Rail Trails of New Hampshire

. Rail Trails of New Hampshire
Rail trail, Access trail, Road bike, Live rail, Historic route.

Flat and wide trails criss-cross the state through woodland, past ponds, along rivers, over historic bridges and between charming small towns. Often separated from road traffic by miles, these routes once carried steam trains but now offer tranquility and a way to explore New England like never before. Please scroll down for full list of categorized Rail Trails, links, elevation gain & trail conditions.

Green lines on our map indicate rail trails that are enjoyed daily by hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and many other types of user. We link in our maps to our trail reviews and official trail websites if you want to know more. The black lines indicate live rails - please remember that walking along railroad track is not only illegal but dangerous, including track that you might believe to be inactive. Historic rail routes are shown as gray lines, many of which cross private property that are not accessible to the public. Note that our maps are a combination of desktop research and fieldwork and errors may crop up occasionally.

Trailspotting continues to explore and review rail trails throughout New England, where we provide detailed information on each route including mapping and photography. Find our latest rail trail reviews or subscribe to Trailspotting using one of the buttons at the top of the page to be notified as we add more reviews.

Trailspotting's New Hampshire Covered Bridge Map and List
Covered Bridges of New Hampshire
Maps, directions and links for all New Hampshire's covered bridges.

Image of fire tower
Fire Towers of New Hampshire
Discover our map of New Hampshire fire towers and the trails on which to find them.

