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The Granite Town Rail-Trail runs for 3 miles in Milford, New Hampshire. Portions of the route are unpaved and surfaced with sand, gravel, and/or dirt, while short concrete sections can be found along the route.
Each year in October, the Ghost Town Rail Trail race is hosted on the Granite Town Rail Trail. The race is a classic and a 30-hour ultramarathon which benefits the construction and maintenance of the route.
About the Route
The northern end of the route is located near the Department of Public Works for the town of Milford, where a small dirt parking lot leads to the trail entrance. Just beyond the northern endpoint of the trail, the route crosses Great Brook over an old damn.
The route continues southwest and once it crosses Union St., the trail crosses Great Brook once again on a concrete span. After three-quarters of a mile, the trail crosses Rte. 101 in a long tunnel. The tunnel is used for three purposes, an over-flow culvert for Great Brook, a snowmobile tunnel, and a wildlife tunnel.
South of Amory Rd., after about 1.2 miles, the trail leaves the railroad right-of-way and passes through private property. Trail users are advised to stay on the trail.
At Melendy Rd., the Granite Town Rail Trail ends but a tunnel under the road takes trail users onto the Brookline Rail Trail.
Connections
At the southern end of the trail, trail users can continue along the Brookline Rail-Trail.
The Granite Town Rail-Trail runs between Rte. 13 (Milford), where parking is available, and the Brookline Rail Trail (Brookline).
Parking is also available along Melendy Rd.
Great trail. Wonderful walk but, caution, it reads as 3 miles on the surface. It is actually 7. Once you read all the detail you see that 4 miles more through Brookline.
This trail follows an old rail trail that has been maintained by the local snowmobile clubs. The town of Milford NH describes the trail at: http://www.milford.nh.gov/town/boards-committees-and-commissions/conservation-commission/hiking-trails
There is a small parking lot next to the DPW on Rt 13 just north of Rt 101 on the left.
The trail runs around behind the DPW, crosses a narrow concrete bridge and then heads off along the rail trail.
There are several scenic beaver ponds along the route which in the fall should be spectacular.
Much of the trail is packed gravel where it can follow the old rail bed.
But, there are roads and small neighborhoods that filled in the original rail road right-of-way.
There is a continuous path around these neighborhoods but they climb some hills around the granite quarry and have a lot of tree roots making biking difficult.
Once into Brookline, there are lots of connecting snowmobile trails that can be used to make a ride of any length. Unfortunately, the rail trail in Brookline still has some stretches with a few RR ties poking up making biking a wee bit bumpy.
A great trail for a mountain bike but not a road bike or even a hybrid.
I parked in the village of Milford and biked down rt 13 south to the town garage where the trail head is. Mile ~1.2 near where the trail leaves the RR grade and passes through private property was the location of a series of switch back rail tracks that allowed a train to traverse up that hill, probably in support of the rock quarry that was at the top. (This can be seen on old Dept of the Interior US Geological maps of Milford.) I then rode the rail trail down into Brookline where other trails become available. For the return route, I found a trail that eventually took me back to Osgood Road in Milford. I passed some interesting spots, like the remains of other granite quarries. There are other trails I need to go back to explore. If you get on the trails that are off of the Rail Trail, there are some pretty steep and rocky grades to deal with. On the rail trail itself, there are lots of tree roots. I've done this ride on both a hard tail and full suspension mountain bikes. It's a lot more enjoyable with a full suspension bike.
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