cotton valley trail

This trail was the bed of the old railroad that came up from Boston in the early 20th century and ended in Wolfeboro. You can start in the back bay area of Wolfeboro (there is a new parking lot) and travel about 4-6 miles to another station. We walked to the end of Crescent Lake and back. It is extremely peaceful, there is small wildlife to catch and the lake edge has nice scenery. Walk back and grab an ice cream in Wolfeboro and sit and watch the ski jumping (practice teams) or hobbyists with their model sail boats or remote controlled boats. The waterfall near the Wright Museum is relaxing to watch.

This trail is about 6 miles starting from the downtown old railroad station into Cotton Valley Rd in Wolfeboro. The path is beautiful crossing through four different water bodies and access to Albee Beach. Its nice for biking and walking, short or long, (and also used for cc-skiing and snowmobiling in winter). The trail is usually more busy the closer to downtown and Albee beach but always very quiet and remote once you pass through 109 and that last section towards Cotton Valley. There is a swap or bog like thing there with a bench and beautiful wildlife and birds (can be buggy too). The trail is well maintained. If your looking for a longer more intense bike ride, when the trail ends, if you continue onto the paved portion Cotton Valley Rd (2nd left at trails end before the track)) go up the big hill and then take a right at the stop sign you can bike along a paved road with beautiful overviews of the lakes. If you still haven't had enough continue past the old church and take a left on the old fire road (mountain bike or all terrain tires only) which again will bring you out to a outlook with beautiful views (I believe this is summit of Cotton Mountain). You can also go right at the end of the Cotton Valley trail onto the dirt road and follow that to the end (again Mountain bike or all terrain tires only) and you will end up on route 109. You would go right and end up passing Wentworth States Park and can stop at the beach and then continue on to the intersection with the cotton valley trail to head back into town. This makes for a nice loop. There is a parking lot at the 109 intersection. Other parking areas along the trail are at Albee Beach, the Cotton Valley road trail end, downtown Wolfeboro (trail start), and there is a small 2-3 car parking spot off Whitten Neck Road where the trail intersects. There are bathrooms and water available at Albee Beach and the downtown old train station. For more information go to their website: http://www.cottonvalley.org/index.php

We stumbled upon this and it has been so wonderful for the kids. They can bike on what was once a railroad track, go past beautiful views of the lake. The dogs love walking along. It is mostly flat surface with the occasional getting over exposed train tracks. You also bike right past Albee Beach, might as well stop in for a swim!

I have lived in Wolfeboro for 25 years, and find the trail to be a great asset to the town, However, the trail has a large number of places where it crosses the tracks to either go down the other side or between the rails. At these crossovers, one has to negotiate not only the rails which are often pitched higher than the surrounding trail. I am a competent biker who rides about 2500 miles a year, yet I fell and got hurt. I have spoken to a lot of people who have done the same. If you encounter these crossovers, get off your bike and walk. I really disrupts a workout, but they don't seem to be interested in correcting this design flaw, so it is better than getting hurt. Beautiful place to walk or run, but biking can be a problem.

This is a very nice rail trailfrom Wolfboro to i believe Warren. We enjoy letterboxing along this trail.

Lovely trail, pretty flat so great for beginners. Lovely views. Go to Seven Suns afterward. Nice town!

I have lived here in Wolfeboro for about two years and I love walking the Cotton Valley Trail. It is a really nice walk any time of the day. The trail is 6.5 miles and there are several places to stop and enjoy the water, or even stop at Albee Beach along the way, (where there are fully functional rest rooms). This is a great trail for walking, running, or biking. I even push my double stroller along this trail with ease.