The Great North Woods of New Hampshire features a host of trails that can be hiked with snowshoes during winter. Here are a handful of easy ones to tackle.
Huntington Cascades: The beautiful and easily accessible Dixville Notch State Park on Rte. 26 has many year-round accessible trails that offer wonderful snowshoeing. These include the Huntington Cascades Trail, which runs .4 mile (round-trip) from the trailhead at the Wayside parking area to the Upper Cascades, a series of frozen waterfalls.
Sanguinary Ridge: This 1.4-mile (round-trip) trail, accessible from the parking area at the Little Flume in Dixville Notch State Park, leads through balsam and spruce forest, and offers incredible views from a rocky pinnacle overlooking Lake Gloriette and the Balsams Resort Hotel. Elevation gain is 550 feet, so there is some uphill climbing involved.
Fourth Connecticut Lake: This relatively level trail leads through a valley just below the Canadian border. The well-maintained, 2.1-mile loop trail starts at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol checkpoint and eventually circumnavigates Fourth Connecticut Lake, a small pond that is actually the headwaters of the Connecticut River.
Moose Alley: This easy 1.2-mile trail begins at a turn-off on Rte. 3, just north of First Connecticut Lake in Pittsburg, and runs alongside the Connecticut River. And true to its name, offers a good opportunity to encounter moose, as well as deer. At the very least, you are sure to at least see their tracks.
