5 minute read
Unique Best Places- Best Bogs
UNCONVENTIONAL & UNEXPECTED
What’s not to love about New Hampshire? From the rolling hillsides to the glorious mountaintops to the dense forests and powerful ocean, we Granite Staters know that New Hampshire truly has it all. This year for “Best Places,” we’re going off the beaten path and focusing on the unique places and activities that our state has to offer.
New Hampshire is anything but conventional, which is why we’re highlighting the unexpected twists of our state. From bogs to birds, to rage rooms, comedy clubs, cocktails and mocktails and more, we’re challenging you to get outside and explore New Hampshire, with all the delightfully surprising twists and turns it has to offer.
BY EMILY REILY, ELISA GONZALES VERDI & EMILY HEIDT
BEST BOGS
Meadows, trails and woodlands are often the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a nature “sanctuary,“ but visiting a bog can bring that same peace and tranquility. Bogs, slow-growing areas left by receding glaciers and preserved over time, are more mysterious than you might think. They’re extremely serene places to observe nature, usually from narrow trails made of wooden planks (bogs’ delicate chemistry requires humans to keep off them.) You may see birds; pitcher plants and sundews; super-old trees; and various wildlife, mosses and shrubs. They’re precious snapshots of a world that is often overlooked. Unplug from daily life and discover your new favorite sanctuary.
Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary, Amherst
“Ponemah” is an Ojibwe word for “land of the hereafter,” and is referenced in Longfellow’s poem “The Song of Hiawatha.” A natural jewel, Ponemah Bog has 0.75 miles of trails and 72 acres, plenty of room to roam. nhaudubon.org
Spruce Hole Bog Conservation Area, Durham
Along 40 acres on Packer’s Falls Road in Durham, Spruce Hole Bog is a hidden gem on the Seacoast. It contains a 2½-acre kettle hole (similar to a sphagnum heath bog) which the National Park Service deemed a National Natural Landmark in 1972. Surprisingly, Spruce Hole Bog only contains trees like white pine, hemlock and birch. Go mountain biking, hiking and birdwatching here. nps.gov
Hurlbert Swamp, Stewartstown
Hurlbert Swamp, with its mature, northern white cedar and fragrant balsam fir, is estimated to be about 10,000 years old. This isolated boreal swamp holds rare wildflowers, orchids and more trees like tamarack and red and black spruce — a sure sign that the area is full of biodiversity. You’ll also see a variety of land features, like a peat bog, an alder-wooded fen and grassy areas. nature.org
Philbrick-Cricenti Bog, New London
This is a kettle hole bog, where chunks of glaciers were buried about 18,000 years ago and then melted, leaving deep depressions in the ground. The bog has 21 trails and three loop trails, all graded “easy.” Stroll the boardwalks, some of which gently hover above a thick mat of vegetation, while reading signs describing what’s in front of you. nhfamilyhikes.com
Quincy Bog Natural Area, Rumney
Quincy Bog offers special nature walks and educational programs for adults and kids. Despite their slow-growing nature, bogs like this contain a wealth of flowers, trees, plants, mosses, ferns, birds, fungi, shrubs, dragonflies and other wildlife. Quincy Bog is also home to an active beaver colony — catch them in action if you can. quincybog.org
Insider’s Picks for Best Places to Find Art
Allegra Boverman is a longtime photographer in New Hampshire. She loves seeing art in unexpected places and believes art of all kinds should and must be part of everyday life and our experiences. Seeing local art like this “in the wild” or in unexpected places that are not museums or galleries, such as medical facilities, on a rail trail, in a recovery center, a kitchen and bathroom showroom, or in an offbeat spot behind a building or under a roadway, inspire and delight her and inform her work whenever possible.
“I am happy to recommend these nontraditional places to see art and photography around New Hampshire. I hope you discover some during your travels!”
Groups like the Nashua Area Artist Association, the Hollis Arts Society, Greater Derry Arts Council, and the Photographers Forum Camera Club contribute to public exhibits such as at St. Joseph Hospital, “a setting that definitely could use art as a way of calming and inspiring people and bringing art into the medical environment, which is beneficial to everyone.”
Southern NH Medical Center also has rotating art shows. NAAA members hang their work in eclectic spots like the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, St. Joseph Hospital, a chiropractor’s office, at Ripano Stoneworks, and Courtyard by Marriott Nashua.
The Derry Rail Trail has poetry painted on the pavement, and their jersey barriers are whimsically styled. Kimball Jenkins, in a grand old Victorian home, has wonderful gallery spaces in the school and carriage house. The Nashua Center for the Arts has a street-level gallery with rotating exhibits.
OF SPECIAL NOTE:
One of the largest spaces with unexpected art besides a museum is at the Hope Recovery Center in Manchester. There is artwork on every surface, in every hallway and room. They hold open-mic events and concerts in this festive, colorful space. People of all skill levels make art there for many reasons and that makes it inspiring and special. It’s very much like a mini museum.
