The Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition (SRKG) was founded in 1993. It is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization to promote hiking and land conservation. A 75-mile hiking trail forming a loop known as the SRK Greenway was built to link the most prominent peaks in the area – Mount Sunapee, Ragged Mountain, and Mount Kearsarge.
The SRK Greenway extends through 10 towns and of its 75-miles of trails, 9.4 miles of SRKG trails are in Andover, with ancillary trail connections to Proctor Academy trails and Morey Pond in Wilmot. The SRKG Trail #10 enters Andover from Twist Hill Road (off Kearsarge Mountain Road just below the entrance to Winslow State Park on the Wilmot side of Mount Kearsarge). Trail #10 comes down Dawes Road, links to Bridge Street and ends at Proctor Academy near the Field House. Shortly after entering the gravel road part of Twist Hill Road there is a spur trail to Morey Pond, a delightful 1.6-mile loop off SRK Trail #10.
SRKG Trail #9 begins at the Proctor Field House near the tennis courts and goes up to the east and west peaks of Ragged Mountain and has an ancillary spur trail to Balancing Rock on the south side of Ragged Mountain. Trail #9 passes one of the Ragged Mountain Resort ski lift towers and then descends into Wilmot, coming out at a trailhead on New Canada Road. Much of SRKG Trail #9 passes over private property and would not exist were it not for the generosity of many landowners.
In July 2020 the SRKG erected a trailhead kiosk near the Proctor Academy field house, with maps of all the SRKG trails and information about the Proctor woodlands. This kiosk was financed by the SRKG from charitable donations to the SRKG through the Scott Hollinger Family Memorial funds.
In 2020 and 2021, COVID once again mandated changes from the SRKG. The Annual Meeting on April 11, 2021 had to be held remotely. Forty-nine households participated. (Sorry! No annual pot-luck supper again!) Guest speaker Henry Jones, a wildlife biologist from New Hampshire Fish and Game, delivered a wonderful talk about the New Hampshire moose population and moose ecology.
This second year of COVID restrictions brought very heavy use of the SRKG trails. Sales of the SRK Greenway Trail Guide tripled between 2020 and 2021. Thanks to generous memorial donations from the Hollinger and Moseley families and volunteer trail work from the SRKG Board and other small volunteer groups, the SRKG was able to accomplish significant improvements to its trails in 2021: new trailhead signs; two new kiosks; new bridges in Springfield through collaboration with the Springfield Snowmobiler’s Club; new drainage ditches on the Wolf Tree Trail at the head of Pleasant Lake through collaboration with the New London Conservation Commission; and re-decking of bridges on many of the trails between New London and Springfield.
Increasingly, Proctor Academy has been sending several student groups out on the SRK Greenway for their Wilderness Orientation, a five-day backpacking trip in the early fall for all incoming students. In 2021, 20 Proctor students and their faculty guides enjoyed their five days of hiking on the SRKG trails and camping on private land areas near the peaks and ponds of our local woodlands. Spending this time in local wild areas promotes a sense of place and stewardship for these students and faculty.
Between May 2019 and December 2021, 73 hikers obtained certificates and a completion medallion from the SRKG after hiking all 75-miles of the SRKG trails. On January 22 and 23, 2022, the SRKG sponsored its third SOLO Wilderness First Aid course at Colby Sawyer College. This training is to encourage safe hiking in all seasons in New Hampshire and elsewhere.
To learn more about the SRKG, or to join as a member, please visit the SRKG website at SRKG.org, or visit us on FaceBook. Thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy the trails!