Hiking: Kids of the River

Initially, when I found out that Barrington had a town forest, I laughed until I cried. Given that this town of 48 square miles (Milton Keynes, my hometown is 34 square miles for comparison) must at least 75% trees, the idea of having a dedicated section of this as a "town forest" seemed like a waste of time. However, the more I live here and see how much land each housing development takes up (our new home has just over 1.5 acres, for example), and the idea of having sections of the town that are protected from development makes much more sense.

As part of my effort to become fitter, and also as my natural curiosity about my surroundings kicks in, I wanted to see what trails existed in Barrington for me to explore with the kids. This led me here:

http://www.barringtonconcom.org/Barringtons_Trails_%26_Conserved_Lands.html

Apart from wanting to join this association (I wonder if they have one for Strafford, our new home town?), I was instantly intrigued by the listing of 16 tracks of land that are town protected, and in particular the 12 trails that are linked. Always one for a good project, I started looking into these, and whilst none of them will represent a huge day hike, they all look emminently doable with a baby in a backpack and my son by my side.

So that brings us to today. It's the 4th of September and 75 degrees outside (a delightfully warm temperature without being too hot) and the humidity of previous weeks seems to have gone for now. Jake was snoozing, so I decided to take Sophie out for our first adventure, labelled Kids of the River.

This is a short hike towards the Isinglass River, one of the many waterways that crisscross Barrington, and one of my favorites, mainly because of it's middle earth sounding name. It's also shallow enough to play in and deep enough to canoe in (in a year that didn't have a drought). The trail itself starts less than 10 minutes drive from our house, though the sign is a little small, and you have to know that it's there to find it.

However, once you've parked up, the woods of New Hampshire are there for the taking. The path runs behind some houses (with some less than friendly signage), before heading left into the forest proper and towards the Isinglass. At the time of writing, the Barrington library has taken the book Sal's Blueberries and planted the pages on placards every 50 feet or so along the trial. I really want to take Jake on the hike before they remove it as I think it's a cute idea.

After the turn, the path runs in a straight line through the woods before bearing left at 90 degrees about a quarter of a mile in. The path is unmistakable, if nothing else for the story placards along it. 

However, for those feeling more adventurous, there is a marked "white" trail up a hill just after the "red" trail leaves the houses. It runs uphill for a couple of hundred yards before depositing you on a rocky outcrop which is quite beautiful in the dappled sunlight.

The white trail then runs downhill and brings you out just at the end of the red trail, where you'll find a picnic table next to the babbling Isinglass. It's a secluded spot and one that is ideally suited for a snack for hungry walkers. As we didn't have Jake with us, we simply signed the visitors book and turned for home, ready to return with more walkers and some smackerels for the picnic table.

As I walked back to the car, I ruminated on the fact that the walk would not have felt out of place in the UK, if it wasn't for the fact that there, the edge of the forest would have been fairly close and there would have been a dozen other families on the route. Here, the forest continues for miles in all directions and the trail is a small project run by some school kids and the local library. These will be a very different series of hikes.