If you are looking for a brief walk through a typical New England forest, the Curtisville trail in Concord is right for you.
To get there from East Side Drive, you take South Curtisville Road past the Broken Ground School until you come to a large beaver dam on your right. You can park your car here and then walk a few minutes further to the entrance of the trail on your left. The trail is clearly marked with yellow tabs.
A short distance into your hike you will come to a large burl in an oak tree. The burl is about 3 feet off the ground and has a circumference of 88 inches. There are old moss-covered stumps from logging that took place several decades ago. The resilient forest has rebounded with a young growth of hardwood trees along with large pines and scattered hemlocks that were spared by the woodsmen.
After taking a right at the first fork, you will go up a slight grade. Soon you will come to a small brook that has been dry most of the summer. Eventually, on your right you will see an old stone wall, a reminder that this area was once a pasture, most likely for sheep, when rural New Hampshire was sending bales of wool to the woolen mills.
At the next fork, turn right again and the path goes through the stone wall and becomes wide enough for a herd of sheep. Notice the massive white pines, which are relatively small compared to their potential size. You will start to see the sky through the trees ahead for you are soon at the end of the trail, bringing you back to the Curtisville Road not far from where you started.
About half way back to your car, look for some large boulders on your right. Step off the roads into the woods and you will see the stone foundation of what may have been the house of the farmer who built the stone wall.
The total distance of the hike is nearly one half mile, and at a slow pace, it took me 40 minutes, a quiet afternoon walk in a charming New England forest.
