Danville's Town Forest Grew This Year. What Can You Actually Walk This Fall?

"To be kept as open space." That's how Article 2026-11 on Danville's March ballot described the 38 acres on Hersey Road that John A. Burnett Jr. and the Burnett family left to the town. On March 10, voters approved making the Burnett property part of the Danville Town Forest, 860 to 134. They also voted 858 to 137 to bring the remaining 75 acres of Map 1 Lot 52 into the forest, so that the whole lot is now Town Forest.

That's 113 more acres. The visitor guide lists the forest at 493 acres, so the new parcels would bring it to roughly 606. That total is simple addition, and none of the town records reviewed for this post give an updated figure.

But a vote creates a boundary, not a trail. Seven months later, the town's own records show the new land still being surveyed and planned, with no public trailheads yet. The forest you can actually walk this October is the same network off Route 111A it was last year, and parts of it have changed since spring.

What the new acres are waiting on

Both ballot articles told the Danville Forestry Committee to add the new parcels to the Town Forest Management Plan. At its April 14 meeting, the committee asked town forester Bryan Comeau to remark the boundaries of the new parcels while he evaluated them. The committee planned to supply the paint so the new marks would match the older ones.

By the August 11 meeting, members reported that they hadn't been able to reach the forester about marking trees to cut west of the Eversource easement. They also wanted to start planning the Forest Management Plan update that's due in 2029. The committee voted to skip its September meeting because it fell on the date of the NH primary at the Community Center. So the most recent record of where things stand is from mid-August.

The town records we reviewed don't name a trailhead, parking area, or marked route on the Hersey Road parcel or the rest of Map 1 Lot 52. Until signs or a new map appear, the safest assumption is that this land is protected but not yet set up for walking.

The forest you can walk today

The entrance is still 443 Main Street, Route 111A. From Route 111, head north on 111A for 2.7 miles and turn left at the Hawke Conservation Area, Danville Town Forest sign. On AllTrails, the Town Forest Loop is listed as an easy 2.8-mile route with about 144 feet of elevation gain. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half. Reviewers there describe the lot as free and large.

The route laid out in the visitor guide goes like this:

1. From the parking area, take the Heron Loop northwest to the Sanborn Trail, which runs through birch, oak, hemlock, and white pine.
2. At Tuckerman Road, turn left and head west back to the Heron Loop. Follow it to the Overlook Trail, marked with blue ribbons and markers.
3. At the vernal pool placard, turn right and continue past the sign to Split Rock. That's a boulder field of moss-covered erratics and rocks crusted with rock tripe lichen.
4. Go back to the Overlook Trail and head south through a softwood grove to the Great Meadow viewing area and its blind.
5. Cross back over the bridge to the Heron Loop. Follow the interpretive signs south to a second viewing area at the heron rookery, then through the hemlock hollow to the marble bench.

The 15-stop interpretive nature trail runs along the same ground, with placards that identify local trees. The guide says great blue herons nest from spring through autumn, so the rookery is still worth stopping at in early October.

The bridge in step five

The guide's route depends on crossing a bridge, and hikers say that bridge is out. An AllTrails reviewer wrote on May 21, 2026, "Overlook bridge collapsed just fyi if you head down that trail." Another review on August 19 said the same thing: "Bridge to the overlook has collapsed." Those are hiker reports. The town hasn't posted a closure notice in the records we found. Still, two reports three months apart are enough reason to plan for it.

If you go, consider the Great Meadow viewing area from the Overlook Trail an out-and-back for now. Use the second viewing area at the heron rookery, which you reach from the Heron Loop, for your meadow views. The August reviewer also mentioned a few fallen trees to step over and said a dry stretch had left only one slightly wet section. Fall rain can change that quickly in a forest the guide describes as meadow, freshwater marsh, and transitional woodland.

Beavers have been the other water question. In April, the committee approved $700 to Southern New Hampshire Wildlife Control for beaver work and planned a county crew to work on dams in May. On June 13, two members checked the Great Meadow dam, found no new activity, and cleared debris so any new work would be easy to spot. By August, the dam near Main Street was still flowing with no sign of current beaver activity.

