The Usual Gateway Spring, © France Menk
The Usual Gateway Spring, © France Menk


• Trails are open to the public year-round to enjoy hiking, photography, nature study, birding, etc.
• We ask that you do not destroy the plant life, and to please stay on the trails during mud season to avoid erosion.
• Except for snowmobiles, all motorized vehicles are prohibited.

HUNTING
Private, County and Municipal Lands
80% of New Hampshire’s forestland is privately owned. Most private lands — especially larger tracts — remain open to hunters, unless posted
against hunting. New Hampshire Fish and Game recommends that each hunter contact landowners and seek permission to hunt. Even posted
land can be accessed by contacting the owner prior to hunting. Please respect all landowners wishing to keep their lands posted.

From the Walpole Gateway Report by Alex Barrett, 2021.
Located on the west side of the junction of Route 12 and South Street, just south of the veterinary hospital, the property now known
as the Walpole Gateway, was conserved through an entire community effort. In 2018, this significant accomplishment was made possible
by the generosity of townspeople and the Walpole Conservation Commission (WCC), which leveraged its resources to help finance the purchase.
Because of its beauty, unique plant species, and natural features of the Connecticut River shoreline, visitors enjoy the Gateway in all seasons.

Access to the parcel can be found at an undeveloped parking area along an old farm road just off Walker Road (Walker Road runs parallel
to route 12). From the kiosk near the parking area, the farm road winds down through a rough meadow and into a lower field. A small footpath
heads southwest from the lower field, up and over a steep embankment, across a creek, and out to a beautiful gravel bar in the Connecticut River.

The Gateway hosts a diversity of trees not found on many other Walpole town lands, including hackberry, elm, silver maple, cottonwood, and
musclewood. Coarse, woody material in the tributary system that feeds the Connecticut River provides in-stream habitat for aquatic life. About sixty
percent of the Gateway parcel is designated, “protected shoreline.” (New Hampshire’s Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act: RSA 483-B).

Walpole Gateway News HISTORY