McCabe Forest Trails

The McCabe Forest Trails at McCabe Forest in Antrim, New Hampshire is an easy 2.2-mile loop hike that encompasses the forest.

Trail name: McCabe Trails are not named.

Location: The McCabe Forest Trails are located in the town of Antrim, NH not far from the town’s center. There are two trailheads: the first is heading north out of town on Concord Street (Route 202) taking a right onto the Elm Street Extension and the other is a little further north and directly off of Route 202 just past the cemetery on the right side of the road.

Allowed activities: walking, hiking, fishing, geocaching, foraging, birdwatching, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. In spring, summer or fall …. bring bug spray.

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

Hours: Trails are open daily. There are no times posted at the trailhead kiosks. Part of the forest is on Private property and boundaries should be respected.

Parking: There is parking at both of the trailheads. The Elm Street Extension trailhead was very rutted due to spring mud, and parking was limited at this spot. However, the parking was not a problem at the 202 trailhead.

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

Accessibility: The trails here are not wheelchair accessible and can be quite narrow and hard to differentiate at times. The wooden foot bridges that cross over wet areas or streams are sturdy, but can be uneven thanks to winter frost heaves. Hikers doing this loop will need to be able to ford small streams by crossing over, either through the stream, or be able to walk on slippery moss covered rocks (depending on the season and water levels). Hikers should be able to walk on uneven surfaces or over downed trees without difficulty. Many areas of the trail have roots along the path.

Sanitation: There are no restrooms or trash receptacles. Please carry out your trash.

Length:  This trip is easy 2.2 mile trail that looped with very little elevation. There are a few trails that connect to the main outer loop,  so there could be a number of combinations made to create longer or shorter hikes. Hikes could also easily be done as “out and back” hikes.

Trail information:  There are two information Kiosks at this forest, one at each Trailhead. There are no maps to take along, but a Map of the trail is posted at each kiosk. The Elm Street Extension kiosk did have a mailbox that we assumed was there for maps, but there were none available at the time of our visit. The trails are not named and all trails are all marked with yellow blaze markers. Markers can sometimes be hard to find. Along the trail there are also wooden trail markers with arrows or trail information. Markers are posted high enough to see in winter snow pack.  Hikers can print a map before heading out by going to the link below.

http://www.antrimnh.org/Pages/AntrimNH_About/trails/The%20McCabe%20Forest%20Trail.pdf

To get to the network of trails: park and head to the trailhead kiosk. Trails begin adjacent to the Kiosks at each site. At the Elm Street Extension trailhead, and depending on which way the hiker would like to travel, the loop trail can be accessed either directly to the left of the information Kiosk or across the road from the parking area. Hikers would need to cross over the road and through a stone wall. The yellow blaze and trail sign can be seen here, but the sign is small and the blaze is high up. The trails, while quite lovely, don’t appear to have many visitors. There is a lot of leaf debris on the trail and at the time of our hike, there were several large trees that had fallen across the trail. The trail is often ambiguous. This could be more so during the summer months when the underbrush has grown up and leaves on the trees have filled in. Hikers will need to slow down and search for the next yellow blaze marker. Not paying attention could easily lead a hiker off the path. In spring time, or after stretches of wet weather, parts of the trail could be very wet, muddy or even submerged. The trail travels along the Contoocook River. The name Contoocook comes from the Pennacook Indian word meaning "place of the river near pines". There are several beautiful spots for fishing. At present, there does not appear to be any homes built on the opposite side of the river, so this area is quiet and wooded: a great place to do some bird watching. This hike will lead through several different types of natural habitats. There are several different types of tree species here including maple, white pine, hemlock, oak, beech and birch. In springtime be on the lookout for trillium and skunk cabbage filling the wetlands. Along the field section, high and low bush blueberries abound.

Although the McCabe forest and trails are located in 192 acres of land, it is near a residential area. The trail will, at times, skirt homes. As the forest borders Route 202 (which is a major roadway) traffic noise can be heard at times.