Annie Duncan State Forest, NH?

[Mattl]

I was surprised when I drove past this area today in Plainfield, NH. I was amazed to see a boreal set of bogs and thick fir and spruce. There was a ton of posted signs along the main road. After that we drove up Red Hill road it turned into a trail but it was too late to go any further and check it out. This seems to be a very interesting area with ponds and lots of animal activity. Does anyone have any information of this? Trails, areas to go? -Matt

 

[Garry G.]

I've tried to find info on NH State Forests but there seems to be very little out there except for the largest ones. I can find lists with locations for most, not all, but very little usable info. It's too bad because there are hundreds of these in NH. I'll watch this thread and hope someone does have a good source of information. There are three close to my home that I've explored on my own. I haven't been able to find anything on them but a name. It is fun just to find and explore though and I've never seen anyone else out there.

 

[arghman]

It's my understanding that state forests receive a fairly low profile. Unlike the state parks they aren't necessarily intended for facilitated recreational use (e.g. trails etc). Several are in the middle of nowhere, and some of them are really small (<20 acres), not sure of the history but they may have been donations. Others have sensitive natural habitats; others might be meant primarily for active forestry... I assume if you had questions about the management plan for a specific forest, you could call the Division of Forests and Lands (603) 271 2214 and ask them.

 

[peakbagger]

NH seems to label any publicly owned undeveloped land a "state forest". Some are managed but a lot of them only seem to exist as a property boundary. Some of them use one name for discontinuous lots. The one I am familiar with is Leadmine State Forest in the Gorham and Shelburne area. One lot covers the "bat cave" next to Mascot pond in Gorham, one lot covers the area near the underwater lead mine in Shelburne and one lot covers the canoe access lot at the Shelburne Dam.

BTW, Mascot Pond in Gorham is a great place to bring a first time camper out for an overnight. Not hard to get to, lots of fun stuff to do and the potential for some short hikes for good views.

 

[RoySwkr]

The DRED website used to be better with property descriptions and maps of some forests but it is being rebuilt with the old pages removed before new ones were done.

Many state forests were indeed acquired by gift, several were former summer homes originally given to the AMC which passed them along when it became too troublesome to manage them.

Some of them do have marked trails but mostly you need to follow woods roads or bushwhack.
Forest list: http://www.dred.state.nh.us/divisio...nagement/documents/FEEDREDLANDSFORWEBSITE.pdf

 

[NewHampshire]

A lot of the NH state forests have "multi-use" trails that run through them (i.e. snowmobile trails). Following some of these trails in the summer can be real fun. I tend to find myself wandering around on some of these types of trails during hunting season when things are slow. While you do not get the instant gratification of an open peak, you do tend to get some lovely woods walking in. For instance, a few months ago I was walking along a snowmobile trail out in one of the State forests near Craney Hill (Pats Peak) and stumbled upon an absolutely LOVELY stand of Beech trees! Then I cam along a stone wall marking an old property boundry and it was like a switch was thrown...the hardwoods abruptly changed over to pure softwood stands.

Exploring does not require blazes .

Brian

 

[audrey]

In Wilton, the Heald Tract connects with the Sheldrick Forest and makes for a great day of exploring. There are ponds with gorgeous pink,white, and yellow waterlilies, cardinal flowers, and heron nests. The terrain is hilly, and it's perfect for XC, if we ever get to do that again!

 

[arghman]

In Wilton, the Heald Tract connects with the Sheldrick Forest and makes for a great day of exploring. There are ponds with gorgeous pink,white, and yellow waterlilies, cardinal flowers, and heron nests. The terrain is hilly, and it's perfect for XC, if we ever get to do that again!

Heald Tract is a great place. I've only had the opportunity to hike it in late fall, but it's got a lot of diversity in forest types. I should point out though that it's owned by the Society for the Protection of NH Forests and is not a state land.