| Stratham Hill Park Trail |
SCENIC SEACOAST WALKS
How many times did we drive by this extensive park on the main drag between Portsmouth and Exeter without dinging the trail? Everyone knows about the Stratham Fair, but year round there is also a side trail up to the fire tower and a woodsy exercise route. You just have to know where the trailhead cuts up the hill. Click to see and learn about Lincoln’s son too.
Name: Stratham Hill Park
Location: Route 33 (formerly 101) between Portsmouth and Exeter, NH.
Rules: No littering, removal or damage of plant life, loitering, camping, or golfing. Snow vehicles allowed on specified trails.
Fees: No charge except for admission to special park events.
Facilities: Plenty of parking, restrooms, trail maps at entrance, exercise stations on Eagle trail.
Dogs: Allowed on trail on leash, but not on playing fields at any time.
Web Sitea: Town of Stratham and Friends of Stratham Hill Park
A very welcoming sign shows the image of an old fire tower on a trail. But where is it? You could scarcely tell from the wooden sign at the entrance that shows a squiggle of colored trail routes. So head for the high ground. Take the path at the far left entrance and pick up the little map put out by the Eagles Scouts. If that doesn’t clarify things, just walk up the rise to the second building on the left (baseball field on your right) and look to the left. You’ll see a small cleared area heading up hill. (see the photo below)
The first surprise up the slow steep rise is a brass plaque attached to a flat boulder hidden on the right side of the trail. It reads: "Robert T. Lincoln – A student at Phillips Exeter Academy, son of Abraham Lincoln, read the Declaration of Independence on this rock, July 4, 1860. (Robert Todd, by the way, was also a suitor of Dover’s Lucy Hale, who was later engaged to John Wilkes Booth who assassinated Robert’s father. Ironically, Robert Todd Lincoln was later "saved" from a train accident by the assassin’s brother, actor Edwin Booth.)
The restored fire tower at the top of the hill is not for those who suffer from vertigo. The steep metal stairs and slippery when wet. There is no comforting wooden floor as in the Garrison Hill tower, but the view of the edge of Great Bay is equally spectacular in the fall. A century- old marker at the foot of the tower indicates sights to be seen from the hill, but many are no longer there or obscured from view by trees.
Beyond the fire tower is a wide flat road through a thick forested area that is well maintained and offers series of exercise stations. The trail comes out behind the fenced in area used during the Stratham Fair for the every-popular sled-pull where farm horses and oxen tug heavily weighted sleds. The trail makes a great pit stop for physically fit computer jocks who need a little exercise on the way home from a sedentary e-Coast job.
Place mouse over picture for caption. Photos & text copyright (c) SeacoastNH.com
CONTINUE Stratham Hill Park Trail
STRATHAM FIRE TOWER TRAIL (continued)
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