Find the top rated dog walking trails in New Hampshire, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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We had a great time on this trail, which was easy to navigate. It was our first outing this season since we acquired an ATV for my wife and we enjoyed spending time together while exploring nature. We encountered people walking their dogs and bikers along the way. The trail was well-maintained and clean. We made sure to slow down and say hello to everyone we met. We will definitely be back on this trail again!
The paved bike path is 8.7 miles starting from the Flume Gorge visitor center in Lincoln and ending at the Skookumchuck trailhead on US 3/Daniel Webster Hwy. This is an excellent trail, with quite a few steep inclines as you’re going through Franconia notch. The trail has many views of the mountains, including the cliffs that the Old Man of the Mountain used to reside on. The trail goes right beside The Basin, as well as along the edge of Echo Lake. You can begin on either end, but there is more parking at the Flume Visitor Center. The trail has many ups and downs, but it mostly ascends for about 4 miles from the Flume, then mostly descends the rest of the way as you go over Franconia Notch. There are a few steep sections along the way and a few past Cannon Mountain towards the last section of the trail. It is an excellent trail for biking, or just walking. There are quite a few locations with picnic tables if you want to bring a lunch and have a great little picnic spot. Overall it’s an excellent path, and was especially great using electric bikes.
I traveled all the way from California with high expectations for this trail and I wasn't let down (except for the repairs being made on the damaged portion of the trail). It's all good. I made it work.
What an awesome trail for a mid October bike ride!
- The colors of the trees reflected upon the numerous ponds and lakes.
- The pleasant chirping and squawking of active birds.
- Leaves fluttering gently to the ground.
- A wide, smooth path carpeted in golden brown leaves.
- Historic buildings.
- Industrious squirrels.
- Old, historic stone walls.
- Deep, dark woods.
- Rolling, grass covered hills.
- Harvested pumpkins on a farm being sorted into bins.
- Goats, horses, and the friendliest trail users you could ever hope to cross paths with!
I took a leisurely four hours out and back and over 200 photos and video to capture my wonderful memories of this trail. Thank you Massachusetts and New Hampshire!
My wife and I love this trail. We ride trails throughout NE and in NY and PA. This one is right up there among the best. The first leg from the Sanbornville roundabout has some rough sections that can be easily avoided by starting at the next parking area. ( where there is a spotless rent-a potty). From there the trail is smooth dirt surface. It is one lane wide either along side of the old tracks or between. Although it doesn’t make for good side by side riding it gives the trail an intimate charming feel. It crosses inside and outside the tracks often which is easy and makes it more interesting. The views constantly amaze and a f
One of the most beautiful rail trails in NH. In the fall it is breathtaking. It is quite narrow though, so passing requires one to step off the trail. The trail crosses over the tracks every mile or two and there's been mats or planks placed there to make crossing easier with bike tires. However for the most part the mats have been worn down so much they're mostly useless. There are also many spots where the chip and sand have eroded away so dismounting is necessary.
Wonderful bike trail. Narrow in places so need to watch for walkers and other bikers.
This was a great ride in both directions. After talking with Tim at the Warner Fall Foliage Festival we found out they were adding more trail on the other side of the bridge starting next week.
My brother and I had no problem riding this beautiful trail on e-bikes with 1 5/8 inch tires on a weekday in Sept. 2021 and again in August 2023. Both times we rode west from Newfield and noted that the trail has noticeably more rocks as we headed west of Raymond. We were glad we had front suspension forks. Dearborn Forest just past Onway Lake was our turnaround point at about 17 miles. At Route 125 (Main St.) in Epping, be sure to take the right trail at the fork to continue on the Portsmouth branch. The left trail is the Fremont Branch where you may find yourself riding with ATV's.
At Freetown Road (Route 102) in Raymond, McDonalds is just south of the trail. If you are looking for a tastier burger and have more time, go north one block on Route 102 to Route 27 (Hannaford on your right), then go left one block to Tuckaway Tavern & Butchery (featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" television series).
My brother and I are experienced cyclists who rode this trail on our e-bikes twice this summer, with different experiences. Our first ride in June was a warm day after a warm night, and we had no problem riding across rails (on rubber mats) to ride from one side of the rails to the other side, or between the rails, as the metal rails were dry. Our second ride in October was on a warm day after a cold night where the temperature dropped below the dew point and water condensed on the rails. Though the air temperature warmed up, the rails (in the shady woods) remained cold and so continued to be wet and slippery. My tire slipped and I went down once before I realized that water was not evaporating off the rails except where rails were in direct sunlight. Fortunately I only suffered a skinned knee. After that I made all transitions with one foot off the pedal. My 1 5/8 inch tires were OK for the ride, but I would never ride my skinny-tire road bike here. I will return because this is a unique trail in beautiful surroundings, and the 25 mile round trip from Wakefield (with lunch on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro) is a beautiful day trip from Southern Maine.
Cheshire Trail South. Rode north from State Line Circle toward Kenne. We are experienced road cyclists, now riding gravel bikes. We are looking for reasonably surfaced longer trails and hoped this would be one of them. Sadly, we found this trail to be rocky, rutted, with lots of roots, and uncleared blowdown. The vigilance required to remain upright made it difficult to enjoy the beauty all around. The suddenly occurring steep inclines to roads seemed borderline dangerous. If we lived closer it would be a great trail to walk with the dogs
First: be aware that a recent storm has washed out a section of the trail about 2 miles from the Ayer parking lot in Sept 2023. People are portaging past it, but some set-ups might not work in this situation. That said, this is a great trail. Plenty of parking at many points along the way, some even have EV chargers!
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