Lebanon
Full of wildflowers and songbirds amid its hearty mixed upland forest, it would be easy to spend an entire spring day wandering throughout Farnum Hill, which has four parking areas and sits roughly 2 miles south of U.S. Route 4.
Quick-and-easy out-and-back hikes suitable for a weekend morning or lunch break also are quite accessible at Farnum Hill, one of the reasons Wilder resident Angie Emerson enjoys frequenting the reserve.
“You could spend a whole day out here without doubling back on many of the trails,” said Emerson, who led an outing there Thursday as part of the Ottauquechee Section of the Green Mountain Club’s hiking series. “There are also a lot of shorter hikes, where you don’t have an awful lot of elevation gain and still get pretty good views. ”
Emerson, her long-haired dachshund, Oliver, and Thetford resident Inge Trebitz enjoyed one of the latter hikes on Thursday, a 3-mile stroll that can be done in sneakers and requires about 90 minutes.
From the parking area at the junction of Rolling Ridge Road and Maple Hill Road, head north along the Foliage View Trail, marked by white and blue blazes. Watch your footing over some rooty sections, but be sure to look around and take in the sights and sounds of spring, rivaling autumn as the most pleasant time of year to hike. Renewal is everywhere, from the violet and white flowers dotting the sides of the trail to the still-young maple and oak leaves that have bloomed in the trees overhead.
Cross a healthy stream along a boardwalk as birds sing and chirp to announce their territory, woodpeckers feeding in abundance.
The canopy gives way mostly to evergreens as the trail begins a gradual incline, past an open field on the left. On the other side, fiddlehead ferns stand tall as though guarding the forest floor.
At the first trail junction, turn left onto Ridge Trail North (also known as the Aspinwall Trail, named for a family that farmed here for 95 years in the 18th and 19th centuries). Maneuver around a couple of blown-down trees as ferns begin to line the sides of the trail. Continue to follow the white and blue blazes and reach wooden Middle Peak Summit, 1,191 feet above sea level.
Ridge Trail North now descends gradually, the sounds of nearby Mechanic Street and I-89 becoming faintly audible. Stay left to follow the blazes at an unmarked junction; an insufficiently blocked rogue trail invited hikers to the right.
Heading west now, the trail passes a vernal pool and through a muddy area or two before a junction with the R. Bailey Trail. Bear right to continue on Ridge Trail North, where white birch begins to have a presence along with granite boulders, scattered along mostly the right side.
Soon arrive at a ridge doubling as a standing platform on the right, where growth has obstructed what in the wintertime is a vast easterly view. It’s still worth stepping onto today, if only to glance through the trees at partial rolling hills and a glimpse of Lebanon village.
Just above here is North Peak Summit (1,300 feet), where a beacon to the left cautions aircraft. Descending from here. the trail soon passes under power lines, the openings conveniently offering a view to the south of Mount Ascutney — it looks closer than it is — and Smarts Mountain, Mount Cube and Moosilauke to the north.
Re-entering the woods, the Ridge Trail North rollicks upward, then down, eventually coming to a fairly steep downhill section where a hiking pole or stick could be handy. The trail now nearly abuts Old Kings Highway, Lebanon’s first planned colonial road and now Class VI.
Turn left onto the R. Bailey Trail, named for Lebanon park ranger and long-time area trail builder Ron Bailey, of Plainfield.
This mostly level trail, about a mile in length, features boulders, mushrooms, wildflowers and a vernal pool before passing back under the power lines for another view of Mount Ascutney (this time even closer).
Meandering past the airplane beacon, the R. Bailey Trail reconnects with Ridge Trail North, and it’s a leisurely decent back across Middle Peak Summit and the Foliage View Trail.
Back at the parking area, it’s clear that Emerson’s energetic dog could keep exploring Farnum Hill. Yet there was so much to take in just in this short slice of the reserve.
“This area is truly a gift for the people of Lebanon and the whole Upper Valley,” Emerson said.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.