Canoe-Camping: The River Awaits

Enjoying a shady lunch on the river.

A few cool things about paddle-camping.

After years of dreaming about canoeing a long stretch of the Connecticut River and camping along its banks, I finally did it.

As my son and I paddled, we found ourselves comparing our trip to adventures of earlier summers, like car-camping and backpacking. We resolved that canoe-camping is a pretty cool way to get around and see the great outdoors.

With that backdrop, here are a few things to keep in mind about canoe-camping.

Every river has its own personality
We chose to paddle-camp on the Connecticut River, the stretch between Bellows Falls and Vernon, Vt. There are a plenty of good campsite choices, all outlined in the handy Connecticut River Boating Guide, published by the Connecticut River Watershed Council. The stretch has plenty of mid-summer water, and some parts are accessible by canoes or kayaks only, which was fine by us.

We could have chosen other rivers. There’s the close-to-home Contoocook River, with its calm waters and beautiful places. But it doesn’t have the big water character and camping options of the Connecticut.

There’s the sandy Saco River in New Hampshire and Maine, with loads of camping options and outfitters who can help pick you up or drop you off. The Saco’s reputation as a party river is starting to wane, but sometimes it can still seem like a riparian version of Spring Break.

There’s the mighty Merrimack River, the wild Allagash in Maine, the rugged Deerfield in Massachusetts. The list goes on, and each river has plenty to offer.

You can bring lots of stuff
Unlike backpacking, where every ounce weighs on your shoulders, you can haul a few extras in the canoe. You can bring camping chairs, a lightweight table, tarps and extra rain gear or all kinds of things to make your trip more fun and comfortable. You can even bring a cooler, full of all kinds of great food and beverages.

But all that stuff has its limits, too. More weight means harder paddling and can complicate packing and portaging. Test-packing will help you decide whether you need it or leave it. 

Keep your gear dry
No matter how careful you are, there’s always a chance you’ll dump your canoe. If it happens, just hope that no one is watching and take a few simple precautions to keep your stuff safe and dry.

You can use dry bags, like the many kinds offered at EMS and other sporting goods stores. They come in sizes small enough for maps or snacks or big enough to fit your sleeping bags, tent and plenty more. You can also get dry boxes and pouches for cameras or cell phones. A cheaper option for storing gear are 5-gallon pails or plastic storage boxes, both with tight lids, of course.

If you’re really paranoid about losing your stuff, you can clip your dry containers into a rope. 

Water, water to drink
Like backpacking, you want to stay hydrated, especially when you’re paddling in the hot sun. Pack a full, collapsible 5-gallon water container and keep it handy. You’ll need it. If you can’t refill it along your journey, bring a water purifier or tablets.

You can refresh your provisions!
As we paddled our stretch of the Connecticut in the boiling heat, one of the nicest sights was the Chesterfield-Brattleboro bridge. On the other side is an easy pull-out and a store with ice cream, ice and beer. Just a short paddle downstream, we could have stopped for a meal at the Marina in Brattleboro.

If you’re paddling the Allagash, you won’t have options like that. But when you pick a river, stores and pit stops like that are good options to keep in mind.

It’s fun for kids
Not every child will enjoy canoe-camping, but some will love it. They don’t have to paddle all the time; sometimes they can sit back and enjoy the ride.

Depending where you go, the paddling can offer lots of cool things to see around every bend. To break up the tedium of long, straight stretches, take breaks, go swimming or use that rod and reel.

The river can move you
Our stretch of the Connecticut River had a little current to move us along, but most of it was flat. If you want the river to do some of the work, you really have to do your homework and find stretches with current that’s strong enough to keep you moving, but not so strong to turn your placid camping trip into a crazy whitewater nightmare.

Remember that dams and their release schedules can have a big influence on flow. A nightly release at Bellows Falls, for instance, raised the river a few inches and significantly increased the flow.

By the way, remember that a dam’s release schedule can impact your choice of campsite. Camp too close to the river and you may find the river lapping against your tent at night!

