Public Art Enhances Rail Trails

August 18, 2022 / Ellen Kolb / 1 Comment

Murals, sculptures, and illustrations on the pavement could await you when you discover New Hampshire’s rail trails. Some trails feature artwork provided by volunteers from local trail groups. Others display the colorful contributions of area students or professional artists. As you walk or ride along the trails (find a complete list at nhrtc.org), look for treats like these.

Poet Robert Frost once taught at Derry’s Pinkerton Academy. The paved Derry Rail Trail pays tribute with an illustrated version of “The Road Not Taken,” one of Frost’s most famous works. The trail surface itself serves as canvas for this imaginative project.

Read the rest of the post at the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition blog.

Derry Rail Trail (NH) tribute to Robert Frost — The Derry Rail Trail features a tribute to Robert Frost with an illustrated rendering of “The Road Not Taken.” Photo by Ellen Kolb.

Madame Sherri’s castle may crumble, but trails remain

July 17, 2021 / Ellen Kolb

As reported by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the castle ruins at Madame Sherri Forest in Chesterfield are now a bit more ruined. Time, weather, and probably a few too many human footsteps resulted recently in a collapse of one of the arches supporting the stone staircase. That makes me a bit sad. I’ve always found the remains of the “castle” – actually a once-fancy house – to be a charming visual gateway to recreational land.

(See Forest Society photos of the damage.)

But don’t fret. There’s still enough of the old structure left to spark a smile and fire the imagination, even with caution tape in place. Even better, the adjacent trails are unaffected.

ruins of Madame Sherri Castle in Chesterfield, New Hampshire — *Madame Sherri’s castle, before July 2021 arch collapse*

The Chesterfield Conservation Commission maintains a list of trails and features. The 50-mile Wantastiquet-Monadnock trail runs through the property. My favorite feature of the forest is Indian Pond, a fairly easy walk from the forest’s small parking area.

The Madame Sherri Forest is still very much worth visiting. Enjoy what’s there.

Indian Pond, Madame Sherri Forest, Chesterfield New Hampshire — *Foggy day at Indian Pond, Madame Sherri Forest, Chesterfield NH*

A Covid challenge: keeping hikes local

March 31, 2020February 25, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

For my readers in New Hampshire’s southern tier, itching for recreation as the COVID-19 pandemic turns everything upside down, this might be a good time to review the nearby spots where we can walk and decompress.

Go ahead. Get out there. It’s worth the effort to find an uncrowded place to walk. Aim for solitude instead of isolation (there’s a world of difference). Social distancing is important, and some of us need to stay extremely close to home, but don’t rule out every outdoor option. Remind yourself that it’s spring, even if this seems like a crazy time. The peepers are waiting for you. The pollen may have found you already.

Can’t get out now? Plan for future hikes. The current unpleasantness is temporary.

What are your favorite spots in your own town? Are the trailhead parking lots full?Maybe there’s a new park to discover nearby. Look up Parks and Rec or Conservation Commission on your city or town website. You may find trail descriptions and maps available for download. Maybe there’s a newly-acquired property you haven’t heard about yet.
Facebook and Instagram can be gold mines of information on current trail conditions. Follow or “like” pages such as Friends of the Goffstown Rail Trail and Londonderry Trailways (to give just two examples). You might find reports that one trail is experiencing too-heavy use on a particular day, while another one five miles away is much quieter.
The Forest Society has more than a hundred properties statewide for you to discover. Forget the one on Mount Major, where the parking lot looks like a mall on Black Friday. That still leaves a bunch of beauties, and there’s probably one near you. Website bonus: virtual tours, where you can check out properties online and plan for future hikes.
There’s probably a New Hampshire state park near you. There might be some access limitations.
This isn’t the time to push any physical limits. First responders have enough to do at the moment without fetching injured hikers.

_{Stratham Hill Park, Stratham NH: a guide to what you can see from the observation tower.}

Are you avoiding even solo road trips? Join the club. I’m lucky to have a walkable neighborhood: no sidewalks, but no through-roads, either. That’s where I’ve done most of my walking for the past couple of weeks. I find that a daily walk is an absolute necessity, not so much for the physical exercise as for the mental shift.

Bonus for the soul: I’m seeing neighbors I’ve never met, who are also trying to fight the shut-in feeling that comes with these days. We observe social-distance protocols. The six-foot rule does not bar smiles and greetings.

sculpture in white granite — _{Mbari House by Geoffery Nwogu, one of many sculptures along the trails at the Andres Institute of Art, Brookline NH.}

Traditional school’s out, gyms are shut, businesses are closed, paychecks may or may not be forthcoming, and #stayhome is trending. My walks are a refuge from all that.

ruins of stone house in a forest — _{Madame Sherri Forest, Chesterfield NH}

The Wapack Trail, NH/MA: a series of dayhikes

November 22, 2016February 24, 2026 / Ellen Kolb

From Ashburnham, Massachusetts to Greenfield, New Hampshire, the Wapack range extends over a series of peaks that can be seen clearly from the eastern slopes of Mount Monadnock. The 21-mile Wapack Trail spans the range, with segments that make great dayhikes.

My copy of the the Wapack Trail guide is well-thumbed, and the map that comes with it has held up pretty well for me through the years. Map and guidebook, along with recent trail notes, are available at the Friends of the Wapack web site.

Pack Monadnock is the most popular part of the trail, with Miller State Park and the summit’s fire tower apt to draw crowds. North Pack is close enough to add for an out-and-back hike.

I like the Temple Mountain ridge in July, when I can make a lunch out of blueberries. Watatic, at the southern end of the trail, has a wonderful open summit. The variety of birds in the Binney Pond area make the mosquitoes worth tolerating.

Endurance racers have been known to run the entire trail in a day. I take the Wapack in segments, at a gentle pace. Either way, the Wapack Range is memorable.