Why the maps aren't settled yet

The August minutes say plainly that the committee should update its trail maps, with separate colors for OHRV routes and hiking trails. The reason comes up at almost every meeting. In June, a committee member reported seeing unauthorized motor vehicles on the walking trails again, and the committee asked two members to work with Selectman Joe Hester on signage. In August, the signage had made "no real progress as yet." The committee had also discussed a gate on town property to limit off-highway vehicles reaching an abutter's land at the north end, but those talks were tabled.

The committee is also cleaning up older signs. In June, it noted that signs and other items had been attached to trees over the years with spikes, bolts, and other hardware, without coordinated oversight. It authorized member Tim Cain to remove them at his discretion. If a familiar marker is missing this fall, that may be why.

There's also a western trail that the guide doesn't cover. It enters the forest through an easement on private property near Ward Way. In June, committee member Josh Manning weed-whacked and reopened the section near 16 Ward Way after a resident called about an odor. The committee said the smell was normal seasonal decomposition in the wetlands there. Trailforks lists a Tuckertown Trail entering the forest from Ward Way for hiking and mountain biking, but that's a crowdsourced listing, not a town statement about bike access. Because the access crosses private property, the Route 111A lot is still the clear public way in.

Hunting season overlaps the best walking weeks

New Hampshire Fish and Game's general practice is that municipal land is open to hunting unless it's posted. We didn't find a hunting rule specific to the Town Forest, so assume you'll share the woods with hunters from now through early December. The 2026 deer seasons, using the dates that apply outside Wildlife Management Unit A, are:

Fish and Game recommends wearing bright fluorescent orange in the woods in the fall and staying on established trails. Both points matter more this year, with the overlook spur partly cut off and the maps waiting on an update. An orange hat or vest is worth bringing even for a short loop to the rookery. If you walk a dog, an orange vest for the dog helps too. One AllTrails reviewer called the loop dog-friendly, but we didn't find a written town dog rule, so follow any posted signs and keep your dog under control.

A forest that started as parsonage land

The parcels voters added this spring join some very old public land. The two oldest Town Forest parcels were parsonage lots, acquired by deed in 1761 by the Parish of Hawke. For centuries they raised money through timber sales and by renting land for planting and grazing. Danville formally designated the land a town forest by town meeting vote in 2001. The Hawke Meetinghouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and described as the oldest original-construction meetinghouse in New Hampshire, is near the forest entrance. The Phyllis Massey Stafford Conservation Area and Ye Olde Cemetery are just up the road.

The forest is still managed as working land. The committee is waiting on the forester to mark a cut west of the Eversource easement. It has met with Eversource about pole replacements planned for 2027. And it has spent small amounts from the Forestry Fund, including a $290 repair invoice in August, on an old bulldozer at the Town Garage that it hopes to use for forestry work. Fall is when much of that work could show up on the ground, so expect some changes along the trails.

If the loop isn't enough

For more mileage this fall, the Southeast Land Trust's Tucker & French Family Forest spans Brentwood, Danville, and Kingston. It has 6.9 miles of trails, including the French South Trail, Patten Island Loop, Tucker Trail, Moses Way, Driftway, Mill Pond Loop, French Connector, Spofford Mill Trail, and French North Trail. Dogs must be leashed, and the network is also open to mountain biking and hunting. According to the Trail Finder listing, there's a small kiosk lot off NH-107 just north of NH-125, plus southern access from Ladd Road and Church Street, North Road, and Tucker Road. Hunting season applies there as well, so bring the orange.

To keep up with the new acres, follow the Forestry Committee minutes in the town's Agenda Center. Those minutes will be the first place a new trailhead, a repaired bridge, or a color-coded map shows up. You can also read the March 2026 ballot results to see exactly what voters approved for Hersey Road and Map 1 Lot 52. For more about the town itself, the Danville neighborhood page collects local notes in one place.

If you walk the Heron Loop this fall and spot new blazes on the Hersey Road side, or the overlook bridge back in place, I'd love to hear about it. I'm always glad to compare notes on Danville, whether it's the trails or anything else on your mind. Sonia Bramhall is happy to talk. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.