It has “the kind of scenery well worth slowing down for,” the opportunity to get a glimpse of New England history, and experience small towns along the way. Recently, The Wall Street Journal featured the Northern Rail Trail in their article, “6 Incredible Bike Trips You Can Easily Do Yourself.” (Google the article’s title to read it online.)
The article comments on the scenery and side trips: “The southeast portion — Franklin to Boscawen — is especially lovely as it rolls through tree tunnels. (The shade makes for a pleasantly cool ride even on a hot summer day.) The trail allows easy access — via short detours — to Webster Lake, where orator Daniel Webster spent summers as a boy, and Enfield Shaker Museum, which exhibits the signature minimalist furniture of this Christian sect.”
Additionally, Boston.com published “New England has one of the 6 most rewarding rail trails in America, according to The Wall Street Journal,” also recognizing the beautiful scenery and variety of things to do along the way.
What nice recognition for this gem in our community!
The Northern Rail Trail, spanning nearly 60 miles from Lebanon to Boscawen, is New Hampshire’s longest rail-trail conversion. It weaves through Grafton and Merrimack counties and has been recognized as one of five top trails that’s benefitted from America’s Recreational Trails Program.
Starting from Lebanon at the trail’s northern end, the journey is easy and scenic, weaving back and forth over the Mascoma River and by the northern shore of Mascoma Lake. The trail then enters the lakeside community of Enfield and continues through Canaan, Orange, and Grafton.
Next, crossing into Merrimack County, you’ll enter Danbury, passing the Danbury Country Store and continuing to Andover. Andover’s Potter Place Railroad Station, restored to look as it did in 1874, features a museum, caboose, and nearby freight house. In one mile, the trail crosses the Blackwater River next to the 1882 Keniston Covered Bridge.
East of Andover, the trail winds through wooded areas by Highland and Webster Lakes. There are interpretive signs scattered throughout the remainder of the trail to highlight the rail trail’s history, with the stone remains of a turntable that once assisted in changing the direction of locomotives, as illustration. The trail then closely follows US 3 and the Merrimack River to the trail’s current end in Boscawen.
Future plans call for extending the trail on both the northern and southern ends, as part of the Granite State Rail Trail, a 125-mile project that will eventually span New Hampshire, from the Massachusetts border to Vermont.
For more information on the Northern Rail Trail’s Friends of the Northern Rail Trail (FNRT.org) and to find out about the 25-Year, 25-Mile Challenge Celebration. The celebration begins on Thursday, July 8, with the Grand Opening, from 5 to 7 PM, of the new tunnel connecting the Northern Rail Trail to the Mascoma River Greenway. The celebration culminates with a major event on Thursday, August 26. For more information, visit LebanonNH.gov.
We invite you to enjoy the trail and welcome involvement with our organization in many roles.