Lindabury Trail and Orchard Loop
Trail names: Orchard Loop Trail, Lindabury Trail
Location: 70-72 Christian Hill Road, Amherst, NH
Permitted uses: Hiking, Snowshoeing, Crosscountry skiing, nature study, birding
Prohibited uses: No motor vehicles are allowed, no camping and no fires
Hours: There are no posted hours at the trailhead or on the Amherst Town website.
Fees and Parking: There is no designated parking area and very limited parking alongside the road. Parking is most likely not maintained in winter.
Pets: There are no posted prohibitions on dogs.
Accessibility: The trails are not wheelchair accessible.
Hiker amenities: There is no information kiosk, no restrooms, and no trash bins. Make sure you have a map before you hike here, or at least a general idea of where you are. The trails are well marked and pretty easy to follow even if you don't end up with a map. There are a couple of picnic tables in the orchard just outside of where the trail begins.
Length and Trail information: This hike was done as an easy loop hike with a couple of back tracking sections. With our backtracking, the hike ended up to be approximately 1 mile long. The two trails are located within the 47 acre Lindabury Orchard Conservation Land that is stewarded by the Amherst Conservation Commission and The Amherst Land Trust. The Orchard Loop Trail begins at the wooded end of the orchard. There is an engraved wooden sign mounted on a post at the start of the trail. Orchard Loop is marked by white trail blazes and starts off with a narrow wooded path that was cushioned by pine needles and littered with an abundance of pinecones. The trail had a gentle downward slope as it meandered its way through the forest. The resident birds took notice of our presence and we were able to hear the calls of Song Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse and Eastern Wood-Pewee.
We noticed a lot of blueberry bushes growing on either side of the trail, but sadly, no berries. This could be because of the heavy tree canopy blocking out the sun. Be careful to stay on the trail as there is a lot of poison ivy growing alongside the trail as well. We also noticed Mountain Laurel growing further into the woods off of the trail, which may make a springtime visit during the blooming period more enjoyable.We were hoping to find mushrooms and were a bit disappointed with the small amount that we saw during our visit.
At the junction of the Orchard Loop and the Lindabury Trail there is another engraved wooden trail sign. We decided to hike the Lindabury Trail at the junction. This trail is marked by a Red trail blaze and has the opposite elevation of the Orchard Loop with a gentle upward ascension. This trail leads hikers along and over a stream that is probably very nice to visit in the early spring when the water is flowing. Sadly, today there was barely a trickle. The trail brought us to another junction where we observed yellow trail blazes but no signage. This yellow blazed section ended up to be an unnamed connector trail between the Lindabury Trail and the Orchard Loop Trail. We kept to our left and continued on the Lindabury Trail until it spilled out into the orchard. The part of the Orchard in front of us was not maintained and the grass was quite high. To avoid going through the tall grass and exposing ourselves to ticks, we decided to backtrack and go back to the junction where the yellow trail blazes were seen. Back at the junction we saw the White trail markers for the Orchard Loop Trail and decided to close our loop that way. Once we connected to where we originally left the Orchard Loop Trail to get on the Lindabury Trail, we again backtracked and headed back to the yellow trail blazes. At this point we continued through some thick vegetation heading back up what turned out to be the other end of the Orchard Loop trail. The junction was not marked on the trail, but we had a map and knew that we would be along the trail. After clearing the thicker vegetation, we saw the trail markers once again. We had a bit of woods and orchard on our left and a stone wall on our right. The thick vegetation thinned out and the trail looked more like we were on a class 6 road. We then came to another set of trail blazes which were blue. There was no trail marker or signage so we continued past it,thinking it was perhaps a shortcut or connector to the other side of the Orchard Loop Trail. Very soon we found that we were exiting the woods and were at the Orchard once again. At this area there was another engraved wooden sign that informed us we indeed had been on the Orchard Loop Trail.
This was a pleasant hike that was not difficult and ended up to be a nice diversion in the woods. Any time spent in nature is always a nice way to spend time.
