MtnMagic
New member
Date Hiked: July 7, 2003
Trails Hiked: Cohos/Great & Little Cherry
Total Distance: Appoximately 12 miles
Difficulty: level, and easy
Conditions: boggy and buggy
Special Required Equipment: binoculars, camera, netting!
Trip Report:
Another enjoyable hike on Monday, July 7, 2003 showed the many changes since the days of old to Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, located in Whitefield and Jefferson, NH. A large, new parking lot has been added, the original road to Waumbek Junction now gated, a kiosk at the trailhead, and lots of puncheons made of cedar for the hike to Great/Little Cherry Ponds.
Even the mighty Boston & Maine Railroad has stopped running with many flatbed cars still linked together and rusting on the unused tracks that only 15 years ago carried scores of trailers daily.
Thankfully, motorized vehicles are prohibited from Pondicherry. One now needs to hike the 2.5 miles to Waumbek Junction. Beyond it are the two ponds and the 12+ mile loops around them. This Refuge is a partnership between the NH Audubon Society, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the NH Fish & Game Department.
Also new is a cedar observation platform overlooking the magnificent Little Cherry Pond with a bench for two. Area enthusiast U.S. Army Brigadier General Richard Mallion (retired) donated all the bog bridges. Superb views of Owl’s Head & Mt Martha (Cherry Mountain) are to the South. Eastward the Jefferson Notch Hills guide your eyes up to the spectacular Northern Presidentials.
Always wonderful, the Cohos Trail passes through the serene wilderness that is mostly level with countless flora never seen elsewhere. As the Great and Little Cherry Ponds have an elevation of just 934’ with wetlands and riparian zones, this is still the home of beaver, moose, deer, birds and is the headwater for the Johns River.
More than 214 species of birds live on the Refuge, confirmed by the NH Audubon Society. Designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974 by the National Park Service, the original Refuge was in two separate areas of 235 acres and 70 acres that surrounded Great and Little Cherry Ponds.
As part of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, 670 acres of wilds owned by the Hancock Timber Resource Group, were sold to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2000. This connected the ponds together and now total 970 acres. Visitors often call Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge “a crown jewel of New Hampshire’s landscape.”
Audubon Society President, Richard Moore, describes this wilderness perfectly. “Few places in NH have the ecological value, the scenic beauty and the symbolic power of Pondicherry. It is one of those rare places where you feel deeply in touch with the natural world.”
© 2003 by MtnMagic. All rights reserved.
Trails Hiked: Cohos/Great & Little Cherry
Total Distance: Appoximately 12 miles
Difficulty: level, and easy
Conditions: boggy and buggy
Special Required Equipment: binoculars, camera, netting!
Trip Report:
Another enjoyable hike on Monday, July 7, 2003 showed the many changes since the days of old to Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, located in Whitefield and Jefferson, NH. A large, new parking lot has been added, the original road to Waumbek Junction now gated, a kiosk at the trailhead, and lots of puncheons made of cedar for the hike to Great/Little Cherry Ponds.
Even the mighty Boston & Maine Railroad has stopped running with many flatbed cars still linked together and rusting on the unused tracks that only 15 years ago carried scores of trailers daily.
Thankfully, motorized vehicles are prohibited from Pondicherry. One now needs to hike the 2.5 miles to Waumbek Junction. Beyond it are the two ponds and the 12+ mile loops around them. This Refuge is a partnership between the NH Audubon Society, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the NH Fish & Game Department.
Also new is a cedar observation platform overlooking the magnificent Little Cherry Pond with a bench for two. Area enthusiast U.S. Army Brigadier General Richard Mallion (retired) donated all the bog bridges. Superb views of Owl’s Head & Mt Martha (Cherry Mountain) are to the South. Eastward the Jefferson Notch Hills guide your eyes up to the spectacular Northern Presidentials.
Always wonderful, the Cohos Trail passes through the serene wilderness that is mostly level with countless flora never seen elsewhere. As the Great and Little Cherry Ponds have an elevation of just 934’ with wetlands and riparian zones, this is still the home of beaver, moose, deer, birds and is the headwater for the Johns River.
More than 214 species of birds live on the Refuge, confirmed by the NH Audubon Society. Designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974 by the National Park Service, the original Refuge was in two separate areas of 235 acres and 70 acres that surrounded Great and Little Cherry Ponds.
As part of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, 670 acres of wilds owned by the Hancock Timber Resource Group, were sold to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2000. This connected the ponds together and now total 970 acres. Visitors often call Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge “a crown jewel of New Hampshire’s landscape.”
Audubon Society President, Richard Moore, describes this wilderness perfectly. “Few places in NH have the ecological value, the scenic beauty and the symbolic power of Pondicherry. It is one of those rare places where you feel deeply in touch with the natural world.”
© 2003 by MtnMagic. All rights reserved.
