Initially I was not a fan of the North Conway trail that just opened near the tracks from Wal-Mart to Cranmore. First it’s paved, which I thought might diminish the rural character of the area, and, second, rail trails tend to accumulate people and trash. But I have to say that it looks like they did a decent job with it and the trail is getting use by not only families with a myriad of kids roaming somewhat uncontrolled on bikes (as kids will do) but a lot older people and people with disabilities. I have seen how happy everyone is to be able to get out and enjoy a trail that is flat and easy to walk on (the trail shares the entry point to the Pudding Pond/Peaked Mt mountain bike and hiking trails off Thompson Road). Plus other activities such as roller blading and roller skate skiers have a place to go. So I’m more supportive of the initiative now even though there have been a lot more crowds, and parking on Thompson Rd is extremely limited - better to access from Cranmore, which has a large lot. I’ve always wondered if NH would try to build a rail trail over to the Maine welcome center on 302, which is where a short segment of rail trail exists in Fryeburg that terminates right before the entrance road to the airport. The rail from Redstone to the Maine visitor center is the snowmobile corridor. I’ve wondered how they’d handle the Saco crossing over the rail bridge - probably would need to build large safety rails. Note that the Fryeburg section does not disrupt the rails, which have been left in place. Wonder if the new Maine sections will do the same or lift the rails.
We enjoyed the Beede Spur Rail Trail up in Newport VT yesterday, and at one point I wondered if a few of the people who appeared to have been long-time walkers on the trail, were happy to see all the new riders zipping along their trail. There was a project at Rhododendron State Park back in the early 1990's to hardpack pave the trails through the grove for accessibility. I was initially not a fan and thought it would ruin the experience, but in the end it did so much help people focus on the beauty of the grove and keep them on the trails to protect the resource, subsequently enhancing the overall experience.
This trail in Newport is the result of some obvious ability in trail and community planning by some capable folks. We parked at the hospital so we could ride on the rail grade along the lake for 4 miles to the Canadian Border and return. Then proceed the opposite direction 2 miles into town on the Newport Bike Path, which was an excellent, clearly marked corridor into town with a section that passes through a conservation area, crosses a winding boardwalk bridge, and spits you out next to the Wendy's on the way downtown. The grades and surfaces on the trail sections are very well done with family cyclists in mind, and there are short sections on low traffic roads (steepest grades).
I had been thinking a lot as to why Vermont has done so well with it's rail trail development, and I think it has part to do with the state leadership recognizing them as alternative transportation corridors along with being recreational opportunities. And the best (developed and maintained) trails I see are those with VT state leadership and support behind them. What I saw happen with the Lamoille Valley Rail over just a short few years is just remarkable. Now I worked for NH Parks and the Trails Bureau for years and was in the middle of many issues regarding rail trail development and maintenance so have observed the realities. NH is just not willing to put direct investment into these trails without a trail group willing to take on leadership, and there is too much competing interest between the user groups as to appropriate use of the trails and investment towards improvements to be taken, and a lack of leadership by the state as to what is appropriate. The Presidential Rail Trail is a prime example, where you have a desperately needed recreational resource and a prime opportunity for a world-class trail; and you have the local state trail supervisor always responding to requests from local cyclist to improve the trail to be answered, 'well....you don't provide any money towards the trail...so screw.' This was/is the prevailing attitude all the time from the NH Trails Bureau, with them not recognizing this is not the non-motorized user groups fault. The laws/rules put in place back in the early development of the snowmobile trails and Trails Bureau are the reason all the funding goes into this particular state agency with the focus of their efforts only on motorized use of these trails. They did a good job by the way as I always used to see NH as a pioneer in securing and developing recreation use of the rail trail corridors (for snowmachine and subsequent other user access). But be rest assured, the personnel in the NH Trails Bureau except for one or 2 have always been actively hostile to non-motorized use and very turf protective towards motorized use of the trail corridors.
So basically what we get here in NH is the result of special interest groups applying for grants to grab money to get what they want out of a trail, and whatever the prevailing interest is on a trail section is what you will get on that section. I remember years ago the trails bureau supervisor expressing his frustration to me that he had to spend some of his time on managing a trail grant to improve the trail into Pondicherry for cyclists (add finer gravel). He told me he had not even been aware that the local non-profit group had applied for the grant without his knowledge, and he was frustrated to be dealing with a non-motorized issue, since the trail was not a problem when frozen. Another interesting example is the Ammonoosuc Rail Trail where somewhere along the line the atv groups secured funds to improve the trail from Haverhill to Littleton specific to developing that section for atv use, and that is the sole focus today in that trail section. The aforementioned supervisor way in the past had told me how he was trying real hard to get the atv project to dominate the trail all the way to Wing Rd. Bethlehem, but was hitting roadblocks. Now I was really surprised in the last 2 years when I heard that the Cross NH trail group had secured non-motorized grant funding to remove rails and improve the trail heading northeast out of Littleton, now with a restriction on motorized use (non-snow)??
This is all dis-jointed and whacky and lacks comprehensive leadership and is why I think we are not getting the regional trail corridors we deserve and some of us need.
