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Northern Rail Trail Extension & Enhancements

Another Extension to Northern Rail Trail Completed

One Step Closer to Completing the Granite State Rail Trail

In spring of this year, private donors made it possible for Friends of the Northern Rail Trail (FNRT) to provide the funding for the State to purchase the 0.6-mile section of right of way to the Concord City line at the south end of Hannah Duston Island.  After the State cleared the way to proceed with conversion of the abandoned track to usable rail trail, the Bureau of Rail and Transit removed the rails from the first half (0.3 mile).

Private donations to the FNRT were then used to hire contractors to clear brush and trees, set ties to the side, grade and compact the ballast, and then install a 4-inch-deep layer of time-tested stone dust, creating the hard-packed surface the Northern Rail Trail is known for.  FNRT’s contractors also built a ramp onto River Rd at the north side of the Route 4 overpass and installed gates provided by the NH Bureau of Trails which were then painted by FNRT volunteers.  All this effort has resulted in a much-improved terminus for the Northern Rail Trail that is that much closer to the Hannah Duston Park & Ride and within view of the next and final 0.3-mile trail extension planned to bring the trail to the bridge at the south end of Hannah Duston Island.  The trail previously ended in a corn field in Boscawen. FNRT wishes to thank the NH Bureau of Rail and Transit and the NH Bureau of Trails for their continued efforts to improve the rail trail for all trail users.

The Northern Rail Trail now runs 59 miles from downtown Lebanon to the Route 4 overpass in Boscawen. The vision for the Granite State Rail Trail is to connect the Northern Rail Trail via the Merrimack River Greenway through Concord to the Massachusetts state line in Salem.