Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition
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Wilmot Center to New Canada Road
Total Distance: 4.1 miles Estimated time: 2.5 hours
Total Ascents: 600 feet Total Descents: 480 feet
Overview: Wilmot Center is one of three villages in Wilmot that were active farming and industrial communities in the latter half of the 19th century. Stone walls throughout the area remind the hiker that this was once cleared land that has reverted to forest. New Canada Road has been named in the prose and poetry of Donald Hall, a former poet laureate of New Hampshire. This SRKG segment starts on the Beaver Pond Trail which has one short steep ascent after the pond. It continues on the Patterson Farm Trail which has a long steep descent to Eagle Pond Road. The remainder, except for a short trail around the end of Eagle Pond, is dirt road walking. New Canada Road is all uphill. The SRKG is clearly marked by white trapezoids. Some portions on Eagle Pond Road and New Canada Road have not been blazed.
Finding the Trailheads: The western trailhead uses the parking area at the Wilmot Town Hall. From NH 11 go 3 mi. west on NH 4A and turn right onto North Wilmot Road. The Town Hall is just ahead on the left. The eastern trailhead is on New Canada Road, 0.9 mi. from where it leaves US 4, two miles north of the junction with NH 11. Across from the Trail 9 trailhead there is limited parking.
Trail: Walk 250 yd. north on North Wilmot Road and turn right onto the Beaver Pond Trail that heads downward on a logging road. At 0.3 mi., the trail crosses a brook in which a number of cardinal flowers bloom in late summer and fall. The brook may be difficult to cross when it is swollen. A few yards after the brook, the trail turns left and continues on the logging road to a sign indicating Pond/Trail. The short, narrow pond loop leads to the edge of the beaver pond, where you can see the beaver dam and lodge and a number of trees cut down by beavers. There is a granite bench overlooking the beaver pond, dedicated to the memory of George Howe, a founding member of the SRKG Coalition. The beavers have left the site, but landowners have clear-cut the nearby areas to encourage growth of deciduous trees favored by beavers. It is hoped they will return.
The beaver site loop continues back to the logging road and on up a short steep grade into mixed woods. At 0.6 mi. the trail crosses a large stone wall and continues through the woods, heading southeast. At 0.8 mi., it takes a sharp left onto a woods road and travels northeast for about 180 yd. and turns right onto a narrow wooded trail that will shortly bring you to the beginning of old Patterson Road. This is the junction of the Beaver Pond Trail and the Patterson Farm Trail, 0.9 mi. from Wilmot Center.
Turn left onto the Patterson Farm Trail, which leads gradually downhill then abruptly up to the site of the Patterson Farm at 1.2 mi. There is the cellar hole of a barn on the left, and almost opposite are stone gateposts which led to a neighboring farm. Continue uphill and across the clearing. On the left of the clearing is a cellar hole that was the foundation of the main farmhouse, showing admirable workmanship. The SRKG is at the left edge of the stone wall. From here the wooded trail continues to 1.8 mi. where it makes a gradual and then steep descent onto Eagle Pond Road, which marks the end of the Patterson Farm Trail section (2.0 mi.).
The SRKG turns right onto Eagle Pond Road and follows it for 1.0 mi. Shortly after crossing a bridge over the pond outlet, it turns left onto an old woods road. Quite soon the trail takes a right turn, dropping onto the railroad bed and turning left. At 60 yd. it turns right and climbs out of the railroad bed. Turn left and walk 30 yd. to US 4, opposite New Canada Road. Cross US 4 and walk up New Canada Road for 0.9 mi. Across the road from the parking area on the left is a logging road and the trailhead for Trail 9 of the SRKG, the trail over Ragged Mountain.
