Les Clark Nature Trail and SPNHF Center

Morning rains gave way to a decent and partly sunny day for a walk in the woods. Pete, Peter, and I met up at the trail head for the Les Clark Nature Trail and began our casual stroll along the banks of the Merrimack River. The trail had a thin sheen of mud in many places with a little ice in the shady areas, but was very manageable. It led us through a tree stand of pines in nearly perfect planting rows, than to the sandy banks of the river. As we walked we passed grassy areas and open flood plain woods dotted with the occasional park bench. The distant rumble of interstate 93 was broken periodically by a blustery breeze or the sounds of songbirds flying about. We walked for just about an hour.

After, we headed up to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests Center for a self guided tour of their environmentally friendly building. The front desk receptionist was very friendly and gave us a building map and a tape recorder to play at various areas as we walked. It was a unique building using many common sense ideas for energy conservation. Some features included the use of large windows and dark floors on the south side of the building, water tubes in the office area to absorb daytime heat from the sun, a low earth-banked north side of the building, and even a gray water recycling system to water the plants inside the building. We finished our tour at 3:30.

Pete, Peter, and I really enjoyed both the walk and the tour. I would recommend this trip to anyone looking for something easy and short. The main trail is flat and well marked. You can even swim there if you like. The center is very interesting, but only open during weekdays for the tour.