It may be mid-summer, but the year’s best times for canoe-camping are still ahead. The bugs will soon be gone, the air will get better and the river awaits.

Eric Aldrich writes from his home in Hancock.

New Field Guide Helps You Discover New Hampshire’s Natural Wonders

What are You Waiting for?
Go Out and Discover These Places.

When you’re looking to get out and enjoy the outdoors this summer, a new book by The Nature Conservancy can guide you to some new and cool destinations.

Discover and Explore New Hampshire’s Natural Wonders is a handy field guide to the Conservancy’s preserves and project areas throughout the state.

In the interest of full disclosure, I work for The Nature Conservancy and took some of the photos that appear in the book. It was an awesome pleasure and privilege to visit and photograph the dozens of places we’ve worked hard to protect, from Fourth Connecticut Lake in Pittsburg to Great Bay to Nubanusit Lake here in Hancock.

This book, which celebrates the Conservancy’s 50 years of conservation in New Hampshire, is a great way to share these places with you. Having been to many of these cool sites, I can say with confidence, you really should check some of them out. You’ll be glad you did.

When The Nature Conservancy completed its first project in New Hampshire in 1961, it was still a young organization, only 10 years since its founding. That project was in Hancock and Nelson, protecting the 400-acre “island” on Nubanusit Lake.

Since then, the Conservancy has helped protect more than 280,000 acres of ecologically significant habitat in New Hampshire, including 650 miles of river and stream frontage. Of that, the Conservancy owns or manages some 25,000 acres across the state, nearly all open to the public for hiking, fishing, boating and other recreational activities.

Evolving Strategies

While always guided by the best available science, The Nature Conservancy -- like all organizations -- has evolved over time, and its projects and strategies have reflected those changes.

Some of the Conservancy’s early projects focused on protecting rare species and natural communities in New Hampshire, like places that harbor the federally endangered small whorled pogonia in and around the Lakes Region. Another example is along the Connecticut River, where the Conservancy has worked with other organizations to protect and monitor small areas with rare plants, including one species that grows no place else on earth.

Over time, the Conservancy has learned that, for natural systems to maintain their ecological value into the future, it must conserve lands and waters at a larger scale, conserving whole and interconnected systems that will be resilient to climate change and other human impacts.. That has involved use of conservation easements on private lands, supporting sound management of protected lands, using innovative finance methods and supporting smart public policy.

Along the Connecticut River, for example, the Conservancy years ago focused on protecting a small and unusual habitat that supported globally rare plants. Now, we leverage our science and partnerships to conserve and restore thousands of floodplain forests or restore natural flow regimes to the river’s mainstem and tributaries. The result will be natural areas that are not only protected and resilient to change, but human communities that are safer and more economically viable.

Discover and Explore

Whether through land protection or other strategies, the Conservancy’s commitment to conserving lands and waters is the heart of its work, and its 50-year legacy in New Hampshire is a lasting testament -- offering places you can discover and explore.

The new handsomely designed field guide shows you where these places are, how to enjoy them and describes why we protected them.

A few local places include:

• Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp in Antrim, where a nice trail system features a rare Atlantic white cedar swamp.
• Louis Cabot Preserve in Hancock and Nelson, now owned by Keene State College, where you can paddle across crystal-clear Nubanusit Lake and enjoy a beautiful, evolving forest.
• Sheldrick Forest Preserve in Wilton, where you can see towering old white pines and geological remnants from the Ice Age.
• Wales Preserve in Sharon, where you can have a picnic along the Gridley River.
• Joanne Bass Bross Preserve in Temple, where you can hike along the Wapack Trail and see great views of Mount Monadnock, North Pack and Pack Monadnock.

Use the book to check out some more distant places, too, like Fourth Connecticut Lake in Pittsburg. This is one of my favorite Nature Conservancy preserves. As you hike the trail to this little pond, your right foot is in Canada and your left foot in the states. If you quietly approach the pond, you might see a moose.

