Distance: 2.1 with option for more or less, loop trail
Difficulty: Easy
Located in Amherst, NH is Parish Pond hiking trail. This is an easy hike, good for the whole family. The trail head is located on Spring Road and is marked with a hiking sign. After looking at the trail map I saw a couple other parking lots as well on Embarkment Road and Parish Pond Road.
From the parking lot you can go straight towards Beaver Dam Lookout or turn left towards the main part of the trail. We started out by going left and walking across a boardwalk.
From the boardwalk you get a view of a small stream and the bog.
About a quarter of a mile past the boardwalk is split in the trail. You can go either way as this is a loop. We chose to go left.
The trail is well marked with signs and yellow trail makers. We did see some red trail markers on part of the trail.
We continued on a flat walk through the woods. Part of the trail does border a residential area so please be mindful.
About a 3/4 of a mile through the hike you come to another split in the trail. Left heads towards the parking lot on Bamboosic Lake Road as well as the Josiah Parker Trail, which I am not familiar with. We went right to continue around the loop.
After another quarter of a mile is another split in the trail. You can go straight towards the Parish Pond Road parking lot or continue right around the loop. We continued around the loop. I have to admit this part of the trail I was a little disappointed in. Looking at the map, I thought we were going to be walking along the edge of the bog. We technically were, but there was no view, we continued to walk through the forest.
There is a side trail to an observation deck. it was a little less than a quarter of a mile down to the viewing area, with a viewing platform and a place to sit.
From the observation deck you got a pretty view of the bog. I bet in the fall, when the colors are turning this is beautiful.
We walked back to the start of the loop, towards the parking lot. At the junction for the parking and the Beaver Dam Lookout it was about 1.65 miles. We chose to take a left and check out the Beaver Dam. It is only three tenths of mile to the lookout. This is a pretty view of the pond and a beaver house. There is also a bench to sit and enjoy the view .
A few feet down the trail you can see evidence of a beaver dam. We had had a lot of rain so the water flowing over the dam.
From here we returned to the parking lot. The whole hike was about 2.1 miles. I read that in the winter people snowshoe and cross country ski here. This was no a favorite trail, but if you are in the area and need to kill some time it is a nice walk through the woods.
