Info on Croydon Mountain Trails?

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dRitter

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Are there any trails up across the Croydon/ Grantham Mountains? They are the inviting looking bald rockpiles south of Rte 89 in Western NH. I've often wondered and haven't found any info on line.
 
Corbin Park

CROYDON — Corbin Park, or the Blue Mountain Forest and Game Preserve, is a private, enclosed shooting preserve with a very limited membership.

The 24,000-acre preserve was founded in 1890 by Austin Corbin II, a Newport native who grew to prominence in the late 1800s as a founder of modern American banking.

It is fenced, guarded, and patrolled. No Access...Actually I don't think that being chased by a 200 lb wild boar is worth the hike. :D

Sorry, TW
 
Corbin Park - a little bit of the Adirondacks creeping into NH. Large, privately owned hunting lands are quite common out there and, if you're used to NH or ME, and suddenly find yourself in the Dacks, it takes a while to get used to them, figure out where the boundaries are, etc. But they don't have the boar and elk(?) out there.

I think they've escaped from the park on occasion, haven't they?
 
There was a wild boar shot by "the authorities" at some point in the early 80's near Hanover, NH. The press speculated that the boar may have escaped from Croyden, but the hunting club had no comment. I seem to remember a few articles appearing concerning this hunting club from the local press back then, and the club had a reputation for secrecy. VERY mysterious.......
 
You could try calling the Blue Mountain Forest Association at 603-863-3250. The Highpointers had to pay an access fee of $50/person. It is a county highpoint ... don't know how important it is to you.
 
professor said:
There was a wild boar shot by "the authorities" at some point in the early 80's near Hanover, NH. The press speculated that the boar may have escaped from Croyden, but the hunting club had no comment. I seem to remember a few articles appearing concerning this hunting club from the local press back then, and the club had a reputation for secrecy. VERY mysterious.......

At one point there was an open season on wild boar (no closed dates and no bag limits.) Apparently what happened was a big storm knoocked down a fence on the property freeing a fair amount of boar. Since they are technically an invasive species (at least outside the confines of private property) we thus got the open season. However, last I heared they all had been eliminated outside of the Croydon property. Ive also heard rumors that some of the larger hogs (in excess of 400 lbs) were spotted lifting parts of the fence to browse on the other side on their own free will. Not sure how true that is though.
In the book "William Ruger and his guns" there is a picture taken on the property of a rather large boar. Bill Ruger was a member at one point. And it is quite true this group of people is rather "secretive." Despite the fact the owner of Wildlife Taxidermy in Manchester was shot and killed by a fellow hunter we still havent really learned much about what goes on inside.
Brian
 
The Blue Mountain Forest Association is required to allow access to the general public at least once a year. I believe that they charge the $50 fee per person to discourage people from making too many requests. But, I felt that the $50 was well worth my visit a couple of years ago, so as organizer of the NH2005 HP Konvention, I encouraged folks to sign up for the trip organized by a county highpointer (there are over 3000 of those points across the U.S.; Croydon is the HP of Sullivan County) for the Friday of Labor Day weekend; 17 people paid their $50. Not only were the wild boar really cool to observe, but the club house contains some incredible photo history, as the preserve was one of the centers where buffalo were bred for re-establishment of the western herds in the early 1900s. The association hardly needs the cash, as it costs over $1 million to join, and the waiting list is many years long, as membership is usually passed down within the 31 families that make up the association, the maximum number allowed. A friend remembers a few years ago that boar commonly escaped, raising havoc in the local gardens of Grantham. My observation hiking up the ridge to the summit fire tower, which is still occupied for six months each year, was churned up soil much like one would see in someone's garden during the spring, which indeed happens each night by these foor-footed rototillers in their search for grubs.
 
One needs to write a very nice letter to the following point person expressing the desired date for a visit. Good luck.

Gerald Merrill
Blue Mountain Forest Association
P. O. Box 487
Newport, NH 03773
 
I had the benefit of going in there for free while I was taking a graduate class in wildlife management at UNH, about 6 years ago. We toured the place on snowmobiles, and I can't remember where we went - pretty high but certainly not to the top of the mountain. The people were friendly enough, and the area was pretty but not spectacular by any means (although as I said, we didn't go to the top). I don't recall actually seeing any of the boar, only the elk.
 
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