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Access to the Trail:

There are two access points to the trails for the White Farm/Turkey River area. The first is from White Farm off Clinton Street. Park on the shoulder, walk up the driveway of the White Farm cottage and turn left. The trail begins near the bird feeders.

The second access is west of the tennis courts of Memorial Field. Park in the Memorial Field parking lot, walk to the back of the tennis courts and turn right between the tennis courts and the baseball field. In the hedge row there is a small opening. Cross a culvert in a drainage swale; the trail is to the right.

The Trails: 

Hiking travel time: about 2 hours for the whole trail.  Plan for 1.5 hours for the trail that starts at Memorial Field and about an hour for the trail that starts at the cottage. 

Distance: about 2.5 miles

The trails from Memorial Field are nice woodland walks that take you through pine forests, deer yards, fields and small wetland areas. The students of the middle school alternative education program have been maintaining these trails and developing the interpretive information found here. These trails have become popular cross-country ski trails.

The trails from the cottage have been managed by the faculty and students of the school district environmental program Project See. These are interpretive trails that make their way to the old mill sites of the Turkey River. They are also part of the cross-country ski trail system of the area. All these trails are great four season trails to travel on.

History:

Nathaniel and Armenia White owned this property. It was described as a farm that was spotless. The farm itself was opened in the 1840’s and eventually became a stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves fleeing the south. Both the Whites led efforts in the temperance and women’s suffrage movements. Armenia established the Centennial Home for the Aged, now known as the Centennial Inn. Nathaniel White, from Lancaster, N.H. was born poor, but died in 1880 one of the wealthiest men in New Hampshire. He started as a dishwasher at the Colombian Hotel in Concord, became a leader in Concord-Boston Coach lines, took a position as railroad director, became an “Old Guard Republican” and was later selected head of the electoral tickets for Garfield and Arthur.