David Thompson established a trading post on the island in 1626. The island was mainly used for grazing of livestock until 1833 when a boys school was founded. It passed through several iterations and eventually came under the umbrella of the Outward Bound organization. The island has a 78 foot drumlin on the northeastern half of the island surrounded by low laying hills, wetlands and a salt marsh.
Outside of Outward Bound activities the island is open to the public on Sundays during the summer months. Special events like weddings can be arranged:
The state park is a multi use location. In addition to the campground with more than 450 sites there is an extensive day use area. Swimming, fishing, boating and a large function area is all available. Take US Route 1A until you see the sign for the reservation. The fee for non residents is $20 and $14 for residents, so unless you plan on making day of it, it can be quite expensive. Pay the fee at the pay station and then continue down to the day use area.
A fine example of a day use park in the New Hampshire Stat Park System. Clough State Park has a nice beach for swimming, picnic tables and grills for barbecue and a pavilion the can be rented for functions.
The Wason Pond Conservation and Recreation Area in Chester is a multi-use park ideal for family outing. The park contains a covered bridge, several swimming holes, a community center, a short trail, a playground and a large field where you may find charity yard sales occasionally during the summer.
The best access to the covered bridge and trail is from the Community Center parking area.
Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire is one of the jewels in the State Park system. The park is the epitome of a multi-use, all purpose park with hiking, equestrian, archery, camping, snowmobiling, fishing and swimming as just some of the activities. Divided into several sections accessed from sevral points the park contains 10,000 acres of woods, trails and ponds.
There are over 40 miles of trails winding through the heavily wooded park. Most of the trails can be accessed through the Podunk Road entrance to the park. The road is rough dirt and the trail heads are at several places along it.
Maybe the best option would be to stay at one of the campgrounds in the park. There is a large public site with swimming and facilities including a camp store.
Besides the hiking and camping there is a fly fishing only pond, a children’s fishing pond and an archery range.
If history is your forte there is much to offer there as well. The old CCC camp houses two museums of local interest. The Bear Brook Civilian Conservation Core Museum is housed in one of the few remaining CCC encampments still extant in the U.S.
