Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail

Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail

The Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail at the Monadnock Conservancy in Peterborough, New Hampshire is an easy 4.7-mile out-and-back trail that runs from Old Street Road to East Mountain Road and features views at Cranberry Meadow Pond.

Location: Old Street Road, Peterborough NH

Trail name(s): Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail

Allowed activities: hiking, birding, berry picking, nature study, geocaching, snowshoeing.

Forbidden activities: no motorized vehicles, no fires, no overnight parking, no camping.

Hours: Trails are open daily during daylight hours.

Fees and Parking: There is no fee to park or use the trails. There are several parking areas for this trail as well as limited street side parking. Street side parking can be found near the trail head sign on Old Street Road and Cheney Avenue. Two trailhead parking areas to access the trails are located on East Mountain Road and there is another parking area on Wilton Road.

Pets: Dogs are allowed on the trails as long as they are leashed and waste is carried out with the hiker.

Accessibility: The trails are not wheelchair accessible or stroller friendly.

Sanitation: There are no restrooms or trash receptacles. Please make sure to carry out all trash.

Trail information: There are Blue diamond trail blaze markers posted. For a trail map to download, please click on the link below:

https://www.monadnockconservancy.org/pdf/CMPT-trail-guide-and-map_FINAL.pdf

Length and features: This hike was done as an easy out and back hike and covered 4.7 miles. We started our hike near the kiosk at Old Street Road. The hike takes visitors through several different kinds of habitats. There are several changes in elevation during the hike, but none are severe and none are hard to navigate. Some climbs or descents are longer, but again, none are too strenuous. The first habitat hikers will encounter from this starting point is a lush marsh wetland. Follow the trail to a double plank boardwalk. The vegetation through this section of the wetland is very lush. There are tall bush blueberry bushes, Joe Pye weed, Goldenrod, marsh grasses and cat tails. This area is an excellent place to look for birds that frequent the berry bushes flanking the narrow boardwalk.

The trail exits the wetland and enters the forest. The trail is very well marked with blue diamond trail blaze markers on many trees. The trail is easy to follow with some minor trip hazards such as root and rocks. The trail winds its way through a dense hemlock forest along a brook. The sounds of the trickling water has a calming effect and even on a hot sticky summer day the dense canopy of trees provide ample shade.

The Monadnock Conservancy act as caretakers for this forest and they do an excellent job maintaining the trail. There are many sturdy well-built wooden bridges to help hikers navigate over wetter areas of the trail.  The trail has several changes in width: with some areas feeling wide open and others narrow due to vegetation, but the trail path is easy to find and the blue diamond blazes are not hard to find.

The trail brings visitors to the Cranberry Meadow Pond about a mile in from the start. There is a short path off to the right of the trail that leads to the pond where a small wooden bench waits for those who care to sit and relax while taking in the surrounding beauty and calm the quiet pond offers. Back to the trail, hikers will find themselves passing through a section of high bush blueberry and blackberry bushes and then climbing up a modest hill to continue the hike.

For this hike, we chose to use East Mountain Road as our point to turn and head back. Hikers who wish to continue their hike may do so. To re connect to the trail, Hikers will need to carefully cross the street and walk up to the next parking area, approximately a quarter mile and on the right side of the road. Although it appears on the map that the trail continues directly across the street at East Mountain Road intersection, it is actually about a quarter of a mile UP the street. It is important NOT to re-enter the forest across from the exit at East Mountain Road, even though there are blue Diamond trail blazes seen. There should be an arrow posted here to keep hikers on the road. What hikers will see instead are several sets of the blue diamond blazes posted on small trees, guiding hikers to the next trail head kiosk and parking area. Here, the Cranberry Meadow Pond trail connects and terminates at the Raymond Trail that leads hikers to Pack Monadnock.