North Country Chamber of Commerce Blog

5 Great North Country Hikes for Kids

9/18/2018

Brousseau Mountain - Photo Courtesy of Dan Mathers

A memorable hike requires certain ingredients. First, you need a vast, remote wilderness, the kind that gives you a sense of adventure and lets you feel connected to nature. You should have beautiful scenery, with places to rest and reward your efforts with views that take your breath away. It helps to have rippling streams and rivers, or peaceful lakes with waters that mirror the surrounding forests. And, of course, you want an area teeming with wildlife, where you can experience the excitement of seeing a creature in the wild.

The North Country has all of those ingredients, plus a vast collection of hiking trails that are as abundant as the region’s famed moose.

Photo Courtesy of Aaron Burden

Hiking is a wonderful activity and a great way to explore a region like the North Country. But if you’re hiking with young children, that brings certain extra challenges. You want your kids to think of hiking as being fun, not to think of it as work. So you need a hike that will be interesting, rewarding, and have just the right length and terrain.

Luckily, the North Country is home to a seemingly endless amount of kid-friendly trails. Here are five of the best.

Photo Courtesy of Annie Spratt

Fourth Connecticut Lake Trail – This short hike to the source of the Connecticut River crisscrosses the international boundary with Canada. At just over half a mile long, the trail is the ideal length for young kids, who will enjoy the hike’s gorgeous scenery and the thrill of technically standing in another country.

Table Rock Trail – Dixville Notch has several incredibly scenic hikes. The most popular is the Table Rock Trail. This short loop brings you to Table Rock, where you will enjoy stunning views from the ledge rising several hundred feet over a cliff. The eastern section of the trail up to Table Rock is steep, while the western section offers the easiest approach.

View of The Balsams from Table Rock in Dixville

Brousseau Mountain Trail – This hike in Averill, Vermont takes hikers along a well-marked trail through a scenic forest. The climb to the top of Brousseau Mountain (2,714 feet) is steady and takes roughly 30 minutes. The summit is covered by trees, but a short side trail takes hikers to a lookout where they can enjoy stunning views of the White and Green Mountain ranges in the distance and a seemingly undisturbed wilderness below.

Falls in the River Trail – This trail beginning at Second Connecticut Lake offers an easy walk along the Connecticut River to a rocky, scenic cascade and gorge. Along the way you’ll cross wooden walkways through swampy areas and enjoy beautiful meadows along the river.

Photo Courtesy of Gloria Jackson

Moose Alley Trail – Few hiking experiences can compare with the excitement of seeing a towering moose up close in the wild. Seeing a moose is something that your kids will be telling their friends about and that they will remember for years. While you can spot a moose in many places in the North Country, one of the most reliable spots is the area surrounding the Moose Alley Trail in Pittsburg. This easy, mostly level trail cuts through scenic forest where you can often spot moose and deer.

Photo Courtesy of Dan Mathers

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Where to View Fall Foliage in the North Country

9/11/2018

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Photo Courtesy of Ray Lacasse

Autumn is breathtakingly beautiful in the North Country, as the region’s leaves turn from green to brilliant hues of red, orange and yellow. It’s a spectacular show by Mother Nature that draws people to the area from around the country and around the world.

The region’s fall colors are on full display in the North Country several weeks ahead of the rest of New Hampshire and most of New England. The leaves begin changing around Labor Day and peak over the last two weeks of September.

Photo Courtesy of Wes Lavin

Colorful fall foliage can be seen all over the North Country; you would need to close your eyes to miss it. However, some places truly stand out for their beauty and scenery, providing visitors with amazing opportunities for viewing fall foliage whether they are hiking, paddling or ATVing.

For those who enjoy hiking, a climb to the top of 3,360-foot Mount Magalloway in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, provides sweeping views of the area’s fall colors. Another popular hiking destination in the fall is Dixville Notch, where hikers can enjoy dramatic views from Table Rock or take on the more challenging Sanguinary Ridge Trail, which has several scenic lookouts. To the south, visitors can enjoy scenic fall hikes in Nash Stream Forest or the 13 Mile Woods.

Photo Courtesy of North Country Chamber of Commerce

Great fall hikes are also plentiful across the Connecticut River in northeast Vermont. A roughly half hour climb to the top of Brousseau Mountain provides visitors with incredible views of the region’s vast wilderness and the White Mountains to the south. Monadnock Mountain is one of the region’s tallest peaks and provides hikers with a rewarding climb. Visitors will also enjoy exploring the Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge. This area of the refuge has more than 26,600 acres of conifer and deciduous forest interspersed with forested wetlands, peatlands and shrub swamps.

Photo Courtesy of North Country Paddle

Paddling is another great option for viewing fall foliage, as the region’s lakes and rivers feature beautiful tree-lined shores and great opportunities for viewing wildlife. Lake Umbagog, on New Hampshire’s border with Maine, is a large lake surrounded by scenic wilderness and mountains. East Inlet in Pittsburg provides paddlers with beautiful views of surrounding hills without any hint of civilization. Lake Francis and Back Lake also provide paddlers with gorgeous scenery, as do the region’s popular Connecticut Lakes and the Connecticut River.