Explore the Ossipee PineBarrens, where you can see a rare fire-dependant ecosystem. Over the past decade, we’ve carefully restored fire here with annual prescribed burns that encourage the mix of pitch pine and scrub oak in different stages of growth that attract rare moths, Eastern towhees and other bird species.

Go check out Great Bay, where we’ve protected lands and worked with partners to establish a trail system between Durham and the bay. You can see osprey, a cool salt marsh and the estuary where we continue working to restore oysters and improve water quality.

Finally, the new book honors some key people who’ve helped make these conservation successes possible. It profiles a few local players, like Swift Corwin, who played a key role in protecting Sheldrick Forest, and Richard Bennink, whose vision helped protect Nubanusit’s island. These and many others are the folks who work behind the scenes, making it possible to protect great places for ours and future generations.

What are you waiting for? Get out and Discover and Explore New Hampshire’s Natural Wonders?

Eric Aldrich writes from his home in Hancock.

Don’t Let the Bugs Win!

What works and what doesn’t in the war against bugs?

Come May and June, it only takes a few minutes outside until you’re swatting those pesky bugs.

And along with this year’s early bug season comes the perennial discussion: What works against them? What doesn’t?

Well, I’m far from an expert on this, but I do occasionally use myself as an insect test lab and I check with folks to see what’s hot and what’s not.

Dr. Alan T. Eaton, the entomology specialist for the UNH Cooperative Extension, has put a lot of thought into products that attempt to offer relief from pesky insects.

While many describe themselves as insect repellents, that’s not exactly what they do, according to Eaton. They actually block receptors that mosquitoes, black flies and others use to find hosts for them to bite. By blocking the receptors, the products stop the insects from biting.

Some products, as you might imagine, are more effective than others. Eaton recommends that you check the active ingredient and always follow the label directions. 

Hair Shirts, Bear Grease and Bug Suits 

Before we get into the chemicals, how about the no-spray alternatives?

How about using nothing? No protection at all. Just go out there like a hair shirt and show the mosquitoes who’s boss.

I’ve hiked with folks who try this. Some just put up with the bugs and don’t complain at all. They wonder what the fuss is all about. I do wonder, however, whether they reach their vehicle at the end of a long, buggy hike, jump inside and in the privacy and comfort of their cars, let the profanities fly.

 hiked with a fellow from India a few years ago who’s only protection in one of the buggiest places in New Hampshire (Effingham) was a small fan, the size of a ping pong paddle. Seemed to work, but he was constantly swatting.

And I’ve often heard that Native Americans successfully used bear grease to keep away the bugs. While I wouldn’t ask for it at the drug store, I suppose you could get some bear grease if you tried hard enough. Then, if you did, what would you do? Rub it all over yourself? I suspect it would keep away more than the bugs.

Bug suits and hats are an attractive alternative, much less messy than bear grease. You can buy a top just for your head. You can get a shirt and top combo. Or you can get the whole suit -- pants and all -- and walk around like an astronaut.

They do work. I’ve used them in the woods and in the garden. But you can feel a little claustrophobic in there, sweating and squinting while the mass of flies hover around your head. 

DEET 

The champion of the chemical line-up seems to be DEET, the short name for N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide. The stuff is as scary as its name, but it does seem to work against mosquitoes, black flies, midges and even ticks. It doesn’t work against deer flies and horseheads; nothing really fights them, according to Eaton.

Products with higher concentrations of DEET generally last longer and are more effective than those with low concentrations, Eaton says. But it shouldn’t be used in concentrations over 30 percent. And it should never be used on infants under 2 months old. And don’t get it in your mouth, nose or eyes.

The other problem with DEET is that it dissolves plastics, which invites all sorts of questions about its effect on your skin. 

Picaradin 

Products with picaradin are becoming more common, and like those with DEET, can come in pump sprays, aeresols and wipes.

On the plus side, picaradin doesn’t dissolve plastics, like cameras and such.

