The Cranberry Meadow trail boardwalk and beyond.

Moderate, hiking, mtn biking, snow shoeing.

The Monadnock Conservancy and local forester Swift Corwin worked with private landowners to create the 2.6-mile Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail — a key missing link in Corwin’s vision for a 4.5-mile town-to-mountain trail from downtown Peterborough to the summit of Pack Monadnock. Officially opened in the fall of 2009, the trail links with the Raymond Trail at the Miller State Park for the last 1.6-mile climb to the summit. Trailheads are located at Cheney Ave, Old Street Road, and East Mountain Road.

Many sections of the Cranberry Meadow Pond Trail cross private property thanks to the generosity of landowners. Accordingly, please stay on the trail. A trail guide is available online and posted at the kiosk on Old Street Road. quoted from Conservancy website.

The trail is now open from Peterboro, and can be accessed from the Peterboro, NH, side, as a thought, however, consider hiking in from the other side.

I was fortunate to spend a lovely day out playing with a drill and lugging boards. My only regret was that I was overdressed. After all, it was October but should I have worn shorts and a t-shirt instead of jeans and a sweater.

I pulled up behind Rick Brackett’s truck.
Rick and his volunteers were already hard at work.

This is an impressive undertaking. It is a long stretch of boardwalk. Posts had to be set, boards cut, carried, and screwed on. Many people miss hiking this lovely trail, but you will understand why it takes so long to do something so right. Trust me, with all the rain we have had this season, you will be VERY glad Rick and co. have done such a great job.

  • You can see the old boards.
  • The end of the line.
IT’S OPEN! Go forth and enjoy.

Our group hiked in from the other side and turned around at the boardwalk. It is a beautiful, well marked, hike.

This is certainly a beautiful time of the year to be on this trail. However, it was appreciated that, even though I had my “hot” mud boots on, they were not needed. The Otters and frogs appreciated the distance afforded by the raised boardwalk.

This little guy just hung out beside the trail.

Sorry, did not get a picture of the Otters. Perhaps next time.

It is a beautiful place. Take a moment to enjoy this lovely area we are blessed to have so close to home.

Enjoy this trail from the either side. It is hilly and footing can be sketchy in places. Parking is ample off E. Mountain rd. Most hikers were headed East from there toward Pack Monadnock. We headed West toward the boardwalk entrance. While the parking lot was busy, we had the way East to ourselves.

The plan was to enjoy the trip with friends, and blog at a later date, but, once a blogger….our friend Scott is great on a mushroom laden woodland hike.

So, we got a primer on mushrooms along the way.

  • Lions mane

Having extra eyes always makes for incredible discoveries.

  • A quartz rock in a stone wall.
  • Mother and child.
  • 3 species. Snakes? An Octopus? All on one rock.

And views! One cannot take a bad picture in fall in New England.

  • Monadnock
  • Cranberry meadow pond. Saw geese and a GBH.
  • The brook kept us company along much of the way.
I highly recommend you “Go West” and enjoy this hike. You will get your cardio, and your meditation time. Plan to hit the trail early as there is much to see and if you do out and back, according to AllTrails, you will be hiking about 9.2 miles. It took us about 4.5 hours, we booked it back to beat the darkening of the woods.
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