Augustus and Harriet Lawrence married in 1881, started purchasing land in Tamworth in 1898, and within five years had purchased nearly 2,000 acres of land and a country estate. Augustus graduated from Harvard in 1875 and worked in the commercial shipping industry. Augustus Hemenway (1853-1931) was born into great wealth and practiced great philanthropy.
Augustus and Harriet Hemenway of Boston donated Hemenway State Forest. While walking among these forest giants is quite inspirational, the history of the couple behind this forest is equally impressive. The combined hiking distance of all three trails is about 2.5-miles and well worth it. The Peg King Spur Trail is only 0.6 miles long but does climb nearly 400-feet to the 1,270-foot high summit. The trail quickly ascends the north side of Great Hill and passes through more large hemlocks and red oaks near the top. The Peg King Spur Trail starts at a sharp right turn at the junction of the Betty Steele Trail, about a half-mile uphill from the bridge. The view of the Sandwich Range and Mt Chocorua from the tower's cab, which is open to the public, is marvelous, especially in Autumn. The Peg King Spur Trail ascends Great Hill to a 35-foot tall steel fire tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934.Great Hill Fire Tower, build by the CCC in 1934 and maintained by the Tamworth Conservation Commission This pit and mound topography and large woody material on the forest floor are characteristics of an old-growth forest. Check out the fine silty soil that these trees were growing on. You will see several large tip-up mounds from trees that have fallen over. Take a left at the junction with the Peg Steele trail and follow the loop back to the bridge, a little over a mile distance. We suggest you follow the trail uphill, passing by many giant hemlocks and the enormous white pine on the right side of the trail. Betty Steele was one of the founders of the Tamworth Conservation Commission and a well-known botanist. The Betty Steele Trail starts after crossing the Swift River gorge on a rugged bridge with railings.A downloadable interpretive guide is available with details on trees, plants and other natural features. The Easy Walker Nature Trail is a third of a mile long and starts close to the parking area and parallels the Swift River.
PINE FOREST DOWNLOAD
The Tamworth Conservation Commission expertly maintains these trails you can download the trail map for all three here I consider the Big Pines Natural Area an old-growth forest.īig Pines Natural Area has three hiking trails to explore. Barbed wire has been around since 1874, although the dates of this wire are unknown. We found barbed wire embedded in some trees, indicating that these pines and hemlock grew up in an old pasture.
The second type is a secondary or second-growth forest that has reached an age and structural composition that gives it old-growth forest characteristics. A primary or virgin forest is a forest that was never logged or significantly disturbed by human activity. Forest ecologists differentiate two types of old-growth forests. Some might ask if Big Pines Natural Area is an old-growth forest. The forest at Big Pines is a mixture of white pine, hemlock, red spruce, yellow birch, and maples on the north side of Great Hill. Walking in a cathedral-like forest with numerous white pine and hemlock over 130 feet tall is a star attraction. Some of the hemlocks in this forest are estimated to be over 250 years old.
One champion white pine is 150-feet tall and has a circumference of over 15 feet! You risk straining your neck to look at the tops of these giant trees. One of the finest places in New England to see towering Eastern white pine trees is in Tamworth, N.H at the Big Pines Natural Area.
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