Rail Trail Review Length Gain Cond
Amherst B&M
3★ 0.9 mi 40, 10 Rough
Ammonoosuc🏆
Map
19.1 mi 1010, 700 Rough
Androscoggin Map 3.4 mi 50, 150 Rough
Ashuelot🏆 Map
23.0 mi 630, 920 OK
Belmont Village Spur 4★ 2.1 mi 70, 70 OK
Bobby Woodman🏆 3★ 1.7 mi 50, 50 Good
Brookline🏆 4★ 4.5 mi 70, 160 Rough
Brown's Way 3★ 3.7 mi 170, 60 OK
Bruce Edes Forest 3★ 0.3 mi 0, 0 Good
Buffler Memorial 3★ 0.7 mi 130, 20 Rough
Chesham🏆 3★ 0.5 mi 0, 0 Rough
Cheshire North🏆 Map 23.0 mi 1180, 990 OK
Cheshire South🏆 4★ 20.3 mi 1170, 760 OK
Colby 3★ 0.7 mi 30, 10 Rough
Cotton Valley🏆 5★ 12 mi 350, 290 Good
Derry🏆 4★ 3.8 mi 110, 100 Good
Dover🏆 4★ 4.2 mi 130, 170 OK
Eastview-Jaquith Road🏆 4★ 2.8 mi 90, 240 OK
Everett Dam 3★ 2.0 mi 40, 90 OK
Farmington🏆 3★
7.2 mi 70, 180 Rough
Fisherville Road🏆 4★ 2.5 mi 20, 40 OK
Fort Hill🏆 Map
6.9 mi 160, 180 Rough
Franconia Notch Map, Link
8.8 mi 560, 938 Good
Goffstown🏆 4★ 5.6 mi 90, 220 Good
Granite Town🏆 4★ 2.9 mi 190, 95 OK
Old Dublin Rd 🏆 3★ 2.3 mi 90, 170 Rough
Hancock🏆 3★ 1.0 mi 50, 90 OK
Harrisville🏆 3★ 1.9 mi 90, 50 Rough
Heads Pond🏆 4★ 1.8 mi 70, 50 Good
Henniker 3★ 2.3 mi 60, 70 OK
Henniker Line 3★ 2.1 mi 60, 50 Rough
Hillsborough🏆 4★ 7.4 mi 160, 120 OK
Hooksett Riverwalk 3★ 1.0 mi 10, 10 Good
Lake Winnisquam🏆 4★ 1.8 mi 60, 30 Good
Lilac City🏆 3★ 1.9 mi 20, 20 Rough
Londonderry🏆 4★ 4.5 mi 200, 190 Good
Mascoma🏆 Map, Link
2.3 mi 180, 90 OK
Mason-Greenville🏆 4★ 8.6 mi 50, 50 OK
Mast Yard 3★ 1.7 mi 20, 40 OK
Monadnock🏆 4★ 8.9 mi 230, 200 OK
Nashua Heritage🏆 3★ 1.3 mi 0, 0 Good
Nashua River🏆 4★ 12.2 mi 320, 280 Good
New Boston🏆 4★ 4.8 mi 180, 70 Good
Northern🏆 5★
58.0 mi 1540, 1860 Good
Peanut 3★ 1.4 mi 40, 30 OK
Peterborough🏆 4★ 8.5 mi 260, 220 Good
Piscataquog🏆 4★ 2.0 mi 70, 110 Good
Potanipo🏆 4★ 3.5 mi 62, 110 OK
Presidential🏆 Map, Link
20.3 mi 710, 1030 OK
Profile🏆 Map
2.1 mi 160, 30 Rough
Rockingham-Fremont🏆 Map
18.0 mi 310, 480 Rough
Rockingham-Portsmouth🏆 4★ 28.0 mi 580, 830 Good
Roxbury 4★ 2.2 mi 190, 40 Rough
Salem🏆 Map, Link
5.0 mi 40, 140 Good
Sargeant Station Rd 3★ 0.9 mi 20, 30 OK
Seacoast Greenway 4★ 11.6 mi 140, 170 OK
South Manchester🏆 4★ 1.9 mi 50, 50 Good
Stevens🏆 3★ 2.2 mi 30, 50 Good
Sugar River🏆 5★ 9.3 mi 470, 250 OK
Tilly Wheeler 3★ 0.6 mi 20, 30 OK
Upper Coos🏆 4★
9.5 mi 140, 230 Rough
Warner🏆 3★ 0.3 mi 0, 10 Good
Warner Bagley Field 3★ 0.7 mi 20, 20 OK
Warren🏆 4★ 15.3 mi 480, 640 OK
West Hopkinton 3★ 2.3 mi 50, 50 Rough
Windham🏆 4★ 4.1 mi 50, 170 Good
Windham Greenway 3★ 2.6 mi 130, 20 Rough
Winnipesaukee River🏆 4★ 4.9 mi 270, 130 OK
Woodsville🏆 Map 3.7 mi 110, 70 Rough
WOW🏆 4★ 2.4 mi 120, 110 Good

Good - Asphalt or hardpack trail conditions
OK - Occasionally rough surface
Rough - Hiking & mountain/rugged bikes
Gain - Elevation gain (ft) moving West to East or North to South. Second number is return gain.
🏆 - NH Rail Trail Challenge (see below)

Trailspotting Links:
• Facebook Group: Comment on this article

New Hampshire Rail Trail Challenge
The New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition's mission is to promote the development and use of former railroad corridors as a network of trails. Also check out their Rail Trail Challenge & patch.

Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail
This trail crosses the whole state, along river valleys and through the White Mountains on rail trails, dirt roads, bike paths and quiet paved roads.

Best Bike Rides in New England
David Sobel's 2022 book features rail trails and beyond, onto scenic backroads of the northeast states (affiliate link).

New Hampshire Rail Trails
Charles F Martin's 2016 book provides more historical background than Trailspotting ever will (affiliate link).
Bluesky Icon   Facebook Icon    Flipboard Icon   Instagram Icon   Mastadon Icon   RSS Feed Icon   Threads Icon
Subscribe for new trail reviews weekly

Presented free of advertising. Please share trails safely and respect posted signs. Information on this site is provided without warranty regarding accuracy. Copyright © 2005-2024 Stuart Green all rights reserved. Republishing of content is not permitted without explicit consent. About Trailspotting.