Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition
| Trail Guide 14 |
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Chalk Pond to Newbury Harbor
Total Distance: 4.5 miles Estimated time: 2.5 hours
Total Ascents: 670 feet Total Descents: 840 feet
Overview: The Fishersfield Trail is a new trail within the SRKG, replacing a road walk, and placing the hike in the forest where it belongs. Fishersfield was the third name given to this area on the south end of Lake Sunapee. Fishersfield was incorporated in 1772 after taking the names of Dantzwick (in 1753) and Hereford (in 1754). The trail leaves the Audubon Society’s Stoney Brook Wildlife Sanctuary at the northwestern shore of Chalk Pond, and climbs the eastern flanks of Sunset Hill, owned by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF), and on to Bly Hill. Hikes in the fall and winter will give views of Mount Kearsarge (east) and Bald Sunapee (south). The last mile of this segment of the SRKG goes down Bly Hill near the backyard of the Newbury Town Hall where NH 103 and NH 103A join.
Finding the Trailheads: The northern trailhead is at a small parking area of the Audubon Society’s Stoney Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, 1.8 miles east on Chalk Pond Road from its intersection with NH 103A. The southern trailhead is at the Newbury Post Office on NH 103 at Newbury Harbor.
Trail: From the Audubon Society’s Stoney Brook Wildlife Sanctuary parking area go west on (turn right onto) Chalk Pond Road, left on Gerald Drive at 0.1 mi., then right on Skytop Drive at 0.2 mi. and walk west up a steep hill. This road is the access to an old development, which has remained mostly undeveloped. Near the top of the hill, turn left at the second road on your left, an unnamed Class VI Road, which continues climbing south to a cul-de-sac where there is parking for several cars. You will find the Fishersfield trailhead sign here, a total distance of 0.3 mi. from the Audubon Society’s Stoney Brook parking area.
The trail continues south into the woods climbing up a steep logging trail, reaching the stone wall boundary of the Hay Estate: "No Dogs — Protected Bear Habitat!" Leaving the SPNHF Hay Forest Reservation, the trail continues south paralleling the property boundary stone wall for some distance and then heads southeast through a rocky area, passing between two large glacial boulders at 1.1 mi. After taking a sharp left, the trail crosses a stone wall, turns right and gradually climbs upward, reaching a beautiful knoll amidst large white pines, a great lunch stop.
The trail then parallels a stonewall, climbing some and then dropping into a wet area before climbing a steep rise to reach an old logging road and private land at 1.3 mi. The trail up to this point has been on a 30-yard right-of-way of the SPNHF Hay Forest Reservation land. The trail now traverses Town of Newbury land and leaves the logging road, turning sharply west into a previously logged area with views of Bald Sunapee and farther southwest, a small dome-shaped mountain. At 1.8 mi., enter the woods and drop sharply to a stream gully and then back up to a wooded area..
At 2.3 mi., the trail drops down to a private road and turns right for a short distance (100 yd.) before going left onto a trail of the Lake Sunapee Snowmobile Club that was dedicated to Leonard “Len” Dupuis. Follow this well-cleared snowmobile trail as it proceeds down, sharply at times, to the paved Fishersfield Road, which the trail follows, and then at 3.3 mi. reaches NH 103A in Newbury Harbor at its intersection with NH 103. Go west on NH 103 for 200 yd. to the Newbury Post Office, the southern trailhead.
