Moving to Farmington, NH... Trail recommendations

[cowsbark2]

As the title states, I am moving to Farmington, NH from Methuen, MA, and I'm looking for a few good trail recommendations. In the area I'm in now I enjoy Harold Parker, LDT state forest, and FOMBA the most. I've ridden Fort Rock a few time, and that's great too.

Thanks, and hope to see you on the trails,
John

[06epic]

I just moved out of Farmington. (not to sad about that)
There is nothing there that I am away of for single track. There is some double track ATV trails up in New Durham (http://www.newdurhamvalleyatvclub.com/). Blue job mountain in Rochester but that is basically a double track climb. Other than that I had to drive to Ft Rock, Fomba, Willowdale, or Mt A.

[cowsbark2]

Thanks for the tips. If you don't mind me asking what didn't you like about the town?

[06epic]

My wife worked in Methuen for 4 of the 5 years we lived in Farmington. She commuted 5 days a week. Its like 85 miles and $3.50 in tolls each way.

If your going to own a house or property the town politics are nuts.

I owned a house for 5 years and am glad to be out.

Even though it is a small town it can be pretty rough downtown. Lots of poverty. Many people think Portsmouth is a "day trip". They don't get out much.
Friday and Saturday nights during the summer you'll see at least 2 cops walking Main street and 3 other cruisers running around.

Many of the town roads are not paved.

Depending on where or if you work, if it is south of Rochester, the RT16 commute is hell.

Read the Fosters paper. www.fosters.com (http://www.fosters.com)

http://fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091005/GJBUSINESS_01/710059996

Usually many of the articles involve some sort of redneck/hillbilly from Farmington.

[danodrum]

I live in Rochester and have to travel to reach any sort of trail worth riding. I work in Epping so am very close to FOMBA, Fort Rock, Pawtuckaway and 40 minutes from Bear Brook. Those are the places I ride and recommend. Kingman Farm in Madbury is fun if you only have an hour and are driving by, it's on my way home basically. In Rochester there are the Isinglass trails near waste management on Rochester Neck Road. But I find those pretty boring. You may be able to ride for an hour or so if you hit every single trail and do a few twice. There are a few snowmobile trails and ATV trails in your area but those are really boring and I would only use those as a last resort. I would say get ready to travel or buy a road bike.

[bikerdom]

I live on Rt 153 just over the Farmington town line. The town isn't that bad and town politics aren't really anything to worry about. I know plenty of home owners that are happy. I live in Milton and it's very similar. Plan on driving to most riding locations. I have found a few trails but as stated by others they're mostly ATV and Snowmobile trails. I do ride the Copple Crown/Moose mountain area every now and then. Blue Job Mountain finally has been reposted by the state to not allow motorized vehicle on Blue Job or Little Baldy. If you have time do some exploring around Blue Job starting at the Rochester Reservoir side. Also the New Durham Ridge has a few trails but nothing to get excited over. I ride mostly the places that the others have mentioned. Nordic Ski & Bike in Wolfeboro used to have group mountain bike rides but I'm not sure if they still do.

[stich]

I was mildly surprised by the amount of singletrack over at Kingman Farm in Madbury. Place keeps growing.

Anyone care to unite to see what it would take to get a few trails cut over at Northwood Meadows? I have property that borders it and I know exactly where some prime trails could be built into and out of the park passing trough the town trust. Place is beautiful.

Stich

[cowsbark2]

Thanks for the heads up about the trails, sounds like I'll have to check out this Farm. As for the town, redneck and small town politics don't bother me. I think it will be a huge improvment from the filth that is the Methuen \Lawrence line.
Hope to see you put on the trail.
Thanks,
John

[bikerdom]

I lived in a bunch of different places and people are people. It's always what you make of it.

[danodrum]

If you go to Kingman Farm and want a little tour shoot me an e-mail at Dbastien75@aol.com It is not too hard to get around but there are some small trails that are hard to "find" unless you know about them. If you find the big red barn behind the farm there is a bunch of fun trails directly across from the barn. That hill is called hicks hill and this is the only very slight technical stuff you'll find. There is a nice switchback climb to the top and then 3 seperate trails back down to the bottom. They have done some nice work over there in the last couple of years. A few years ago there were a bunch of new single track trails cut that were really nice, but it turned out they were illegally cut so they closed them for revegitation.

[cowsbark2]

Thanks, sounds good I'll do that the first chance I get to ride when I'm up there.
Thanks,
John