The Beaver Pond Loop and Ridge Trail hike at the Betsey Dodge Conservation Area in New Boston, New Hampshire is an easy 2.2-mile loop hike that features views of Beaver Pond and follows two separate trails.
Trail Name(s): Beaver Pond Loop, Ridge Trail.
Location: Betsey Dodge Conservation Area, Saunders Hill Road, New Boston NH.
Allowed activities: hiking, birding, geocaching, picnicking, nature study, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, fishing, mountain biking and horseback riding.
Forbidden activities: no fires, no camping, no vehicles, no littering, no disturbing or removing plants or animals.
Hours: Trails are available from dawn to dusk each day.
Parking and fees: There is parking at trailhead off of a dirt driveway. There is no fee to park or use trails.
Pets: There are no posted prohibitions for dogs being allowed on the trails, however New Boston Conservation Commission are the stewards for this area and under their “general rules” pets are required to be leashed.
Accessibility: This trail is not wheelchair or stroller accessible. There are some smooth flatter sections along the trail as well as the typical trip hazards to watch out for. Hikers will find a varying substrate along the trail comprised of: pine needle covered foot paths, leaf litter, some roots, limited rocks, boardwalks over muddy stream beds. A section of the trail runs along a wood road and is wide and has a gravely path.
Sanitation: There are no restrooms or trash bins at the trail head or along the trail. Please carry out all waste.
Trail information: There is a no trailhead kiosk at the parking area. The trail blaze markers along the pond area start off as orange conservation discs, orange rectangles. Further along the trail, hikers may also see orange diamond trail blaze markers and orange painted metal circles. There is a junction at the far end of the pond where the orange trail continues to the right, and a Blue trail blaze continues to the left closer to the pond. Hikers will want to print a map before heading out to hike in case the map box is empty. Please follow the link below to download a map:
https://www.newbostonnh.gov/sites/newbostonnh/files/pages/bdtrail_map_09_18.pdf
Length and features: This hike was an easy 2.1 mile long, done as
a loop. The parking area is off of a
dirt driveway and there are signs posted reminding visitors to please NOT block
the driveway. There is ample space to park off of the drive. There is a New
Boston recreation sign posted at the entrance of the parking area, but there is
no information kiosk. There is a map box that looks like a mailbox near the entrance;
however, there were no maps inside. There was a nest of hornets inside, so
visitors will want to use caution when opening up the box during the Summer.
The trail starts off
as a narrow foot path through a grassy meadow. The trail directs hikers to the
pond where they will find a memorial bench along with a notebook kept in a
weather proof container. This is not a geocache; it is there for visitors to
leave a thought, a poem or to record their observances while they visit. There
are some geocaches in the Conservation area and one is not too far from the
memorial bench. The trail around the pond is easy to navigate and wooden
bridges and boardwalks help in crossing over the wetter areas of the trail. To
continue hiking around the pond, visitors will need to keep to the left and
switch over to following Blue trail blaze markers at the trail junction at the
other end of the pond. There is another geocache placed off the trail and not
too far from the junction area. The geocache hunt is a fun side activity to add
to the hike. There is evidence of beaver activity here, although the signs left
behind indicate that the beaver may have moved on. During our visit we were
able to see a Heron fly through the pond area, no doubt enjoying the quiet
solitude of the pond to hunt for its dinner.
The beaver pond is fed by the Middle Branch of the Piscataquog River and the trail winds its way alongside the river for a time before turning back to the woods. The trail then gently slopes down to the riverbed where the trail will veer to the right onto a service road where the blaze markers turn back to orange. There is privately owned land that abuts the conservation area and hikers will want to keep an eye out so as not to trespass. The trail exits the service road and back into the forest where glacial erratics can be found. The trail continues through the forest and rejoins the Beaver Pond trail back at the junction near the pond.
This is a short easy hike to do when time may be limited. The
pond is lovely, the geocaches are fun to find and this is a great spot to immerse
yourself in the tranquility of Mother Nature.
