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Spaulding Woods exit 20 NH!

20K views 95 replies 17 participants last post by  TheSlav 
#1 ·
Fresh dirt right in Tilton - exit 20 off I-93 N. They just started building here and more plans are in the works. Check it out when you're near Highlands as they also have more xc trails coming up!

Spaulding Youth Center in Northfield is planning to open their land near Exit 20 to public biking and hiking. To access the trails, park at the boat launch on shaker road, just West of the Holiday Inn Express on Rte 140. Walk in through a wire fence to the small field, enter an old road at the corner of the field. The property will be known as Spaulding Woods. It is OK to use the trails now, but please stay below the school buildings themselves. Plans are to improve/ expand the trails in the future, and to add a more inviting entrance. :thumbsup:
 

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#31 ·
FINALLY got my wheels on SW this past Saturday. Gotta say all the accolades are well deserved. Talk about a ride spot going from 0 to 60 in one season. I'd love to see a bit more mileage (I like longer rides though) but with the current setup you get the mileage by wanting to hit the good stuff again and again.

Nice work to all involved. Bummed I missed the last trail day but I'm looking forward to helping build more next season.

drunuts is there any kind of trail plan or are you guys just kinda winging it? I'm interested if there is an end goal for trail density, etc.
 
#32 ·
Hey TheSlav. There is a general plan and the more we ride it the more we see what needs to be done. We want there to be an easy way to make a loop of it all. With the gradual sloping land with such great features and dirt, we are excited to make more trails leaning toward the freeride flowy style. There is actually another trail that has been flagged that starts down on the southeast corner of the map. Actually, the beginning is even further south than the map shows. It starts close to the campus buildings and will most likely just be an out and back trail. There is also a lot of potential for some more fun trails between Yellow Dot and the highway. Trail building is slowing down for the season, but occasional leaf blowing and trail shaping will certainly be taking place till the snow flies. Keep riding them in!
 
#33 ·
Drunuts--Thanks for the reply to TheSlav. I was wondering what the plan may be. Here is a suggestion I have gathered from my own experience and from talking to riders at Franklin, specifically a fit woman rider I ran into while raking Sniper,FFD, last week. If you are looking for something that may be as popular as Franklin down the road, consider easier switchbacks for the climb to the top, especially the 2 steep climbs on Yellow Dot. Looks like there is plenty of room to build nice benched switchbacks in these 2 sections. This also will provide a more sustainable route as these steep sections will rut badly with increased traffic and downhill braking. Erosion will also be a major problem on the Haul Road unless waterbars are built and the side ditches are cleaned. The fit woman I talked to at Franklin, guessing around 50yo, has ridden Highlands xc, Ramblinvewe, Page Hill, etc- she is from Gilmanton and rode Spaulding the day of the trail work. Her comment was that all except Franklin required a substantial climb to get to the fun stuff. This is my comment also, I am 66 and ride with friends who are 59 & 60--but it is also true for novices, some couples, kids, lots of folks who are not super fit, or 20 something or for various reasons. This is not a criticism at all of what has been done there, which is fabulous--just a suggestion for the builders to contemplate. And of course the more trails the better--it would be awesome to ride 1 1/2 to 2 hours without repeating much.
 
#34 ·
Thanks damnation. I agree with you as well. Some friendlier routes to the top would be nice and is in the works. We also took into consideration of what else is in the area, like FFD, Highland's XC, Ramblin' View, Fox Park, Page Hill and wanted something a little different. There will be a good mix of trails in the future. Down on the flats by the river will be more XC style trails and dog walking trails while the sloping land will lean more towards free ride downhill trails. I agree that climbing up Haul Rd. every time isn't fun. There will eventually be friendlier ways up to top. I found that yellow dot to worm hole was a great way to warm up and get up there. There has also been talk of putting a training center on the flats with skinnies, drops and such. Great warm up for people heading up to Highlands.
 
#35 ·
I like what I hear.. the more free-ridish the better.. we have enough xc trails around.. but barely any backwoods freeride or DH trails. Atleast ones that are open to the public... lookin forward to checkin this place out.. too bad it's lookin like rain Friday :-(
 
#36 ·
Easier climbs!?! I felt they were perfect on the ol' one gear. Just tough enough. But in all seriousness that probably wouldn't hurt. As for the whole freeride discussion, I consider myself a truer XCer but whatever has been built there was a freaking blast.
 
#38 ·
Ride last week

Hi guys. I had the pleasure of riding there for the first time last Tuesday evening. Thank you for posting the map here- it was quite handy, especially at night.

Kudos for all the trail building in a short timeframe and that they ride so well. The soil type and pitch of the hillside is a great combination. We should enjoy trail durability in the coming years.

After dead reckoning our way up Haul Road trail, we found the goods.

DH rippers like Squirrelagator and Swamp Donkey Disco -they are sweet rewards for climbing Yellow Dot/Loop trail. We exited via a combo of Squirrel/Sharknado/Haul/Little Varmint - a great way to finish.

Wormhole was a solid uphill nose-of-the-saddle-poised-beneath-the-jewels challenge. OK, so it's a DH. Now I know.

I was a bit confused by Angry Birds and Sidewinder. Seems like they need to be combined into one and continued along the stone wall- although is may be out of bounds. - Our confusion could have been elicited by the leaf fall mosaiic that dazzled us. I like the name Angry Birds- KT kinda owns Sidewinder- I kept looking for something on the order of KT's through the power of suggestion.

