Trail Closures
 

Here' the latest from NHBOT on Trail Closures

Corridor 20 is closed indefinitely until further notices.

Corridor 19 is closed for now. We will know more come mid-december.

Margaret Morrison, Program Assistant
State of NH, DRED—Bureau of Trails
172 Pembroke Road
Concord, NH 03301
Tel: 603-271-3254, x213
Fax: 603-271-3553
Margaret.Morrison@dred.nh.gov

Where do these trails run to and from? Are they significant trails? Thanks

Corridor 19 runs from the Wakefield area through Ossipee, North Conway, Gorham and ends in Errol. What part is going to be closed this season?

Corridor 20 is located in the Pittsburgh area.

On Corridor 19-
There was an issue with a landowner up near the Maine border going west toward Shelbourn/Gorham, but that may have been resolved. Can't confirm. There is another issue on Corridor 19 in the north Wolfeboro/Ossipee section where the trail transitions onto the RR beds. Part of the 7 Lakes Club. The RR wants to use the tracks to store idle RR cars there. Seven Lakes has pemission from the adjacent landowner to use their property to "Get around" the idle cars, but it's on the opposite side of where the trail becomes track. Since the track will be "active/semi-active" your not suppose to cross it. Waiting to hear something back from the RR about any options the Club has if any. There's more info in Threads about Trail closures, Northern Pass, Corridor 19 to Maine & beyond, on the SledNH.com website. There's also an article in the most recent Sno-Traveler Magazine on page 6

Wow thats a big deal- thanks had not heard that

Update on Corridor 19-22 accessibility.
 

From the President of Seven Lakes Snowmobile Club

I spoke with Mike W Tues re the RR. He is aware of our sence of urgency. As of yesterday he knows nothing more. Hope to hear more today. len


The south trails have all been checked, so far everything is good to go.
Mike Weeks was at the county meeting Monday. I asked him if he had any good news on the track crossing at Big Moose. He said he was waiting till Tuesday to get back to them on permission to cross. That’s the big trail work question either close the trail or use it. Either way we have work to do. Hopefully we may hear this week.
We are going to need help finishing the Skandic. drags at the club house. Lights, wiring, rear plates and actuators.

Mike Weeks is the Rep. for NH Bureau of Trails who's working on this

Corridor 22 from Ossipee north has been closed by the RR
 

Sorry to report this but it looks as if we've lost a major trail that connects North & South. Corridor 22 at junction of 26 going north to Corridor 19 on the RR beds is closed. Here's the e-mail I received from the Seven Lakes Snowmobile Club

Well here's the latest, the trail is no longer. The Railroad won't
give permission. So we're forced to not use or maintain it . You can still
ride it from the RR tracks north, to a turn around, and going behind the
Greenery North to Ossipee or South to the clubhouse trail.

I painted over a old political sign to put on the closed trail. What should
it say? CORR. 22
TRAIL CLOSED BY RAILROAD

Corridor 22 information from Ossipee Valley Club
 

I contacted the Ossipee Valley Club to see what they knew about the closing, and this is their reply--


From what I was told today corr.22 south of Ossipee will be closed this year. That trail is in the Seven Lakes Snowmobile Club area and they are trying to find a reroute around the closure .Corr.19 has been reopened and you can go all the way north to Errol from Ossipee. Hope this helps.

George Kaye, OVSC


So I'm guessing you can trailer to Ossipee, somewhere and then able to go north from there.

Why?
 

What is the reason for the closure?? Obviously the landowner is unhappy about something?

I could see why people get upset and no longer allow the trails through their property. Although there is plenty of people who are respectful there are plenty more that don't care about you or your property.

The land I live on connects from the Steel hill area in Sanbornton and then crosses my yard and straight into the lake, its actually a nice spot to intersect and decide where your going. But, it gets destroyed each year by the snow mobile trails and people who feel the need to rip a few donuts on my neighbors front lawn.

I easily pick up 1-2 bags of trash each spring. Is it enough for me to complain and force a reroute? No but I'm sure in another 10 years I might be fed up. I know my neighbor already is by the signs he posts pleading to respect his property line. Not really looking to make a point here just saying I can totally see why people shut down the access to their properties.

It's the Railroad! They want to use part of the track to store idle cars during the winter. Attached; Here is my best guess to where the track is closed

Thank you ultrarider for the information and updates.

It is unfortunate the Railroad could not find some other alternative to store their idle railroad cars.

A big loss for riders.

Agreed. However, the way the weather is this year all of the trails are closed and possibly could remain this way through 2016. Hopefully, something can be worked out with the railroad for next year.

It looks as if it's only a mile or so at best. Don't think much can be done this year to re-route, but I hope something can be done moving ahead, as this is my favorite ride.

Beginning to look this way! Supposed to be 60 degrees again end of next week. Not even a flake on the ground in Pittsburg either.

So there is not enough room to go next to the trains?

As the president of the Moultonboro snowmobile club, I first thank you for allowing a trail on your property!

Secondly, I suggest that you speak with your local club to help mitigate the issues you have had. I can assure you that they would rather fix a problem than have to re-route! We go out to landowners with issues at least a half dozen times a year. Often we put more signs, more firmly worded signs or snow fence or rope up. I meet annually with some landowners to address how the previous year went. I guess my point is that we want our landowners to be happy to have the trail on their property, not just tolerate it!

From what I've heard, the landowner west of the tracks, wants nothing to do with snowmobiles. Big Moose RV, on the east side of the tracks has given us permission to blaze any trail we need. Problem is: RR will not allow crossing the tracks to get to Big Moose Rv land

Corridor 22 re-opened!!
 

The Seven Lakes Snowmobile Club has posted that Corridor 22 previously closed by the RR, will be open for this season. Not sure about the future. There has been a rough re-route done, to allow crossing of the tracks into the Big Moose RV Trailer land, and then onto the tracks further north. Please follow the signs & marking closely along this section.

A Thank you shout-out to---The Seven Lakes Snowmobile Club, NHBOT, The Railroad, and Kelly Ayotte, for making this work!

Agree. Let's hope some snow comes so we can ride!

Got to admit surprised to hear that Kelly Ayotte got involved, must have been a big negotiation to suck a US Senator into the discussion. Nice to see that happen. Great news for those that ride that area.

Just curious if there is more to this story than just storing rail cars over the winter time. Seems to me there is plenty of track to do so without placing them in the path of a long time winter sled trail.

They were going to be used to HOUSE the Syrian Refugees! You must have missed the State of the Union Address last night.

Or was it the GITMO Detainees?

It's just the first stage of the RR taking back that whole stretch of track from Ossipee to Conway, and weening the snowmobiles off. I heard the Long plan is to rail propane tankers down the tracks. This maybe the last year of Corridor 22, so enjoy using it while you can.

That would include part of corridor 19 as well if it's from Ossipee to Conway, and that is a big deal once you get into the tamworth area - that's a heavily traveled area. Not like there are a whole lot of easy alternatives either. Boy if that is lost that's going to stink.

Don't tempt me to reply to that one, if my filter comes off I'll probably be promptly removed from this forum. All I will say is thankfully gun and ammo sales have been very brisk since 2008. Somebody has to defend what is left of this country.

:laugh: Amen