What a pleasure it has been to pen this guide to New England’s historic hikes! The meshing of mental and physical exertion while completing this book reflects the book itself, which meshes hiking and historic interest. Using New England’s rich past as a backdrop, I have selected forty hikes scattered throughout the six states composing New England—Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine—taking you to the most fascinating places where New England’s past can be experienced by trail. These historic hiking destinations include Connecticut’s Mine Hill, a huge ore-smelting complex from yesteryear; Rhode Island’s Blackstone Canal, with its waterside canal towpath; Massachusetts’s Great Brook Farm, a living history farm awash in trails; and Vermont’s Stone House of Robert Frost, where he penned his famous poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
And there is more—hiking to see relics of the Civilian Conservation Corps at New Hampshire’s Moose Brook State Park, or strolling around historic Jordan Pond at Acadia National Park in Maine. The book includes trails of varied lengths and difficulties, as well as different types of destinations, from sites where wealthy magnates built mountaintop mansions; to places like Lincoln Woods, where loggers left their mark; to Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of America’s most notable footpath, the Appalachian Trail.
Being part of the original thirteen states—or the fourteenth as is the case with Vermont and twentieth for latecomer Maine—makes New England crammed with history. The United States was settled east to west, with many of New England’s villages and townships established well before the United States even came to be. Being a writer of outdoor guidebooks and a student of American history, I excitedly tackled this project. When preparing this book, I realized that readers, even those going on historic hikes, want to know the basics: how to get to the trailhead, how far the hike is, hike difficulty, when to go, what they are going to see along the way, and where they are within reason at any given moment of the hike. This book covers those essentials, yet it differentiates itself from other hiking guides by emphasizing trailside history.
Let’s face it: In our rush-rush electronic world, we are looking for fast info, maybe an authority, “someone who knows,” to lead us as we pursue our goal of hiking through New England’s history. This is my approach: Imagine you and I are relaxing around a campfire. You ask about the best historic hikes in New England and I tell you as one friend would to another, in story fashion rather than simply reciting information like a dry, dull textbook. New England’s history is too fascinating for that! This guide conveys concise, organized information to help busy people make the most of their limited and precious outdoor recreation time and provides an opportunity to experience the mosaic of history that can be found in the Northeast.
While contemplating the historical hikes in this guide, Cape Cod comes to mind first. After all, this is where the Pilgrims landed and then established the Mayflower Compact, arguably the first civil democratic framework in what became the United States. You can hike through the former community of Nauset, seeing where the Pilgrims lived and worked, along with relics from the Wampanoag Indians, who helped them survive. Another hike on Cape Cod visits Wellfleet Harbor and the site of an old whaler’s tavern then looks out on islands once occupied by colonial settlers.
Cape Cod pulses with New England’s past, yet many other historic hiking locales are scattered throughout the six states. Weir Farm National Historic Site is the only national park dedicated to American painting. Contemplative reflections can be found while hiking around Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau solidified his theses on nature and man. Aboriginal New Englanders are represented at Salt Bay Preserve, where a 2,400-year-old shell midden provides clues left by ancient Mainers. The Dalley Loop at Vermont’s Little River State Park takes you through a whole community of homesites on the slopes of Ricker Mountain, providing a snapshot of rural New England life in the 1800s.
And then there is the evolution of outdoor tourism and how popular natural destinations led to preservation that we can enjoy today. New Hampshire’s Flume Gorge is a great example of that. You can hike where tourists did 150 years ago—to see where water and rock morphed the mountains into a sight to behold. Other places like Newport’s Cliff Walk and Ogunquit, Maine’s Marginal Way let us humble folk walk along majestic oceanside cliffs near multimillion-dollar historic mansions. Massachusetts’s Mount Holyoke was second only to Niagara Falls as an American tourist destination of the early 1800s. Today you can scale its heights, learn about the hotel at the top, and walk the adjacent land, forever preserved.
Then there are places that combine history with superlative beauty. On New Hampshire’s Pondicherry Trail, you can walk a railroad grade from yesteryear and reach one of the finest birding locales in New England. Climb to the top of Maine’s Cadillac Mountain and see the reason the land around you was the first national park east of the Mississippi River. Halibut Point State Park in Massachusetts explores an old granite quarry while providing incredible panoramas of the Atlantic Ocean. The Willey House Loop at New Hampshire’s Crawford Notch State Park tells the story of a deadly but mysterious landslide and offers a fantastic waterfall and mountain panoramas high and low. Visit Maine’s West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, perched on the easternmost point in the contiguous United States, overlooking magnificent cliffs pounded by the salty sea.
