Moose Brook SP Trails

We have been enjoying walking the numerous trails in the state park during our three night stay here. They are maintained by the Coos Cycling Club and while it was evident that they have been used by bikes, we saw just one pair of cyclists over the two days. In fact, they were the only people we saw on the trails. Which isn’t surprising as except for when we arrived on Saturday, the campground is deserted. Even on Saturday, while many sites were reserved, no one camped there for the night. I suspect the rainy, very cold weather kept them home or sent them to a warm motel after Their hike. We are right on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest with Mt. Adams being the nearest climb and Mt. Washington a drive or a strenuous climb.

Yesterday we walked the “scenic loop” which included the Perkins Path (which parallels Perkins Brook), crossed the brook to the Low road which looped up to the High road, crossed Berry Farm Road to the Antler trail and returned to the headquarters on the Spring trail. At the end of the spring trail we found the swimming pond for the park. It looked as if it would be a most enjoyable swim on a hot day. It is one of two ponds in the park, the upper one is shallow and in the sun and is called the Warming Pool as it obviously warms the water flowing into the swimming pond. A nice 4-mile walk.

Today we took the Hinchey Trail to Lost Campground loop trail (nice walk through hemlock, spruce, birch, maple, beech, and even a few oaks) and then the Presidential Rail Trail. The later is a bike and snowmobile trail on an old rail bed. After a short walk on it we came to an intersection of numerous trails with a map indicating a different trail which would take us back to the campground. Unfortunately, after a bit of walking and crossing route 2, we found that the trail we wanted to take, actually a gravel road, was gated and posted with no trespassing signs. Thus we backtracked on our original route. We planned to ask the headquarters staff about the closure, but when we got to the office, there was a sign on the door: Gone to town. Another 3.75-miles total.

As I’ve said before this is a lovely campground, with one exception. We discovered that there is a quarry just 200 feet behind our site on the other side of the trees. They started working at 8:00 this morning and have been at it all day. It’s a bit disconcerting — banging and backup beeping all day.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)