Photo Courtesy of Lopstick

Perhaps the most exciting way to view the area’s fall colors is by using an ATV. Visitors can use ATVs to reach remote wilderness areas that would be hard to access any other way. The region’s Ride the Wilds trail system provides miles of remote, easy-to-navigate trails that not only offer great scenery, but also are a lot of fun.

For leaf-peepers who enjoy seeing fall colors from the comfort of their own cars, the North Country is home to many scenic roads that make for great road trips. Route 26 from Colebrook to Errol provides beautiful scenery and dramatic views as it cuts through Dixville Notch. The route can even be turned into a wonderfully scenic loop. From Errol, take Route 16 south toward Berlin and then Route 110 west to Route 3, which you can follow north back to Colebrook. The entire loop provides amazing scenery with beautiful forests and mountain views. Another scenic road is Route 145 between Colebrook and Pittsburg, which has views of gorgeous farmlands and distant hills.

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North Country Renaissance

8/31/2018

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Photo Courtesy of Parsons Street

There’s an energy in the North Country today. A sense of renewal and excitement.
After some challenging years, this former logging hotbed is being reborn. Invigorated by new businesses and activity, the North Country is suddenly transforming into one of the most exciting, interesting and fun travel destinations in the entire Northeast.

Photo Courtesy of Parsons Street

The region has long been popular as an outdoors destination. It is legendary for its fly fishing, hunting and snowmobiling, and it has a growing reputation for outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking and ATVing. But over the last several years, a wave of exciting new businesses have opened in the area, breathing new life into the North Country and adding to the region’s character and culture.

Photo Courtesy of Chamber of Commerce

At the center of the region’s current renaissance is the Tillotson Center in downtown Colebrook. This former horse barn has been turned into the cultural hub of the region, complete with a 171-seat theater, an art gallery and a museum of the area’s history. A beautiful, majestic building, the Tillotson Center now attracts exceptional theater productions and musical acts to the North Country.

Photo Courtesy of Black Bear Tavern

Also in the center of Colebrook are a collection of exciting, lively new businesses that are creating a vibrant atmosphere. Coos Brewing recently opened in the area, providing the region with its own delicious and popular craft beer. On days the brewery itself isn’t open, visitors can enjoy their beer (and others) at the nearby Black Bear Tavern. Although the building dates back to the 1830s, the Black Bear opened after the building was renovated in 2013. Now it’s a popular sports bar and restaurant.

The region also now has its very own Parisian bakery. Le Rendez Vous Bakery in Colebrook is run by two certified bakers from Paris, France who wanted to open a real French café in the North Country. This elegant bakery has a warm, inviting atmosphere where visitors can sit down in comfortable furniture while they enjoy coffee and world-class pastries.

Another fun, tasty addition to the area has been the Moose Muck Coffee House. With a relaxed atmosphere that includes children’s furniture and an easel where kids can create art, Moose Muck serves coffee, specialty espresso drinks, smoothies and breakfast foods. Their WiFi makes it a great place to get some work done (or surf social media) while having breakfast on their large, comfortable porch.

Photo Courtesy of Parsons Street

Across the street from Moose Muck, Parsons Street Luxury Suites and Fine Dining offers breathtakingly luxurious accommodations. But it’s their food that is quickly earning Parsons Street its exceptional reputation in the North Country. Parsons Street is housed in a building that dates back to the 1860s. Owners John and Linda White have renovated the building in recent years, and in 2016 they opened it as a restaurant. With a gorgeous custom bar and a cozy restaurant area with antique lighting, they serve exceptional dinners and host special events, including tapas and Mexican nights that locals rave about and eagerly look forward to.

Mohawk Falls - Photo Courtesy of Mohawk Falls

Down the road, at the gateway to Dixville Notch, Mohawk Falls has become the region’s premier event venue. Set on a beautiful 40-acre estate along the Mohawk River, Mohawk Falls has hosted receptions, parties and concerts for several years. In 2016, they built a large, elegant post-and-beam pavilion that is now an ideal gathering place.

April's Maple - Photo Courtesy of Gena Kaufman

Across the Connecticut River in Vermont, April’s Maple has only been open for a few years, but it is already becoming a North Country legend. April’s Maple is more than a restaurant or gift shop. It is a celebration of everything maple. It offers maple syrup, maple candy, maple cream and other maple products like maple sriracha. Their menu features maple flavored foods, from maple sausage to maple hot dogs to maple grilled cheese sandwiches featuring jalapenos. No visit is complete without enjoying their famed Maple Creemee (soft-serve maple ice cream).

Lopstick Lodge - Photo Courtesy of Lopstick

These are only some of the region’s many exciting new businesses. And, of course, these new places are only part of the region’s appeal. They blend perfectly with the older, traditional staples that have made the North Country inviting for years. Places like Solomon’s Store in West Stewartstown, which this year is celebrating 95 years of serving the North Country. Nearly as old as Solomon’s is Lopstick Lodge in Pittsburg, which was established in 1928 and has been a favorite among the region’s hunters and fishermen for 90 years.

With so many exciting new places taking root in the area and the region’s reputation as one of the best destinations in New England beginning to get out, now is the perfect time to experience the North Country.

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Paid in part by the State of New Hampshire.

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