{"id":3746,"date":"2021-06-01T10:13:05","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T10:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/?p=3746"},"modified":"2021-06-01T13:30:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T13:30:26","slug":"concord-sunapee-trail-a-work-in-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/concord-sunapee-trail-a-work-in-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Concord-Sunapee Trail: A Work in Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

A few miles north of the State House on busy Fisherville Road (U.S. 3) in Concord, a small parking lot marks a trailhead for one of the newest rail trails in New Hampshire. It\u2019s a smooth 2.5 mile path, ideal for biking. More than that, it\u2019s one end of what could someday be a trail extending all the way to Lake Sunapee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Granite markers along the way mark the ends of the old rail line: C for Concord, CJ for Claremont Junction. Recreational development is coming along a piece at a time. The Concord section extends from Fisherville Road to Carter Hill Road. During my first visit there, I shared the trail with bicyclists and several runners who were happy to have an alternative to busy streets nearby.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Fisherville Rd trailhead<\/p><\/div>\n

At the Fisherville Road trailhead, I found a bike-fix station where riders can perform minor bike adjustments before setting out. Reading <\/span>the website for the Concord-Lake Sunapee trail<\/span><\/a>, I learned that the station had been provided by a coalition of bicycle clubs and businesses, while the nearby kiosk was sponsored by another local business. The trailhead facilities provide a great example of how rail trails can thrive with community cooperation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Stevens Rail Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

Another day, I went to Hopkinton, just west of Concord, to find the segment called the Stevens Rail Trail extending west into the Davisville neighborhood in Warner. In summer weather, I felt like I was in a cool tunnel as I walked on this shady path. Busy I-89 was close by, but trees muffled the traffic noise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Warner Bridge<\/p><\/div>\n

A short drive west from Hopkinton brought me to Bagley Park in Warner, tucked between NH Route 103 and I-89. I parked there for the short walk along the Warner Rail Trail. A freshly-decked bridge across the Warner River let me look ahead to a not-yet-developed section of abandoned rail line, tantalizingly close to the town center.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Tilly Wheeler Trail in Bradford<\/p><\/div>\n

I went to Bradford to find its modest segment of rail trail along NH 103, called the Tilly Wheeler trail. It took only a few minutes to walk end-to-end. I found a pleasant place to rest there, overlooking an arm of Todd Lake. Adding a few local streets to my route gave me a loop walk through a quiet neighborhood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The supporters of the Concord-Lake Sunapee trail are tackling a long-term project. A few years ago, the trail was launched with just a fraction of a mile in Warner. Now, portions of the trail exist in three other municipalities. To become part of the team that will bring the trail to completion, use the <\/span>contact form<\/span><\/a> at concordlakesunapeerailtrail.com, or check out the group\u2019s <\/span>Facebook page<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

—Text and Photos by Ellen Kolb. \u00a0For more of Ellen\u2019s walks visit her blog: granitestatewalker.com<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  A few miles north of the State House on busy Fisherville Road (U.S. 3) in Concord, a small parking lot marks a trailhead for one of the newest rail…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-exploring-nhs-rail-trails"},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Concord-Sunapee Trail, Concord","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3746"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3758,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions\/3758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}