Located in Peterborough, New Hampshire is The Common Pathway a multi use trail good for walking, running, biking, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. The trail starts at Noones Falls on Rt 202 in Peterborough where you walk along the Contoocook River.
The trail leads you through an underpass of Rt 101 and into Downtown Peterborough. If you have time to walk around Downtown Peterborough it is such a great area with lots of shops and restaurants. A couple of our favorite’s are ToadStool Book Store and Sweet Macaron.
The trail continues up Summer Street past the fire station before turning back into the woods. There is another parking area for the trail on Summer Street. This portion of the Peterborough Common Pathway goes between a paved trail and walking on the road as well as pulling away from the river.
The trail comes out at Rt 202 across from Scott Mitchell Road, the Peterborough Recycling Center and another parking area. It is 2.5 miles from the Summer Street Parking area to this one.
This is the end of the Common Pathway which is a total of 6.5 miles
The trail does continue as The Old Railroad Trail.
The trail goes through a tunnel under Rt 202 and continues past the Recycling Center. The Old Railroad Trail brings you back to walking along the Contoocook River. This section of the trail is not paved, but hard packed.
From here the trail can get narrow in places, but is still walk and bike able. The Old Railroad Trail continues up to Forest Road in Hancock for another 2.7 miles.
We have walked sections of this trail so many times since we moved to the area. It is a great place when you want to get in an easy walk without dealing with too much traffic.
