A while ago I did a post about how I had been chasing a particular angle of perspective (angle of view of the capture) and in it I showed a photo of yellow lines on an abandoned road. For me the shot was a total failure but I thought I’d show it as a good example of what I didn’t want to do. Of course, almost everyone who read the blog loved the photo, so I thought I’d do a post about the road itself and give you some background information. I’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks and ended up with so many photos that I’ve had to do the post in two installments. What follows is part one.
This is where we start-just inside the gate that keeps people from driving on the road. The trees are just starting to take on some color, so this is a great time to be hiking here. It’s hard to believe that such a secluded area could be less than a half hour’s walk from the city center. Deer, bobcats, mink, otters, black bear, and many other animals and birds roam this place.
This road was one of the first to be laid out in Keene, New Hampshire in the 1700s and was abandoned in the mid to late 60s when a new highway was built-literally right across the existing road. Nature has been taking back what is hers ever since and the road slowly gets narrower as the plants and trees grow in toward its middle where the sunlight is. It is kept open to the public as a nature trail and follows Beaver Brook, so named because of the beavers that once thrived here. The canopy closes in quickly as the road climbs and follows the brook and on cloudy days it gets so dark in places that it’s almost impossible to get a decent photo without using a tripod.
In places the brook is placid and free of most stones and other obstacles. A dam upstream, which we will visit later on, regulates the water flow but in times of heavy rain this brook can become a raging beast. There have been times when heavy flooding pushed it up and over the road and the parts of Keene that it runs through still often flood in spring.
In some places it is full of stones and gravel bars on which fallen trees and other debris gets hung up. An occasional flood will release the debris and wash it downstream, so flooding can serve a useful purpose.
The yellow no passing lines still show here and there where vegetation hasn’t covered them.
In other places the old guard posts and cables survive. These posts used to have to be hand painted black and white, one by one, all the way along this and every other road in the county. Of course, it was a lot more open then when the forest wasn’t allowed to grow so close to the rod.
Many of these posts are the “newer” triangular concrete kind…
But there are still many of the even older wooden posts. There was no such thing as pressure treated wood when these posts were put here so most of them have rotted completely through where they meet the soil.
There was a time that there were no guard posts at all along this road. Instead trees were laid alongside the road and smaller diameter trees were used for rails. This old postcard from the early 1900s shows the area with many fewer trees than are seen today. These postcards were printed from black and white photos that had been hand colored.
There are many guard posts that have washed into the brook over the years and some are dangling from their wires. These posts are about six feet long and half their length was buried in the stony ground. Slowly, Beaver Brook is eating away at the sides of the road and since there is no maintenance here it’s conceivable that one day there will no longer be a road.
This concrete storm drain has been undercut by the brook and is slowly sliding into it. This must have been put in at a later date than the guard posts and wires.
Many wildflowers grow along the roadside and many actually grow in the thin soil that has built up on the pavement over the years. New England asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) are the stars of the show right now.
White baneberry (Actaea pachypoda ) fruits, called “doll’s eyes” can be seen as well. This plant is very toxic, which is why the berries don’t get eaten.
History and wildflowers aren’t the only reason I and many others keep coming here-scenes like this can appear and disappear in a very short amount of time. When we get heavy rain water will gather and cascade down the steep 200 foot hillside on the far side of the brook, creating a temporary waterfall. Two days after this photo was taken there was no sign of this one.
One always begins to forgive a place as soon as it’s left behind. ~Charles Dickens
Thanks for coming by.
[…] If you’d like to read the 2 part blog post that started all of this, just click here. […]
I recognize this abandoned road. My husband and I used to walk/hike it approximately 25 years ago. We really should show this place to our children. Great post!
Thank you Kristina.
It has probably changed a little in that time but it would still be worth another hike. It’s a beautiful area.
[…] « The Story of the Abandoned Road […]
I enjoyed the walk and I am very impressed that such a beautiful walk is available so close to a town.
This is an easy place for townspeople to get to without needing to drive, so it’s a bit unusual. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I try to get out and walk 5 to 10 miles every day…I would find your road to be a very beautiful hike…loved the photos.
Thanks Charlie. At about a mile long this hike isn’t a real workout but it could become part of a longer walk.
