Hiking at Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge

As hiking in the White Mountain area goes, this is a pretty easy one. This is a family friendly hike along a rail trail and well maintained forest trails. The main attraction here isn't the difficultly. The main attraction here is the spectacular views and the abundant wildlife.

This trail begins on Airport Road in Jefferson, NH. If you are coming from Rt 116, the trailhead parking lot is actually a little confusing to find, since the road curves through an airport complex. From the junction of Rte. 3 and Rte. 116 in Whitefield, go 1.6 miles south on Rte. 3. Take a left (east) on Colby Rd and go 1.5 miles to Hazen Rd. Go right (east) past Airport Marsh and through the airport complex for 1.6 miles to trail parking on left.

If you are coming from Rt 115, turn onto Airport Rd and go about 1.5 miles to a small parking lot on the right.

The trail into the large pond, which has the better of the two views, is about 1.5 miles. The trail passes primarily through lowland spruce – fir forest, though there are a few areas of wetland and lots of flowers, ferns, etc mixed in along the way. At 1.5 miles, you come to the Waumbek Junction, where you can choose to continue straight or take a right.

If you continue straight, the trail will join up with some active railroad tracks, and eventually put you at the trailhead for the smaller pond. Taking a right will bring you to a viewing platform where you get a fabulous view of Cherry Pond and the surrounding mountains. If you choose to continue past the platform, you'll stay parallel to the shore and eventually the path opens up into another marsh and wetlands area. Again, there are great views of the mountains, and on a calm day, lovely reflections in the water.

If you choose to continue on to Little Cherry Pond, you will see floating islands just off the shore of Cherry Pond, and the official marker designating the refuge as a National Natural Landmark (this is found at the junction of an off-shoot Shore Trail and the railroad tracks).

Little Cherry Pond trail is much narrower, and slick at times. It is also, in my experience, much buggier. This is where you'll be glad you have the bug spray. Overall, nothing is all that difficult along the Little Cherry Pond, but it is not appropriate for anything other than foot traffic. Horses and bikes are restricted to the main trail.