[35] Beaver Brook Wayside and Trails
@44.246951,-71.615067
Wetlands area along Beaver Brook (ScenicNH.com Photography)
The Beaver Brook Wayside and Trails is a great example of a forest actively managed by the USDA Forest Service for multiple uses. There are three hiking/cross-country ski trails that wind through the forest. As you travel, you’ll come across small, carefully selected areas of clear-cut forest where mature, damaged or diseased trees were harvested. These clear cuts promote the growth of valuable tree species like birch that don’t thrive in crowded forests that block out the sun. These and several other maintained openings in the forest also provide prime wildlife habitat. On The Moose Watch Trail you might see a moose feeding on twigs growing on young trees on the edge of an opening. As you explore the forest and observe wildlife, consider how these small, purposeful clear-cuts differ from the 10,000 acre clear cuts common before The Weeks Act. How does their impact on the future of the forest compare?
The Moose Watch Trail brings you through prime wildlife habitat. (ScenicNH.com Photography)
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Directions to Next Site:
The Weeks Act Legacy Trail leads now to a logging ghost town reclaimed by nature. Follow Rte 3 South 1.3 miles to the Gale River Road on the left.
