4 minute read

Strolling Through the Ossipee Pine Barrens Preserve

ROUTE 16 Along

Story and Photos Lee Caldwell

Owned by the Nature Conservancy, the Ossipee Pine Barrens is an area of approximately 2000 acres of intact pitch-pine scrub oak woodland, a rare forest type, and New Hampshire’s last viable area of this type of woodland. This forest is the home of nearly two dozen endangered moths and butterflies and several declining bird species like the whip-o-will, Common nighthawk and the Eastern towhee.

As glaciers melted, thousands of years ago, they left extensive sand deposits between Ossipee Lake and Silver Lake, which help form a natural filter for the area’s aquifer providing clean drinking water for the local area towns. The pine barrens got their name because colonial settlers found the soil here “barren” (unsuitable for agriculture.) It did, however, produce white pines and pitch pines. The white pine was sold to the shipbuilders of the time for masts and spars. The pitch pines were scored to extract the pitch for caulking boats and left standing, leaving the nucleus of today’s ecosystem.

Fire is vital to maintaining the pitch pine-scrub oak woodlands. Pitch pine has a very thick bark that protects the living tissue of the tree during a fire and its seeds germinate best on soils exposed after a fire. In the months after a fire, scrub oak and blueberry produce vigorous new growth which helps butterflies and rare moths thrive as the new foliage produces a highly nutritious food source.

Historically, it was thought that the

Ossipee Pine Barrens burned every 25 to 50 years. In more recent years, lack of fire has led to an accumulation of leaf litter and dead branches, which has drastically increased the possibility of a difficult-to-control wildfire. After thorough research, The Nature Conservancy has launched a comprehensive project to maintain the Ossipee Pine Barrens using a combination of mechanical vegetation management and controlled “prescribed” burning.

Before any prescribed burning can be done, a detailed fire management plan must be developed. “Prescriptions” are developed for each of the areas to be burned that dictate under what weather conditions (relative humidity, wind speed and direction, air temperature, and moisture content of the vegetation) a burn can be safely managed. If weather conditions are unacceptable on the day of a planned burn, the burn will be postponed.

The Nature Conservancy maintains hiking and snowmobile trails in the Pine Barrens that are accessible from three trailheads including a handicapped-accessible trail.

Literature and trail maps are available at the kiosk in the preserve’s main parking lot. Be sure and do a tick check after hiking.

On a recent meander during a cool spring day on the Accessible Trail, the birds made a lively background chorus, a few mosquitos hummed shrilly, the forest floor was carpeted with lowbush blueberries (not quite ready for summer ripening), amidst taller ferns, and the pitch-pine trees loomed over them all. At the terminus observation platform, a great blue heron flew in for a landing on the Ossipee River.

To reach the preserve’s main parking lot (West Branch Trailhead) follow NH

41 north from Route 16 for approximately 2 miles and look for Nature Conservancy’s preserve sign on your right. Turn right onto a dirt road to reach the preserve entrance and parking lot. Here you will find the Pine Barrens trail (0.7 mile) and the Accessible Trail. The Accessible Trail (0.8 mile) is a graded 5-foot-wide trail constructed from hard-packed sand and gravel making it flat, easy travel for young and old, including those pushing strollers or using wheelchairs. The terminus of the trail is an observation platform overlooking the West Branch of the Ossipee River complete with mountain views.

To access the southern portion of the preserve (Jackman Ridge Trailhead), follow Route 41 north for approximately 1/2 mile and turn right onto Ossipee Lake Road. Drive approximately 2.1 miles down Ossipee Lake Road and there is a trailhead and small pull-off parking area on the left side of the road. Located here is the Jackman Ridge Lookout Loop Trail (2.3 miles) a moderately uphill trail that leads to a view looking south to the Ossipee Lake, the Ossipee Mountains and a sweeping west view of the Ossipee Pine Barrens

• Pine Barron continued on page 21

• Pine Barron continued from page 20

Preserve. The Forest Ecology Loop Trail (1.2 miles) trailhead is also located here. This is a flat hike that winds through woodland treated in 2013 with prescribed fire. The West Brand Trail (3.2 miles) is a popular snowmobile trail that begins at the Camp Calumet Conference Center.

Following the West Branch of the Ossipee River, it traverses through pitch pine, white, pine and hardwood forests. The trail ends at East Shore Drive across from the boat access at the south end of Silver Lake.

To access the northern portion of the preserve (Cook’s Pond Trailhead) follow Route 41 north for approximately 2.5 miles and turn right onto East Shore Drive. Follow East Shore Drive for approximately 1.1 miles and turn right onto Leadmine Road. Drive approximately 0.4 mile down Leadmine Road and there is a trailhead and a small pull-off located on the left side of the road. Here is the trailhead for the Cook’s Pond Forest Loop trail (2.4 miles) a loop that meanders through oak forest, pitch-pine scrub, oak woodland providing views of Cook’s Pond and wetlands. Also, the Madison Town Forest Loop (0.75 miles) is located here. This short walk traverses wetlands to an area treated with prescribed fire in 2014 through a partnership between the Nature Conservancy and the town of Madison. This trail also provides alternate access to the Jackman Ridge Summit Trail. The Nature Conservancy also encourages everyone to be a citizen scientist by collecting valuable data by using a smartphone or camera. For more information, contact them at nature.org/newhampshire.