There is really nice flow, occasional berms, and some nice XC drops to be enjoyed. The 20' wide sections of 'trail' are OK and I see these as being easily converted into wooded singletrack alongside the openings.

The singletrack is so sweet that all I kept thinking is to be reminded to take gratitude, look upward, and say "More, please."

Came across a porcupine at the top of Yellow Dot not far from the aptly named Porcupine trail.

We rode a bit tenatively, covering everything twice( except Haul Rd ) checking maps along the way, nursing a dead light rider down SDD, in just under 1:50.

With appreciation and anticipation, Raineman
 
#40 ·
Raineman--Good to see some riders and feedback on these trails. You may have missed it in this thread but the top trails: porcupine, Angry birds, Sidewinder, and part of loop, are closed for use by the kids at the Spaulding Youth Center-I think these and a few others were built for the kids and prior to the mountain bike expansion. I rode there Saturday and saw a newly flagged downhill trail to the left of Haul Rd. going up, or on the same side as Smallish Varmint. Actually may be an upper Smallish. Maybe longer then Squirrel... going to be a lot of fun here next Spring/Summer as it gets ridden in.
 
#42 ·
Drunuts posted a map of Knowles earlier on this thread, around 10/10/2013. It looks on Mapquest that Knowles is about 2 miles by road from the boat landing at Spaulding Woods. And then another 2-3 miles to Highlands. Have not been on this route but imagine a combo of paved and gravel roads.
 
#43 ·
rode there for the first time the other day.. I rode just about everything twice.. The trails that were there were pretty fun, kindof reminded me of a franklin falls on the side of a hill. Would like to see a little longer of "segments" though.. I found yellow dot down from the top as probably my favorite.. the other downs such as squireligator are really fun, but last for all of under 2 minutes.. I understand it's a small area.. kudos for what's been done out there in such a short time.. hopefully it becomes more freeride over time. Found it to be pretty much pure xc for the most part.. but for sure had fun
 
#46 ·
yes, have ridden highland xc a bunch of times, did the enduro race, and helped build the new xc trail at the nemba trailfest in sept. I think my favorite trail out there was yellowdot coming down.. just because it was longer, the spiderweb of intersections just kills it for me, much like franklin.. I'm sure once you know the place an your a local you can ride through an have plenty of flow, but too many intersections. I'd rather see a couple dedicated climbing or 2 way trails an then some long extended dh's from top to bottom with no junctions.. keep the flow happy, up and down, and around..
 
#47 ·
Updated Spaulding Woods Map

Here is an updated map of the trails. The kiosk is now up and there is a simple basic webpage for the network. You can check it out at spauldingwoods.org. There is a new trail on the east side of haul rd and there is a lot of potential to make longer downhill trails. I have been out a couple times xc skiing and it just as nice out there when there is no snow. For everybody looking for a map of Knowles Pond, I posted one earlier on this thread, or you can check it out at www.KnowlesPond.com

Enjoy the rest of winter, spring will be here before you know it!
 

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#51 ·
Here is an updated map of the trails. The kiosk is now up and there is a simple basic webpage for the network. You can check it out at spauldingwoods.org. There is a new trail on the east side of haul rd and there is a lot of potential to make longer downhill trails. I have been out a couple times xc skiing and it just as nice out there when there is no snow. For everybody looking for a map of Knowles Pond, I posted one earlier on this thread, or you can check it out at www.KnowlesPond.com

Enjoy the rest of winter, spring will be here before you know it!
Time to Bring Spaulding Woods back on the radar---after 4300 views in 6 months.. Ran in to guys building the trails this winter in grocery store in Campton. News is new trail Pat's Outback goes trough some weird forest of twisted trees and vines, and Makes a long, mostly downhill, with the new Wheels on the Bus connecting to Smallish Varmint to Parking Lot...I'll bet they have great plans for this Summer...riding will only make it better.. and it is only 2 miles by bike to Highlands and their free xc trails
 
#49 ·
Drunuts- Thanks for the updated map. I saw the flagging for Wheels on the Bus the last time I rode there. Thought it might connect to Smallish Varmint for a long downhill--does not look like it on the map, is that a possibility, or maybe it is not quite finished. I am assuming that Pat's Outback is already built and wondered as did The Slav if this is purposely heading towards Highlands. Looking at MapQuest I measure about 2 miles by road to the XC trails at Highlands from the South end of Pat's Outback. Looks like lots of undeveloped land towards Knowles and on to Highlands. Do you know if there have been any discussions between Spaulding/Highlands about the possibility of a connection. Thanks to all who have helped get this off the ground! Will be there as soon as it dries out in the Spring.
 
#53 ·
Hey Drunuts, I sent a comment to the Spaulding Woods website about any Spring closure restrictions until things dry out. No reply yet, but if you read this, can you get us that info--Spring is here!. I plan on walking Franklin Falls and Spaulding soon to check things out and clear branches. I'm going with the Slav thinking Franklin is a week to 10 days away. Will report back.
 
#54 ·
Hey guys,
The network is pretty wet and muddy right now. We are asking cyclists to give it some more time before riding them. We will be checking on them periodically and will be lining up some trail maintenance days. I will keep you posted on closings and openings as they update.
 
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