On the down side, picaradin seems to have a short span of effectiveness. I find I need to re-apply it every hour or so, unlike DEET. 

Cironella 

Derived from grasses native to tropical Asia, citronella is often used in candles and torches.

While I don’t recommend hiking with torches, they can be pretty cool near the campfire. 

Oil of Lemmon Eucalyptus 

According to Eaton, research has shown that natural products like this are less effective on mosquitoes than products with DEET or picaradin.

In my own decidedly unscientific tests with lemmon, eucalyptus oils and other naturals, I’ve returned from the woods, bitten and cranky. I wish they worked better than they do.

Some folks swear by the naturals. And that’s fine. I say, if it works by you, use it! 

Permethrin 

This isn’t a standard repellent. It’s really used as a treatment for clothing to ward off mosquitoes and other biting insects. I’ve found it works best against ticks, and it really does work.

It comes in aeresols, pump sprays and solutions. You generally treat the clothes according to instructions, let them dry and they’re good to go.

I’ve found the best bet for permethrin is to treat gaiters, boots and below-the-knees parts of a grungy pair of pants. That’s my anti-tick outfit. And it stays in the basement or on the porch.

Whatever ammo you choose against bugs, even if it’s bear grease, follow the label’s instructions and be flexible. If it doesn’t work, try something else.

Just don’t let the bugs win! 

Eric Aldrich writes from his home in Hancock.

Downtown to the Mountain on the Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail

Cheney Ave. meadow, Pack Monadnock in the distance.

Picture this for your next hike: You start in downtown Peterborough, fueling up with breakfast at Nonies, Aesop’s Tables or the Peterborough Diner.

Under a brilliant blue sky, you cross the Contoocook River and head up Pine Street and Cheney Avenue. Then you’re on the Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail, passing through a tranquil meadow, with Pack Monadnock, your destination in full view.

In 3 miles you’re on the Raymond Trail at Miller State Park. Go another 1.6 miles and you’re enjoying the view atop Pack.

“I love how much people are hiking the trail,” said Swift Corwin, the Peterborough forester who helped create the trail. “For many, it has been part of their daily routine.”

The idea of a town-to-mountain trail came to Corwin in pieces a few years ago. Landowner Cy Gregg had asked for Corwin’s help to build a streamside trail east of Old Street Road. At the time, Corwin didn’t think that it would be possible to connect downtown with the mountain because of sizable wetlands between the two. The idea sat on the back burner.

The Italian Connection

It took a trip to Italy to give Corwin the big picture.

“One day, we had this fabulous hike from the village of Schio up to the top of Mont Novegno,” he said. “It was Christmas and there were lots of people making this walk.  I just loved that you could go from town to the mountaintop.”

When he returned, Corwin learned that the people who had bought land around Cranberry Meadow Pond had protected the property with a conservation easement held by the Monadnock Conservancy and wanted to make their land available to hikers.

A look at the map convinced Corwin that a town-to-mountain trail would be possible.

“Thanks to the generosity and cooperation of the other landowners along the way, the path and the possibility unfolded,” he said.

This was in 2008, when the economy started to sour. The idea of a cool, low-cost, local hike actually gave the project a boost.

Blazing a Trail

Corwin and staff of the Monadnock Conservancy got to work. They scouted routes, cut brush, built bridges and eventually marked the trail with blue diamond blazes.

By building a boardwalk, the wetlands that once seemed like such a barrier became a nice feature of the trail.

Many volunteers have pitched in. More than a dozen seniors from Conval Regional High School recently worked on the trail, marking switchbacks, repairing and installing bridges and stepping stones, building a small boardwalk and installing benches by the pond. That session was leveraged by Eastern Mountain Sports, which agreed to fund the seniors’ class trip if they completed a day of community service.

“I think what I really like about the trail is the variety of landscapes it passes through,” said Emily Hague, the Monadnock Conservancy’s stewardship manager. “It really gives you a sampling, crossing a field, a wetland, a streamside hemlock grove, a pondside, a working forest, to the base of Pack.”