How fortunate we are to have lands laced with trails that preserve New England’s past! In Massachusetts we can see mining history and great views at Chester-Blandford State Forest or view an old mill village turned country estate at Moore State Park. In Connecticut you can walk through Bulls Bridge, a covered bridge, then head through forgotten farmland to reach a mountain vista. The West River Trail at Vermont’s Jamaica State Park traces a short-lived railroad line through a highland gorge and then follows an old wagon trail to a free-falling cataract.
The foresight of creating history-laden parks and building trails within them benefits us greatly, providing a tangible link to what has transpired. These destinations also harbor some of the natural beauty for which New England is known, from the mountains to the sea. May the hikes presented in this book help you explore, understand, and appreciate the natural and human history of New England. Enjoy.
New England’s weather offers as much variety as its terrain and elevation imply, from 6,278 feet atop Mount Washington to sea level along the Atlantic, from Mount Katahdin in the north of Maine to the lowlands of Connecticut in southern New England. All four seasons lay their hand on New England, with more winter than summer in the northern states. Given New England’s varied elevations, the area could be experiencing them all at the same time!
Summer is mostly mild, with sporadic hot spells in the lowlands. The mountains will be cooler, as will the coastline. Morning hikers can avoid heat and the occasional afternoon thunderstorms. A smart phone connected to the Internet allows hikers to monitor storms as they arise.
Hikers are drawn outdoors in increasing numbers when the first northerly fronts of fall sweep cool air across the Northeast. Crisp mornings, great for vigorous treks, give way to warm afternoons more conducive to family strolls. Fall is drier than summer.
Winter will bring many subfreezing days, chilling rains, and heavy snows, even more so in the mountains. Lots of parks close or severely curtail their facilities for the long cold season. There are also far fewer hours of daylight. However, a brisk hiking pace and smart time management will keep you warm and walking while the sun is still above the horizon. Each cold month has a few days of mild weather. Make the most of them.
Spring will be more variable. A warm day can be followed by a cold one. Extensive spring rains and falling then melting snows bring regrowth but also keep most hikers indoors. However, avid hikers will find more good hiking days than they will have time to hike in spring—and every other season.
A smart way to plan your hiking is to check monthly averages of high and low temperatures and rainfall near your chosen destination. Elevation and specific location will lead to different exact temperatures.
The natural landscape of New England, inextricably intertwined with its human history, offers everything—a maze of islands and waters along the Atlantic coast to mile-high mountains of the Appalachians. A wide variety of wildlife calls these dissimilar landscapes home.
Deer are the land animal you’re most likely to see as you hike New England’s historic trails. They can be found throughout the land, save for the most urbanized locations. Deer in some of the parks are remarkably tame and may linger on or close to the trail as you approach. A quiet hiker may also see moose, bears, turkeys, porcupines, raccoons, or even a coyote. Bears can be found in most of New England these days; again, urban areas excepted. They occur in greatest numbers in the remote mountains of New England and Maine in general. Moose range from northwestern Connecticut and western Massachusetts up through Vermont, New Hampshire, and into Maine. Do not be surprised if you observe beaver along streams and lakes. If you feel uncomfortable when encountering any critter, keep your distance and they will generally keep theirs.
Overhead, many raptors, including hawks, falcons, and owls, will be plying the skies for food. Maine’s Cadillac Mountain is known as a hawk migration flyover. Depending upon where you are, other birds you may spot include kingfishers and woodpeckers. Look for waterfowl in lakes and tidal waters. Songbirds are abundant throughout the area.
The flora offers just as much variety, especially with such a variety of elevation and transitioning aquatic environments from mountain streams to saltwater seas. Atop the highest mountains of New Hampshire and Maine, there is a tree line where arctic vegetation persists. Along the trails you will find evergreen forests of spruce and balsam, hardwoods coloring autumn’s landscapes, even spartan beach environments along the coast. Wildflowers will be found in spring, summer, and fall throughout New England.
New England’s historic hikes are primarily in city, state, and federal parks, as well as national forests and wildlife refuges. Each operates with its own system of rules. We are responsible for knowing them. Since these hikes travel to historical destinations, a layer of New England’s past overlays each park. For example, though the Robert Frost Trail uses town land and affords multiple forms of outdoor recreation from swimming to boating, the preserved home of Robert Frost to which you hike is managed by an entirely different entity. National parks often have a mix of preservation and recreation. At the Jordan Pond House at Acadia National Park, historical, recreation, and nature trails are all interconnected with facilities that include a visitor center, gift shop, and restaurant. At Weir Farm National Historic Site, emphasis is on history first. So in the end, it depends on the managing body and the mission of the park how the preserved past is treated.
No matter where you go to hike through New England’s past, consider adding other recreational opportunities while you are there, whether you strap on a backpack and overnight in the back of beyond, stay in a nearby campground, take a guided tour, go on a bike ride, or spend the night in a cozy cabin. The important thing is to get out there and connect with history on your own terms.