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UNITED STATES | Merrimack Valley, New Hampshire Travel Guide
Saturday, May 18, 2024
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Walking Tours of Concord
Walking Tours of Concord
Of the major cities, only Concord is really inviting for walking tours. Pick up a detailed brochure from the Concord Chamber of Commerce, either at the year-round office at 244 North Main Street (244-2508) just off Exit 15 from Interstate 93, or the visitor center in downtown by the statehouse. The Chamber of Commerce also has other maps of the city (by out-of-state standards it’s more a large town than a city, with a population of 35,000) if you plan to explore beyond the small capital district. The walking tour takes you along both North and South Main Street and into the area around the statehouse.
New Hampshire’s two major volunteer conservation societies have interesting nature trails to explore. To visit the New Hampshire Audubon Society headquarters, either navigate through the tangled roads of town with a map over to Clinton Road, or get there by taking Interstate 89 north to Exit 2 and going left onto Center Road (which began as Clinton back in town). Then go right on well-marked Silk Farm Road, and 0.2 mile to the Silk Farm Audubon Center, part of the Silk Farm Wildlife Sanctuary (224-9909; Audubon Society of New Hampshire, 3 Silk Farm Road, Concord, NH 03301-8200). This is open year-round, including Sunday afternoons. There are woods and wetland trails around nearby Great Turkey Pond, a terrific research library, and a gift shop with arguably the best collection of field guides and trail guides around. Don’t miss the “bird blind,” where you can learn avian identification, or the video of birds with their taped calls. This is also the place to pick up trail guides to other Audubon properties, most of which are not advertised widely in order to protect them from overvisiting. Guides are 50¢ apiece.
It’s a little harder to get to the headquarters of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF), but worth it for the chance to buy a map of the SPNHF’s hundred protected properties in the state, many of which are off back roads, have few trails, and are not really noticeable in terms of signs or publicity. From downtown Concord, cross the river to the east on Route 9 and go a mile to the fast food strip, where you take Route 132 north 11⁄2 miles to a brown sign on the left that says Conservation Center (it’s a very modest sign). This road goes 0.2 mile to a center occupied by a half dozen private conservation-related groups, with the SPNHF the main one. There’s an interpretive trail to take along the Merrimack River, and a gift shop where you can pick up your vital map to statewide preserved properties.
Last updated November 16, 2010
Posted in United States | Merrimack Valley
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