Access to Land

Hague credits the landowners who’ve generously agreed to host the trail. One landowner who completed a recent timber harvest also agreed to leave a buffer along the trail, demonstrating that well-managed woodlands and recreational hiking can be compatible.

Hague is also delighted that so many people are enjoying the trail. “Travelers from all over the country and the world write in our log book, and people walk the trail every day. It feels great to be able to provide this resource and to give people access to land that will always remain the way it is.”

Corwin knows that many hikers stop at the pond, enjoy the view, then turn back toward town. But continuing on towards pack, Corwin said, is worth the trip.

“The experience of being in town in the morning, walking through the village up Pine Street, across Cheney Avenue field, then across the boardwalk and into the deeper woods and on to the mountaintop and back is something that you won't forget.”

Eric Aldrich writes from his home in Hancock.

Two Guys’ Mission: Catch-M-All!

Clay Groves & Dave Kellam ... and yellow perch.

The sudden onset of spring has an amazing way of triggering a deep-rooted desire to fish.

That’s especially true for two guys named Dave and Clay.

Dave Kellam and Clay Groves are on a mission for fishin’. They’re determined to catch -- and eat -- every species of freshwater fish in New Hampshire. By their count, that’s 44 fish species in all, including the big, the small, the tasty and the not-so-tasty.

They had hoped to accomplish this impressive gastro-angling feat in 2011. But, a few of the species have turned out to be challenging to catch, so the adventure continues.

Dave and Clay met more than 10 years ago when they worked at Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester. Dave lives in Exeter and now works for an ocean planning group called SeaPlan and Clay lives in Conway and works for Lakes Region Community College. Though their work lives have parted, they still share a passion for fish and fishing.

Last year, they took their fishing skills to a new level with their quest.

Each Fish a Research Project

At the outset, Dave and Clay set out to catch all 48 species of freshwater fish as cited on an onlinelist kept by the N.H. Fish and Game Department. Then they learned that two are endangered: American brook lamprey and bridle shiner. Figuring it would be bad form to eat these (and also illegal) they were scratched from the Catch-M-All list. Another two are old records and may not occur in New Hampshire anymore, if they ever did: blacknose shiner and tadpole madtom.

That leaves 44 freshwater fish to catch and eat, which the two thought was a fair goal to pursue.

A mission like this begs for rules. The fish have to be caught legally, preferably with hook and line, but other innovations may apply. No nets or traps. They must eat the first legal example of the fish they catch. While they can catch the fish on their own, they must eat the fish as a team.

So far, they’ve caught and eaten 36 of the 44 species.

“This quest completely turns the typical fishing experience on its head,” Dave said. “Targeting each fish becomes its own research project.”

Clay enjoys the challenge of learning the habits and habitats of each species, then figuring out how to catch it with more or less traditional tackle.


“For most of the fish, we have to gear way down and use tiny hooks, about the size of the letter J in 12-point font size,” Clay said. “But it’s been a lot of fun and seems to resonate with a lot of people.

Eating each species presents another set of challenges. “We have to deal with fish that no one cares to eat,” Clay said. “And we can’t just fry every fish. We like to mix it up.”

Aquatic Superlatives

Many times the dynamic angling duo have been asked about the quest’s superlatives. So here are a few:

Smallest: a 1 ¾-inch-long mummichog, a notoriously hardy little fish that thrives in coastal or brackish waters. With mulled mummichog and egg nog, they made “chog nog” and served it to the apprehensive host of White Mountains Today TV show in North Conway.

Biggest: a 36-inch, 12-pound, 8-ounce Northern pike that Clay caught last month on the frozen Connecticut River in Hanover. It became the main ingredient in a maple blackberry pike jerkey.

Scariest: a margined madtom, a small catfish that’s native to the Appalachias and Eastern U.S., but not New Hampshire. They made a “margined madtom mousse,” a risky meal, considering the fish has a venomous gland near its pectoral spines. Fortunately, no one suffered margined madtom mousse malaise.

