Exploring the Winant Park trails

The Winant Park trails of Concord are delightfully rugged, and the reward for reaching the top is a breathtaking panoramic view of the New Hampshire landscape, including the State House and the St. Paul’s School campus, with mountains on the far horizon. The rock-strewn picturesque pathways are what you would expect in a typical New England forest, and the rocks make good stepping stones.

I began my hike at the trail entrance on Fisk Road, where there is an informational kiosk that includes a tribute to John Winant, after whom the park is named, along with a map of the trails. There are about 2.5 miles of trails in the park and it takes about two hours to hike them all. Because of the loops in the trails, you can take shorter hikes if you wish.

I was impressed by the many stone walls that crisscross the area. An interpretive sign explains that in the mid 1800s, all the hillside had been cleared to provide pastures for sheep, and, at that time in New Hampshire, there were approximately 65 sheep per acre – twice the population of people.

Another sign described how, in 1960, the hill had been cleared to be a place where the St. Paul’s School ski team could practice. Occasionally along the trail I saw an old rusty car wheel rim that had been used for the rope ski tow, the only reminder of the time when the hill had been a ski slope. Looking at the thickly wooded area, I marveled about how quickly the forest has recovered – first, from being cleared for pasture and then, a century later, cleared for down hill skiing.

During the February wind storm this year, several large trees were blown over and the Concord Conservation Commission has been busy removing the trees that had fallen.

In 2009, Rivington Winant and his wife Joan donated the 85 acres of the park to the City of Concord in honor of former New Hampshire governor John Gilbert Winant and his wife, Constance. One of the conditions on which Rivington Winant donated the land as a park was that a space had to be cleared at the top to give an expansive scenic vista of the surrounding countryside. When you reach the top of the hill, you will see that the condition has been generously met. Be sure to bring your camera.

Author: Cassie Pappathan

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