This network of trails travels through two conservation areas that are managed by the towns of Boscawen and Concord. The trails pass through diverse forests, marshes and open fields and skirt a beaver pond.
Concord Trailhead: From the Concord trailhead, walk straight down the grassy, but not driveable road bordered by stone walls that once edged farmland. At 0.1 miles, a sign directs you to the Dagody Hill Trail to the right (east) and the Old Weir Road Trail straight ahead. The Dagody Hill Trail is marked with yellow blazes.
Follow yellow blazes throughout the trail. There is a bridge at the outlet into the marsh, and there are flowers to be noticed and enjoyed in the spring: wild oats, wintergreen and partridge berry. A marsh appears on your left and you soon reach a pool where the bridge crosses the outlet. Lemna minor, minute green flowers, float on the surface of the pool. Cattails edge the marsh. Shortly uphill, there is a side trail to a bench and a nice view of the beaver pond, including two old beaver lodges.
The main Dagody Hill Trail continues uphill, past a patch of mayflowers. When you see red paint on the trees you have reached the border of the Boscawen Town Forest.
Boscawen Trailhead: Three primary trails leave from the Weir Road trailhead on the Boscawen side. The Colby Loop Trail is the farthest right (north) and is easy to moderate as it travels through a hilly mixed forest to the Weir Farmstead. The Old Weir Road trail (center) is an easy trail that travels straight to the Weir Farmstead. The farthest left (south trail) is the Dagody Hill trail, which passes a beaver pond on its way to the Concord Town Line (see above). A loop is possible when joining this trail with the Old Weir Road.
Other short trails connect features within the Boscawen Town Forest. A new trail is also being planned - check back for more information once it is built!
The City of Concord bought the land off Weir Road, where this trail is located, from Carter Hill Associates with open space funds. Previously, the land had belonged to Walter E. Sweatt. Part of it was probably on the Weir Farm, now part of the Boscawen Town Forest. The old stonewalls are relics of a time when these woods were clear and were part of an important dairy farm that provided milk to southern Boscawen and Penacook.
Robert and Hannah Hoit sold the Weir farm to James William John Landrick Weir and his sister in June, 1854. It remained in the Weir Family and was fully operational until the late 1930’s, when John Weir had to give it up for health reasons. The remaining foundation of the farmhouse is an interesting feature of this trail.
The Boscawen Town Forest is owned and managed by the Town of Boscawen, which began to amass the Town Forest property in the 1930s. The majority of the forest consists of the 230-acre former Weir farm and the 180-acre Barnard lot. The land was designated as a Town Forest in 1975; and in 1982 the Boscawen Conservation Commission was given permission to manage the forest and established a Town Forest Management Fund.
Please abide by the Boscawen Town Forest restrictions as noted:
For more information about these trails, contact one of the trail managers:
There are two trailhead access points for these trails.
Concord Trailhead: From US-3 in Penacook, head southeast (uphill) on Elm Street for 2.3 miles. Turn right on Weir Road. Bear left to continue on Weir Road to a clearing and park your car. Weir Road continues but must be traveled on foot.
Boscawen Trailhead: From US-3 in Boscawen, head east on Queen Street for 1.1 miles. Turn left off onto Weir Road, which ends at the Boscawen Town Forest and trailhead parking.
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