The new trail uses multiple switchbacks to make it easier for hikers to navigate the steep grade. Logging to create space for the trail opened up the tree canopy to let more light into the forest and encourage the growth of new saplings.
The Pine Park Association is in the midst of installing a new 900-foot hiking trail that people can access from a new gravel path that will run run from the Rope Ferry Trail. It is about 200 feet north of the South Ravine Trail, which it replaces, and will end at the Girl Brook bridge at the south end of the park. We expect hikers will enjoy the switchbacks, the new bench, and the lovely views when the trail opens in early September. The Sphinx Foundation generously provided funds for the trail’s construction, and two friends of the park have contributed to the forestry work to improve the health of the woodland.
The original South Ravine Trail follows a sewer line and was never designed for hiking. It is too steep and slippery to be safe and is being closed to hikers. Investing funds that could be exercised in the future.
During the course of restoring the woodlands, we discovered the remnants of an old ski jump from the 1920s and 30s. The attached map shows a 15-meter jump located down near Girl Brook. You can access the remains from the carbon capture area off the Rope Ferry Trail up on the esker. The big jump near Route 10 was not opened until 1948.
The pollinator gardens in Pine Park are in full bloom with lupines, the special attraction along the Rope Ferry Trail and at the top of the meadow.
A work group of Pine Park trustees completed a project to clean up the entrance to the South Ravine trail used by people who access the park from Route 10. In addition to cleaning up brush, dead trees, and invasive plants, they added a split rail fence to clarify the park’s southern access.
Hanover High School’s Youth in Action organized a work day in Pine Park on April 27, 2025. Joining the students and their faculty advisor were several trustees and two members of Dartmouth’s incoming class of 2029 and their families. Large piles of slash and fallen trees along the Rope Ferry Trail esker were cut up and spread in the woods to decay.
The Pine Park Association 