Biggest surprise: golden shiner, which they thought would taste terrible. After flipping a coin to see who would eat the head (Clay, as always), they fried the shiner. “It was fantastic!” Clay said.

Worst-tasting: slimy sculpin, a little bottom-dwelling and nocturnal fish. After catching it with worm and hook, they made “slimy sculpin scampi” and shared it with a reporter from N.H. Public Radio. Clay said that horrid meal ties with “pickled pickerel.” Though Eastern chain pickerel is a game fish and normally pretty pleasant, their preference of pickling the piscine proved problematic.

Hardest to catch: banded sunfish. After at least 10 trips intended for this little sunfish, their search continues.

And as the quest continues, so do Dave and Clay’s excellent adventures. Aside from their popular column in The Wire and the Mountain Ear, they’re working on a book and have pledged 10% of its profits to support the NH Fish and Game Nongame Program.

Wish them luck and follow their story at www.catch-m-all.com.

A Vision, a Mountain and a March 20 Deadline

Forest Society hopes to protect 390 acres on Mount Monadnock

More information at forestsociety.org/monadnock.

Amazing things happen when people identify an urgent need, express their vision and pull people together for action.

That’s exactly what happened in 1915 when visionary leaders from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests looked at the challenges facing Mount Monadnock. Seeing the potential that this treasured mountain could be irreversibly changed by development, they worked with scores of folks to protect 650 acres on its slopes.

It was a remarkable story in itself, and since then, the Forest Society has gradually protected some 4,100 acres on the mountain. These publicly accessible lands -- along with tracts conserved by the state and other organizations -- are arguably among the most treasured natural assets in the region, if not the state.

They did it tract by tract, piece by piece, and all with tremendous grassroots support.

Today’s Challenge

Now the mountain faces another challenge, another opportunity, where the Forest Society’s vision needs that grassroots support again.

The Forest Society is working to protect nearly 400 acres on Mount Monadnock and has until March 20 to raise funds to seal the deal. So far, the organization has raised a little more than half of the $760,000 needed.

If successful, the project will be the largest acreage protected on the mountain at one time since 1915.

“This is a real challenge,” said Dave Anderson, the Forest Society’s director of education. “It’s an incredible opportunity, but we have until March 20 to make it happen. And in this economy, we are working hard to raise the money.”


The Project in a Nutshell

The project involves two landowners, with tracts on opposite sides of the mountain.

In the northwestern corner of Jaffrey and a little bit in Marlborough, the Forest Society hopes to purchase 335 acres from the Stowell family. This tract includes a stretch of the Marlborough Trail, one of the mountain’s nicest trails and in the late 1800s it was one of the most popular routes to the summit.

Aside from excellent habitat for moose, black bear, bobcat and other mammals that require wide ranges, the piece has remarkable forests for forest-loving songbirds and many other species. It also holds some cultural resources, like the site of a former Shaker farm with links to Shirley, Mass. Remnants of the farm, established in 1793, can still be seen.

The Stowell family has owned the land for three generations and now needs to sell.

A Hand in the Future

On the southeastern end of the mountain, in Jaffrey, the Forest Society seeks to purchase a conservation easement on 55 acres owned by Charles and Ann Royce. Charles Royce is a former manager of Monadnock State Park and a longtime, tireless and passionate advocate for conserving the mountain.

Under the conservation easement, the Royce family would continue to own and manage the land. They could sell or transfer the tract, but the Forest Society’s easement would permanently protect the land and its natural resources.

“It’s about preserving the land as both a part of the natural view shed, but also ensuring that it is available to future generations,” Ann Royce told the Ledger-Transcript last fall. “The easement will be passed on to future owners of the property, with us having a hand in that future.”

The Royce tract also has important cultural resources, like home sites of some of Jaffrey’s early settlers and a road that was once the main road between Jaffrey and Keene.

