Rockingham Recreational Rail trail, Newfields, NH

It was Memorial Day weekend, a time for remembrance of those who gave their lives in service of our country. These days, however, it is for many the unofficial start of summer. It was a beautiful day, and we knew lots of folks would be out and about.

We hoped to avoid crowds so rather than visit one of our local rail trails, we headed north with our adaptive tandem bicycle to investigate a trail we had not ridden on previously. The Rockingham Recreational Rail trail starts in the New Hampshire seacoast area. The eastern trail head begins in Newfields, New Hampshire, directly next to the Amtrak rail road right of way, which carries multiple passenger trains north and south along the coast.

We found a relatively large parking area with plenty of room for at least twenty cars, if not more. Other walkers and bicyclists crossed out path as we pedaled, but not enough to make us feel hemmed in. The eastern most portion of the trail is in good shape, packed stone dust, with a very few muddy spots, and one place with some soft sand. This would not be a lot of fun for someone on a bike with skinny tires. Our bike has mountain bike type tires, so we did fine.

It is the season for lady slippers and we spotted these northern orchids on both sides of the trail. Remnants of stone walls lined both sides of the trail in the first mile or so that we traveled. I never grow tired of seeing stone walls that were built alongside roadways. We spotted many walls that were laid through what is now woodland. Where the walls remain, trees have grown up since the land was last used for crops and grazing.

The Newfields section is very quiet except for the occasional passenger train passing through. The adjacent portion of the trail goes through Epping, NH. While some of the trail was wooded, other sections led us right through a commercial strip, past the Star speedway, (which was very quiet the day of our visit) and a number of houses and farms adjacent to the trail.

The path splits north and south in Epping. The northern portion heads to Manchester, while the south section reaches Derry.

At the split we first headed to Manchester but before long encountered a swampy area where a beaver had been busy building a dam directly next to the trail.

Substantial water covered the trail, despite most of the dam having been opened up to reduce the flooding. The water there was still quite high, nearly lapping the edge of the path. We chose to turn back at that point after traveling about nine miles on the trail.

Much of the path we visited is shaded, so we were quite comfortable on this mild late spring day. We pedaled past a number of swampy areas, and at one pond we were greeted by a chorus of bullfrogs calling back and forth across the way.

The standing water next to portions of the trail promises to make this a buggy area on days that are not windy. The upside of bugs is that we heard many species of birds along the way. I used our Merlin bird call app to help identify common birds like blue jays, crows, tufted titmouse, and gold finches. But we also heard vireos, flycatchers, and a belted kingfisher. A single cormorant glided through the relatively stagnant pond waters nearby. Some birds we saw, but most we simply heard. In the quiet of the trail it was a real joy to share their company in the woodland.

It was near supper time when we returned to our car, and we found a great spot for a light meal. Popovers at the Brickyard in Epping, NH delivered just what its name implies—fresh popovers to accompany a generous sized salad. Enjoying a treat like popovers was the perfect ending to a day spent outdoors.

Since we did not cover the entire trail we relied on reports from others who have visited here. It appears that much of the trail is less developed. When we are in the area another time we will plan to explore more of the trail (and maybe stop by Popovers again!) On this visit we were grateful to find a less crowded place to be outdoors on a bright, blue-sky day, pedaling along on our tandem. However you can get outdoors, happy trails!

Marjorie

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, Easy Walks South of Boston and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.