you to Hogan Road on the xNHAT, which might be Mr. Hyde to Valley Road’s Dr. Jekyll – though after several visits, Hogan and I have come to terms. It has beauty of its own. If you missed part I, you can find it here.

If you’re so inclined, you can Buy Me a Coffee – with my thanks!

Fall’s first half: New Hampshire, north to south

November 1, 2023February 26, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

My autumn began with a trip upstate as the leaves began turning. As October ends, I’m near the Massachusetts border, where red and orange foliage has yielded to gold and bronze. The sunlight through the leaves these days creates a glowing aura around everything.

First stop: North Country

Three days on the Ammonoosuc and Presidential trails in early fall added up to 30 miles of walking for me, punctuated with unexpected meetings. Amazing, the encounters I’ve had walking through New Hampshire.

The Ammonoosuc trail follows – you guessed it – the Ammonoosuc River. While checking out the three newest miles of the trail east of Littleton, I met a couple I know from the NH Rail Trail Coalition. We were pleased to see that the new section, between Cottage Street and Oxbow Drive, has a great surface that will be especially helpful to anyone biking the Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail. The following day, I met up with yet another NHRTC colleague while on a gravelly Ammonoosuc stretch between Lisbon and Bath. That surface is in the process of being upgraded from gravel to a smoother crushed stone. Can’t happen soon enough, as far as I’m concerned. My feet took a bit of a beating that day. I gave them a rest as I ate my lunch under the picturesque Bath covered bridge.

Ammonoosuc River in Littleton NH. All photos by Ellen Kolb/Granite State Walker.

I was in the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge a few months ago, when Joe-Pye weed and Queen Anne’s lace were blooming all along the Presidential rail trail. When I returned in early fall, nearly all the blossoms were gone, except for a couple of hardy little asters holding out against the equinox. Milkweed pods had burst and left their seeds floating across Moorhen Marsh. Frost had nipped the north country and its mosquitoes, making the walk to Cherry Pond even more pleasant than usual. My last view of the pond had been when it was covered with water lilies. This time, the pond was a mirror for Mt. Starr King and the Pliny Range.

If I were to search this blog’s sixteen years of posts, I’d probably find a dozen photos of the views from the Cherry Pond observation deck. Even when I know I’m standing in the same place and pointing the camera in the same direction as I did on an earlier walk, I’ll get a unique image: different light, different season, different shades of earth and sky.

_{Cherry Pond in the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, on the Presidential Rail Trail, Jefferson NH.}

I decided to re-visit Mud Pond trail, also in the wildlife refuge but north of Cherry Pond, with its trailhead off of NH Route 116. I was there some years ago when it was brand-new and awaiting finishing touches. Now, it’s a small gem. Bonus: it’s designed to be accessible to anyone in a wheelchair, with switchbacks and boardwalks and easy grades along its half-mile length. It ends at Mud Pond, which really deserves a better name. It’s pretty and peaceful, and the observation deck must be a birdwatcher’s dream.

_{The trail to Mud Pond in Jefferson is designed for maximum accessibility, leading to a good spot for birdwatching.}

Walking for a cause

Mid-October, I walked 13 miles on the Rockingham Recreation Trail in Auburn, Candia, and Raymond with a group raising funds for a shelter in Manchester. We couldn’t have picked a better October day. From a foggy sunrise over Lake Massabesic all the way to full midday sunshine in Raymond, I enjoyed good company.

I hadn’t passed by the old Raymond Depot in awhile, and it was fun to see it again. The littlest rail car – I call it a putt-putt, though it probably has a more dignified name – always looks a little lost on the siding, dwarfed by the more conventional rail cars nearby. They’re all part of the old rail line’s history, so they all belong there.

Raymond Depot along Rockingham Recreational Trail

One piece at a time

Just a few days ago, I attended a ribbon-cutting for a trail in Salem, New Hampshire. A trail segment, to be more precise. A 300-foot segment, if you must know.

Okay, let the eye-rolls commence. But I drove the better part of an hour to be there, because getting that segment finished took years, and I wanted to thank the people who had made it happen. This is the Salem (NH) Bike-Ped Corridor at the Massachusetts state line. Its significance: it’s the south end of what will someday be the Granite State Rail Trail extending from Salem all the way to Lebanon, just this side of Vermont.

A piece of the Salem trail is already in use further north of the newly-christened segment, extending into Windham and Derry. This is the same old rail line that includes what’s now the Londonderry rail trail, which will someday connect with the South Manchester trail, which will someday connect with yet-to-be-built trails in Hooksett and Bow and Concord, finally connecting with the Northern Rail Trail that’s already complete from Boscawen to Lebanon.

This is how long trails are built, whether they’re remote or urban, flat or mountainous: one piece at a time, even if some of those pieces are only be 300 feet long. Over time, those pieces add up.

Pocket park on the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor

I seldom get to Salem, so I spent time after the ribbon-cutting ceremony walking south along the Bike-Ped corridor into Methuen, Massachusetts. It was easy to ignore the traffic noise from nearby heavily-developed Route 28. Instead, I concentrated on the sights, sounds, and fresh clean smells of the wetlands and pocket parks along the way.

“Past peak,” say the foliage reports. Don’t you believe it.

_{A trailside vine shows off its mid-autumn colors.}

Autumn road trip: clouds and no crowds on the Presidential Rail Trail

October 5, 2020February 25, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

My husband and I drove to northern New Hampshire for a hastily-planned weekend trip for some hiking and biking, past the peak autumn foliage and the oppressive crowds driving to see it. The cloudy weather got cloudier. Traffic got lighter. When we stopped at a little inn on U.S. 2, we were exactly where we wanted to be.

You can call it “past peak.” I call it just fine.

It was not a weekend for grand vistas or clear night skies. Low clouds were the rule. My favorite lookout spot on the Weeks State Park Auto Road, which usually features a showstopping view of the Presidential Range, featured nothing but a wall of fog.

So instead of looking at things miles away, I spent more time looking at things like the carpet of red maple leaves under my feet. I liked walking for miles in the cool conditions. Segments of the Presidential Rail Trail were ideal.

The only noisy mile of trail was one I shared with ATVs in Gorham when I wanted to get a look at the Androscoggin River from a trail bridge. Once I’d done that, I scooted back west to where the trail was closed to motorized traffic. Once I was on that stretch, I saw a grand total of three other people in five miles of walking.

Androscoggin River in Gorham New Hampshire — _{Androscoggin River, Gorham NH: low in October after a dry summer. Ellen Kolb photo.}

At one point during the weekend, the clouds lifted enough to reveal nearby Cherry Mountain, which for once wasn’t just a visual foil to all the other peaks in the area. I was lucky enough to be walking on the Presidential Trail in the Pondicherry area (trailheads on Airport Road in Whitefield and NH Route 115-A in Jefferson) when the sun came out and the view opened up.