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Cherry Pond and Little Cherry Pond

Destinations:  Cherry Pond (1115'), Little Cherry Pond (1095')
Trails:  Pondicherry Rail Trail, Shore Path, New Hampshire Central Railroad, Little Cherry Pond Trail
Region:  NH - Central East  
Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge
Location:  Whitefield, NH
Rating:  Easy  
Features:  Ponds, views, bird watching
Distance:  4.8 miles  
Elevation Gain:  65 feet (cumulative)  
Hiking Time:  Actual: 1:54   Typical: 2:25  
Outing Duration:  Actual: 2:30   Typical: 3:45  
Season:  Fall
Hike Date:  11/30/2002 (Saturday)  
Last Updated:  10/17/2009  
Weather:  25-30 degrees, hazy, light rain
Author:  Webmaster

Route Summary   

This is an out-and-back hike to the 100-acre Cherry Pond and the 25-acre Little Cherry Pond. These areas are popular for their bird watching appeal and for the beautiful views beyond Cherry Pond of the Pliny, Crescent, Presidential, and Dartmouth mountain ranges as well as Cherry Mountain.

  • Start at the Pondicherry Rail Trail parking area along Airport Road in Whitefield.
  • Follow the trail straight ahead for 1.4 miles to Waumbek Junction where the Presidential Range Rail Trail goes off to the right.
  • Continue straight ahead through the junction and cross Johns River on a railroad bridge. Optionally, you can first turn right onto the Presidential Range Rail Trail which will bring you to the Tudor Richards viewing platform on the left, after only about 0.1 mile, where there are great views of the pond and mountains (and then retrace your steps back to this point).
  • After crossing Johns River you will be on the active New Hampshire Central Railroad tracks. Stay to the right edge of the tracks.
  • Turn right onto Shore Path, about 0.05 mile after Waumbek Junction.
  • Follow Shore Path for 0.15 mile along the edge of Cherry Pond. When you reach the shore at a T-junction, first take a short detour to the right for more shoreline views. Then retrace your steps and continue straight through the junction in order to explore the rest of Shore Path.
  • At the end of Shore Path you will be back at the New Hampshire Central Railroad tracks, a bit farther along from where you left it. At this point will be wide-open views of Cherry Pond and the mountains beyond it.
  • Continue another 0.15 mile along the edge of the tracks, then cross the tracks to pick up Little Cherry Pond Trail which turns left (where another trail turns right). Or, for more shore views, walk past the open area, then immediately take a right onto Rampart Path. Walk for about 0.1 mile, then turn left in order to get back to the railroad tracks opposite from where Little Cherry Pond Trail starts (or keep following the trail until the shore views run out, then retrace your steps back to the turn that leads to the tracks).
  • Little Cherry Pond Trail makes sort of a loop (with a spur on each end) leading to Little Cherry Pond.
  • Go 0.2 mile to the upper trail split, then bear left at a small arrow.
  • After 0.4 mile you will reach the lower loop junction.
  • Bear left and follow the path for 0.1 mile where it ends at the shore of Little Cherry Pond at a small viewing platform with a bench.
  • After enjoying the pond, retrace your steps for 0.1 mile back to the lower loop split and turn left at an arrow in order to return via the other leg of the loop.
  • After 0.3 mile you will be back to the upper loop junction.
  • Bear left and walk 0.2 mile to return to the New Hampshire Central Railroad tracks.
  • For the return trip, turn right and walk for 0.3 mile along the tracks, back to Waumbeck Junction. Keep going straight on Pondicherry Rail Trail for another 1.4 miles to reach the parking area on Airport Road.

Place         Split
Miles
     Total
Miles
     Split
Time
     Total
Time
    
Pondicherry Rail Trailhead on Airport Road (1135') 0.0 0.0 0:00 0:00
Waumbek Junction (1130') 1.4 1.4 0:32 0:32
Start of Shore Path (1120') 0.05 1.45 0:04 0:36
Jct. Active Railroad / Little Cherry Pond Trail (1120') 0.3 1.75 0:04 0:40
Upper Little Cherry Pond loop split 0.2 1.95 0:05 0:45
Little Cherry Pond (1095') 0.5 2.45 0:14 0:59
Upper Little Cherry Pond loop split 0.4 2.85 0:11 1:10
Jct. Active Railroad / Little Cherry Pond Trail (1120') 0.2 3.05 0:06 1:16
Waumbek Junction (1130') 0.3 3.35 0:08 1:24
Pondicherry Rail Trailhead on Airport Road (1135') 1.45 4.75 0:30 1:54

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Map of hike route to Cherry Pond and Little Cherry Pond (map courtesy of J. Heywood)


Trail Guide   

Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge consists of two ponds and the surrounding area. It is reputed as having an abundant amount of bird life, as well as other interesting flora and fauna.