March 20 Fast Approaching

Because of the urgency of the challenge and the importance of lands, the project has attracted some respectable support. Among the contributors so far are the Jessie B. Cox CLT - Cox Family Fund, the N.H. Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (for the Stowell tract), the N.H. Conservation Plate program, the Conservation Alliance and the town of Marlborough.

“We’ve raised $430,000 so far,” Anderson said. “We’re more than half-way there. But we’ve got a hard deadline of March 20 that’s fast approaching and an opportunity to do something that’s going to help protect the mountain for future generations. It’s an urgent appeal, but I’m hopeful we can do it.”

A plaque at the base of Monadnock’s White Dot Trail honors the vision of Forest Society leaders who helped protect the mountain, Philip Ayres and Allen Chamberlain: “…May it always remain as it is today. Free and wild and beautiful. The unspoiled heritage of the past. A haven of refuge for those who seek its peace in years to come.”

Amazing things can happen when people pull together.

To learn more about this project, visit forestsociety.org/monadnock.

Eric Aldrich writes from his home in Hancock.

Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp: Antrim’s Globally Rare Ecosystem

A boardwalk leads hikers into the cedar swamp.

Of all the ecosystems here in our region -- from hemlock forests to peatland bogs -- few are really rare.


But a swamp in the northern part of Antrim is globally rare.

Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp is a great example of what ecologists describe as an “inland Atlantic white cedar swamp.”

Because of its excellent condition, size and exemplary nature, The Nature Conservancy protected this place in 1999. In 2006, the Conservancy acquired an additional 635 acres that helped protect the swamp’s watershed.

Now, the Conservancy’s 1,200-acre Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp Preserve lies within a conserved landscape of some 15,000 acres, protected by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and other partner organizations.

Thanks to volunteers and staff of The Nature Conservancy, a trail and boardwalk leads into a piece of this strange and quiet place. From the boardwalk, you can see that it’s really a type of forested wetland; dark, cool and damp. Nothing like any other place in the region.

New Hampshire’s Rare Wetlands

Of New Hampshire’s 500,000 acres of wetlands, only 1 percent are Atlantic cedar swamps. Most of them are small and near the coast. Some of those cedar swamps, like one in Kingston, is quite open in nature, with trees spaced far apart in bright sunlight.

Another good example is in Manchester -- also protected by The Nature Conservancy -- and is 42 acres. The Manchester swamp is a bit different from Loverens Mill. Manchester Cedar Swamp. It hosts ancient black gum (some 400-plus years old) and giant rhododendron, which flower in early summer.

At nearly 50 acres, Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp is New Hampshire’s second largest. And it has a few traits that give it a northern (or boreal) flavor. Surrounded by hills, the swamp sits in the bottom of a  bowl -- at 1,040 feet in elevation -- where cold air collects and influences the plants that grow here. You’ll see northern species like tamarack, black spruce, balsam fir and Labrador tea, among others.

Atlantic white cedars -- which are found along the Eastern coast from Mississippi to Maine -- grow extremely slowly. Botanists have found some Atlantic white cedars less than 1 foot tall that are over 200 years old. The old cedars in Antrim are a respectable 130 years old.

While Atlantic white cedars can grow on little hummocks in swamps, their collective success can hinge on the wetlands themselves. If drained or flooded, for example, cedars can die in the wetlands and the ecosystem would peter out. That’s what has happened throughout New Hampshire where cedar swamps were once more abundant.

The water levels at Antrim’s Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp has probably been fairly consistent for hundreds or more years. In fact, a study of pollen cored from the depths of the Antrim swamp show that cedar has been here for more than 4,000 years. That is quite a testament to this system’s resilience.

Guided Tour of Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp Feb. 25
On Saturday, Feb. 25, join botanist Nur Ritter and The Nature Conservancy’s Eric Aldrich for a tour of Loverens Mill Cedar Swamp. Meet at 9 a.m. at the preserve entrance, Loverens Mill Road, off Route 9 in Antrim. Hike wraps up by noon; co-sponsored by the Harris Center for Conservation Education.

Eric Aldrich writes from his home in Hancock.