I’ve never seen a highway abandoned like that. It’s beautiful, especially the brook, but a bit melancholy. Must make a great hiking trail.
It is a great place to walk. It was abandoned when a new highway was built right across this road.
That’s some very pretty scenery! It’s great that nature has reclaimed so much of it already. That will be a local treasure!
It is a real pretty area that is cherished by more than a few locals. Hard to believe nature can move so fast!
I love the waterfall shot what a shame it disappears after the rain stops .. Looking forward to part 2.
The magic waterfalls that appear and disappear are what keep us coming back again and again.
What a wonderful post! I love the story behind the road and that nature has reclaimed it. It made me think that even my own main road and Big Hill would soon disappear if the cars and the people did and to me that is a lovely idea. The old postcard was fantastic too, giving a real idea of what it was like. 🙂
I’m glad you liked it. It’s amazing what nature can do in a relatively short amount of time.
Namaste NHGS,
Again, beautiful photos and I enjoyed it all. You gave such a lovely narration of the place and I love the old postcard scenery. Thank you so much for sharing your part of the world with us.
Reiki blessings,
Agnes
Thank you Agnes, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Part two will be along on Saturaday-with more postcards.
Your photos are wonderful!! I love the perspectives you’ve taken on each of the shots. These are really lovely landscapes. And the information is fascinating as well. I look forward to the next post!
Thanks Sue. The next post will have a bit more of how and why the road was abandoned in it, I think.
I loved this one! I too have noticed how quickly nature can reclaim what we abandon, and I believe that the History Channel did a series on that idea as well. I’m really looking forward to part two, as I do love these little slices of life from New England.
Thanks! I think I saw one or two of those shows, but I think it would happen even faster than the folks at the History Channel imagine. Now that there aren’t anymore wildflowers to shoot you’ll be seeing more posts like this, I’m sure.
Very nice post, Allen…I enjoy seeing nature take back her own with the vegetation on and through the old roads. It does look like a peaceful place for a nice, leisurely walk.
Thanks Scott. You must get to see a lot of this kind of thing what with all the old mines and roads you have there. It is a great place for a walk, but at times you can meet quite a few people there.
You’re welcome, Allen…and yes, there are quite a few roads leading out to the old mines, although I’ve not found a paved one yet. Most of the mining industry that I’ve encountered was approached by dirt/rocky roads and a lot of them have returned to single-track trails leading into the mountains. And yes…there can be a bunch of people out there, too….I much prefer encountering an “occasional” solitary hiker out there….
I know what you mean, though it is fun to meet families out there sometimes and see the look of wonder on kid’s faces as they discover nature.
Yes…sometimes…. 😉
What a neat place to walk! It is amazing how fast nature reclaims. I love the pale blue aster. I only seem to have dark purple and white.
This is a great place to walk. It’s interesting that you have more dark than light colored asters-here we have just the opposite.
Fascinating information and photos illustrating the history of that road. I live in a place in which I have seen the opposite process taken place, as condominiums and townhouses take the place of wooded areas. It’s amazing to see evidence of what you so eloquently characterized as nature taking back what is hers.
It’s hard to believe that nature can do so much in the way of covering over and taking back what we built in less than 50 years. It really makes me wonder what it would be like if there were no humans around for a while.
A great place for a walk. I’ve been there a couple times. Beautiful with the fall colors starting!
Those colors are coming on fast! I’ve been running around trying to get as many shots as I can before they fade.
Me too!!
Very interesting post and look forward to the next. I walk a similar abandoned road that has been turned in to a nature trail. However the one I walk was a back country road. The brook that runs besides your abandoned road is charming. The old time guard rails are interesting to as I have never seen the likes. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Grampy. At one time this was a major road and the only way to get to the state capital from Keene. I thought everybody had those triangular cement guardrails!
I hadn’t ever seen that type of guardrail until I moved to NH – except in a TV documentary about how car safety progressed over the past 50 years. The documentary showed tests they did by crashing cars into the cable-type guardrails and the curvy all-metal affairs. The cable ones did not fare so well.
Lovely shots btw!
Thanks! I never thought the cable type guard rails were very safe, but since I never hit one I didn’t know for sure. No wonder they aren’t used anymore.