Concord has about 30 trails for walking, hiking, biking. They are a combination of city property, private property and conservation areas, and range from very flat , sometimes even tarred surfaces to easy-to-moderate hiking trails.
It truly is an amazing network in the urban capital of the state. Well ... urban for NH , anyway, with a population of around 44,000.
Some of these trail systems are isolated; others are interconnected.
One of the networks I really like is the Marjory Swope Park. It is built around a smll knob called Jerry Hill , about 720' elevation , about 300 ft of prominence above the trailhead. There are two good outlooks. The entire trail surrounding Jerry Hill is about 2 miles , so it's kind of a short hike. However, there are two connector trails to nearby networks, which provides an opportunity for plenty longer walks.
I've ignored these connectors, focusing on nearby and more demanding Oak Hill and other Broken Ground networks. But those have gotten a little too familiar so I decided to branch out. Good decision!
The Carter Hill Orchard Trails sound interesting, so this short hike was to see what the connector to that area is like. The connector is reached from Swope Park via the Orange Trail, on the far side of Jerry Hill from the Long Road parking area. To get a little elevation gain we took the Blue Loop ccw to the Yellow Trail, and ascended to the Orange Trail, then decended via Orange to the Mountain Vista. After enjoying that a few minutes we continued on downhill thru a low spot and came to the Carter Hill connector. We then followed that as far as the District 5 state forest road.
It was getting late, so we turned around and returned via the Blue trail. Neither of us felt the need for more distance or elevation, so we returned cw via the Blue Trail.
There were no vista along the trail, but to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. It was new territory, with a variety of surrounding forest, a good treadway , narrow but well laid out. There was some elevation gain, and there was history out there, as it passes thru what was once a city winter playground.
Enjoying this segment encourages me to explore some more of the network. Soon I believe I'll explore Carter Hill , Dimond Hill and the West End Farm trails 🙂