Help improve Harvey's Kennard Hill Forest for people and wildlife!
Since its permanent protection in 2015, the 1,114-acre Harvey’s Kennard Hill Forest has become an increasingly beloved property due to its rural beauty, diversity of habitats, and great views. SELT, working with the Harvey family, has established a public trail system for hiking, biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing and similar recreational activities.
Remaining work will complete the public trail system, with three key goals:
- Rerouting and completing a loop trail to Kennard Hill, the highest point in Epping which affords wonderful views all the way to Mt. Agamenticus in Maine
- Improving public access through a gravel parking area and kiosk installed off of Blake Road
- Protecting sensitive stream and wetland crossings and improving access for hiking and horseback riding through the installation of three bridges
But we need your help! SELT needs to raise $19,200 to complete this work!
About Harvey's Kennard Hill Forest
In 2015, SELT and the Harvey family protected, through a conservation easement, 1,114 acres of the family’s land in the rural northwest corner of Epping and southern Nottingham. This land is a keystone parcel in SELT’s larger vision of connecting Pawtuckaway State Park to Great Bay through conservation lands and trails.
The Harveys have owned land in Epping for eight generations, and the decision to conserve this land was decades in the making. It was also widely supported by the community, with 80% of voters supporting a $250,000 warrant article at the Epping Town Meeting in 2015.
While this property is large in its own right, it is also part of nearly 5,000 acres of unfragmented forested land. The primarily hemlock-hardwood-pine forest is intermingled with beaver ponds and wetlands that filter clean water to the North and Pawtuckaway Rivers, tributaries to the nationally designated Wild and Scenic Lamprey River. This broad landscape is also recognized state-wide for its high-quality habitat, supporting species from great blue heron to bobcat.
The conservation easement that protects Harvey’s Kennard Hill Forest is held by SELT and New Hampshire Fish & Game and allows SELT to maintain a public trail system on this private property. This was important to the Harvey family, who have allowed access for recreation for a long time.
The land is crisscrossed by a system of old woods roads, hiking and biking trails, and game trails which have been used by local communities for decades. In 2019, SELT partnered with the Harvey family and NH Fish & Game to determine the extent and location of the public trails. The resulting plan was a trail system that continues to support sustainable recreation practices while also protecting water quality and sensitive plant and animal habitats.
Harvey's Kennard Hill Forest is a destination for all manner of recreation!