I started from the parking area along Airport Road in Whitefield. I followed Pondicherry Rail Trail which is also used as a snowmobile trail. There was about 2–3 inches of snow on the ground. There were snowmobile tracks but I didn't encounter any on my hike. The parking area is across the street from the noisy Whitefield Power and Light Company plant.

Pondicherry Rail Trail is wide and straight as an arrow and almost completely flat. I walked briskly since the trail was so easy (not to mention my mid-afternoon start). I heard chickadees and a woodpecker. After a while, the trail crosses a stream. Just after the stream, on the left, I saw a bird's nest in a bushy tree. Next, the path crosses under power lines. It looks like snowmobile trails also run alongside the power lines. A while after that, there's a field on the right. After that, another path veers right, but you should just keep going straight. Shortly after that, you'll encounter railroad tracks which mark Waumbek Junction.

At the first track is a little yellow sign warning that this is an active railroad. I think the first track you hit is inactive; but continuing straight across that track, you come to another track that definitely is active so be careful! I read somewhere, and it may have been in reference to this trail, that by some trick of sound, a train can actually sneak up on you. I could hear the drone of the power plant during most of my hike – it was just background noise, not really disruptive – but it sounds similar to what I imagine a distantly approaching train would sound like. So if one can manage to block out the power plant noises, I guess it's feasible that a train could go unnoticed until too late.

Cherry Pond with the Crescent Range beyond it to the left, and the hazy Presidential Range to the right (photo by Webmaster)
Cherry Pond, Crescent Range, and the Presidentials (photo by Webmaster)

Not wanting to take any chances, and not wanting to be looking over my shoulder every few seconds, I walked alongside the active rail line, instead of right on the tracks. I crossed Johns River on a railroad bridge – this waterway connects Cherry Pond and Little Cherry Pond. About twenty yards after the crossing, there's a leading off to the right. It is signed as "Shore Path", but the sign is down low and may be hidden by snow in the winter. This path leads to the shore of Cherry Pond, and a short ways along the shoreline before rejoining the railroad a bit farther up from where it left it.

From the railroad at this point, is a beautiful, open view of the pond. I could only see a hint of the reported wonderful view of the Presidentials, due to the heavy haze. The pond was iced over and there was a little island. Cattails clung to the island and parts of the shoreline. The little path along the shore was narrow and has a nice, woodsy feel to it, unlike the view from the tracks – yet the view from the tracks seemed more impressive.

I continued along the tracks until I saw a sign for Little Cherry Pond on the left. Opposite from it, is another path that's part of the Cohos Trail. It goes along the shore in both directions (a bit earlier was another access point to it signed as "Rampart Path / Colonel Whipple Trail"). You can follow it for a while to get shoreline views if you wish. Where it turns away from the shore is when it changes from Rampart Path to Colonel Whipple. Both segments are part of the Cohos Trail and Colonel Whipple Trail leads to Whipple Road in Jefferson.

Leaving the Cohos Trail for a future day, I went back to the tracks and took the left-hand Little Cherry Pond Trail that leads to Little Cherry Pond. This is a narrow, woodsy trail, with several wet areas – most of which are mitigated by bog bridges. After a short ways, I encountered a small white sign with a left-hand arrow on it. This is the start of a loop that touches down to the pond. I headed left and the trail soon veered right, and then straight, on a gradual downhill. After the first glimpse of the pond, bog bridges brought me the rest of the way down to the shoreline, where there was a small platform and an inviting bench.

Little Cherry Pond is pretty too. Without the haze and with bird season in full swing, I imagine this is a remarkable place. Little Cherry Pond has a much wilder, more intimate feel to it than the larger pond. This truly feels like a bog environment with the tamarack and black spruce and heath-type shrubs. It looked like it would be a wet walk if one attempted to skirt the shoreline.

Since it was pretty dark by the time I arrived at Little Cherry Pond, I didn't linger for too long. I headed back up the trail, where I was shortly greeted by another arrow on a small, white sign. Following the sign's suggestion, I headed left to return via the other leg of the loop. This leg is more direct and I was back to the start of the loop in no time; and then from there, I made quick time back to the railroad tracks.

The walk back was uneventful. The path was easy enough and the snow bright enough, that I didn't need to use a flashlight even though darkness had fully descended.

The trail up until Waumbek Junction would be great for cross-country skiing; and the whole trail would be good for jogging.
 



 


NH - Central East

  Driving Directions   

The trailhead for Pondicherry Rail Trail is located on Airport Road in Whitefield, New Hampshire.

  • From Whitefield's village center, follow Rt. 116 East.
  • After 1.7 miles, turn right onto Hazen Road (also marked by an airport sign).
  • After 1.3 miles, turn left onto Airport Road.
  • Travel another 1.4 miles and the trailhead parking area will be located on the north side of the road in Whitefield, across the street from a biomass plant which is on the right.
  • To access the parking area, go over a one lane bridge and there's a parking area on the right, right after the bridge.
  • The trail is straight ahead from the bridge.
 
 

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