Beaver Brook is my favorite place to go run in south-central New Hampshire, and I’ve long thought it would be a great place for a trail race.

(This is an old post, I’m bumping it up because it’s coming right on up Sunday…)

Sure enough, there’s a 5K race scheduled there in late July, part of the "Loco Moose" series, in which runners get a pair of Loco running shoes as part of the registration fee. I hope to be well enough to run it!

The Beaver Brook Association owns land in Milford, too, but their main property is in Hollis, along both sides of Route 130. There are several places to park: the Brown Lane barn or Maple Hill Farm off Ridge Road, or parking areas off Route 130 and Worcester Road in Hollis (west of Route 122).

Beaver Brook trails all are well defined and signed, but it’s worth springing for one of their trail maps so you can plan your route. You can cover just about every trail in a few hours.

Beaver Brook has the rolling terrain typical of New England, but no huge hills. It’s great for long, slow runs.

The entire area is lovely, but I have a few favorite trails. The Rocky Ridge trail is a great section to do with kids, or practice for more technical trail races. It’s in the area north of Route 130, and runs between the Old City and Mary Farley Trails. It goes up and down over some enormous glacial boulders, with fun scrambles and nifty views. Be sure to check out the ruins of an old mill at the north end of Old City Trail… a plaque there tells a fascinating and instructive story about a boiler explosion.

Nichols Trail climbs a small ridge, and there’s an open area near the top that would make a very nice picnic spot if one was inclined to rest. I first started to explore Beaver Brook on cross country skis, and found it a bit too steep and twisty for that… thus an excellent running trail.

To add some distance, I like to run down Ridge Road into Pepperell, Mass. Once you pass the junk yard, you can turn back onto trails into the woods to your right. Most of those trails lead to an old railroad bed that runs up to the junction of Worcester Road and Brookline Road. (The rail bed was a branch of the old Fitchburg line, and it continues on up toward Lake Potanipo. I wrote about it a while back.) 

From there, you can head back along Worcester Road, and pick up trails off Irene Drive or the trailheads further east. Michelle favors the Eastman Meadow trail, as an especially scenic and rolling route, and the Ashcroft Trail just the other side of Beaver Brook has a good quad-burning climb.

After a long run in Beaver Brook, Michelle and I like to head out to Parkers Maple Barn for a feast, and Steve and I usually stop to pick up some beer at the Village Market in beautiful downtown Hollis (they have an unusually good selection of microbrews).