2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the Blow-Me-Down Snowriders (BMD), a family oriented non-profit organization run by local volunteers. With approximately 56 miles of groomed trails circling through Cornish and Plainfield, and connecting to trails in Claremont, Grantham, and Lebanon, the trail system is open to snowshoers, skiers, and hikers as well as snowmobiles.

The trails pass through beautiful fields and forests, along streams, and across hilltops with views. Naturalists who enjoy studying the landscape, tracking winter animals, and birding will find many opportunities on the BMD trail network. Updated trail maps are available for $5 at the Meriden Deli, and are available for download. There are also trail maps at most of the trail junctions along the network.

The trails utilize Class VI roads and private property by permission, and trail users are asked to ‘Stay on the Trail, or Stay Home” to respect the many landowners who make using the trails possible. There is also a ‘Carry In, Carry Out’ philosophy. The club recently purchased new grooming equipment with grant funds, making the job of maintaining the extensive trail network a little easier.

The BMD leadership is always in need of volunteers to help maintain the trails. Volunteers should contact John Berry, Trail Administrator, johnkberry@comcast.net or 603/543-1118 if interested. To learn more about the BMD, visit their website.

Cornish lies within the Connecticut River Basin, the largest watershed in New England. The basin was formed through mountain building and erosion over millennia, but our current-day landscape was formed 10,000-14,000 years ago by glacial forces. The Connecticut River Valley is the former Glacial Lake Hitchcock, which extended from a natural dam in Rocky Hill, CT northward to St Johnsbury, VT.

On the higher terrain the glaciers eroded away the surface of the region’s hills and mountains to expose the underlying bedrock, outcrops we call ledge. The overlying material was mixed into the glacial ice and carried along as the glaciers moved southward. When the climate warmed and the glaciers retreated in our River Valley, they dropped their load of boulders, gravels, sand, silts and clay that we see today. This resulted in a geology in Cornish that is largely glacial till on top of bedrock. And we wonder why gardening and farming can be so challenging in the Cornish hills!!!! Also known as New England Uplands, the topography of Cornish is underlain by granite, gneiss, schist, slates and shales. This results in soil that is predominantly stony or very stony sandy loams to loams with minimal silt or clay present. Soils are very acidic and also quite shallow, making them often unsuitable for homesites or septic tanks and fields!

About 12,000 years ago, the dam at Rocky Hill broke, and Lake Hitchcock drained into what is now the Connecticut River. Seasonal floods deposited rich alluvial sediments over the ensuing period resulting in prime farmland, found in Cornish along the eastern bank of the river. Separately there is also some prime farmland along the Route 120 corridor in Cornish and smaller areas of suitable farming land scattered throughout the central portion of Town. The glacial forces of millenia have truly influenced what the human inhabitants of Cornish have been able to create ever since the glacial retreat!

Here are three locations for snowshoeing and cross country skiing in Cornish.

Lipfert Forest
Thanks to the Lipfert family, this vast network of privately owned and managed trails is open for public access and enjoyment. The trails are located on land that formerly constituted the King Elm, Balloch, Haubrich and Dahms Farms. The 1940s King Elm Farm Sugar House has been restored and is open to visitors. An extensive trail system connects to the Cornish Town Forest. The property is open to hunting. In season, be sure to leave gates as you found them with chains secured.

Link to Trail Map and Parking Info on Trailfinder Website

Cornish Town Forest
The purpose of the town forest is to preserve undeveloped land for the benefit and enjoyment of the residents of Cornish and visitors. There are trails for hiking, mountain biking, skiing and snowshoeing. The entire forest is open to licensed hunters in season. The town forest is managed by a committee of 3 residents plus a representative from the select board and one from the conservation commission.

Link to Trail Map and Parking Info on Cornish Town Website

St Gaudens National Historic Park
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America’s greatest sculptors, lived here seasonally starting in 1885, and year-round 1900 until his death in 1907. The park has open fields, trails through the woods, and several of Saint-Gaudens bronze sculptures on view throughout the year. The sunsets from the porch of the main house are beautiful!

Link to Trail Map and Parking Info on St. Gaudens Website

The Cornish Conservation Commission is pleased to introduce Cornish Conservation Notes in 2021. We will regularly highlight sections of the NRI, providing information about our collective natural resources and our efforts to protect and enhance them for all Cornish residents.

The Cornish Conservation Commission celebrates its 50th year anniversary in March! The purpose of a town Conservation Commission, as stated by NH Law (RSA 36-A), is to work toward “the proper utilization and protection of the natural resources and for the protection of watershed resources of said city or town.”

In the summer of 1975 the Commission hired intern William F. Menke to conduct its first audit of resources. The following year his work had been reviewed and the first NRI for Cornish was published. The document is a 46 page narrative of facts, figures and Cornish history, and it included 5 final pages of recommendations to the Commission. Menke encouraged a focus on creating town recreational opportunities, preserving cultural/historical areas, increasing the outdoor educational opportunities for the school, capitalizing on the CT River as a resource, and phasing out the Cornish Dump to protect the town aquifers. Since those first recommendations, it is satisfying to note that Cornish has acquired and developed the CREA property, purchased a parcel of land for a Town Forest and built trails, preserved buildings and land of historical value, rid itself of a dump, and much more.

The first NRI is a fun read, a tour of what Cornish looked and “felt” like in the summer of 1975 when Menke roamed the hills and vales of our town, and spoke with a great many townspeople. And it provided an excellent springboard for early guidance and actions by the Commission. And it eventually led to the next NRI, published in 2013, a much enhanced inventory, with new and growing information, and evolving recommendations to guide the Commission and Town.

Find these documents at the Cornish Town Library and town website and read for yourself about the unique character of Cornish, and the myriad forces that have shaped and continue to shape our town.

Read the 2013 NRI

Jody Schubert, Conservation Commission Member