Trails on the forested part of the property north of Bockes Road wind through an oak-pine forest that shows off good forest management at its best. Note how the forester has ensured that each crop tree has space to develop a full crown, thus maximizing its growth. The hill on the northwestern side of the property offers views to the southwest at times when leaves are not present on the hardwoods. Because this property is an island of habitat within a mosaic of suburbs, it has become a refuge for small mammals. Look for signs of fox, fisher, coyote, raccoon, and weasel. For leaf-peeping close to home, this property, with long views down its woods roads, is an excellent choice.
Look for the Forest Society sign along the wide part of Mill Road to access the Leslie C. Bockes Memorial Forest trail network. This well-established network of logging roads provides excellent hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing with numerous access points. The trails are on well-maintained woods roads that enable easy walking and generally good footing (there may be a few wet spots after heavy rain).
The original owner of the property, Reverend Leslie C. Bockes, opened a children’s summer camp on the property for inner city youth from Lowell, Massachusetts. The land has been a Tree Farm, and the previous owners won the NH Timberland Owners Association John Hoar Award in 1978 for exemplary forestry and conservation practices. The Ingersoll siblings spent their summers in a cottage on this land overlooking Beaver Brook—when not working on the tree farm.
Circumstances of acquisition: The Bockes Memorial Forest began with a 1975 donation of 71 acres to the Forest Society by Patricia Bockes Ingersoll in memory of her father, the reverend Leslie C. Bockes. In 2003 Patricia’s children then transferred nearly all the remaining family land in Londonderry and Hudson, plus a conservation easement on an adjoining 32 acres in Windham now owned by the town, to the Forest Society. The total contiguous acreage owned by the Forest Society is now 226 acres. The Bockes Memorial Forest is part of the 300-acre “Tri-Town Forest” that includes abutting town-owned land in Windham.
Three towns and two state agencies combined their resources, along with a bargain sale component from the Ingersoll family, in a remarkable team effort to fund the towns’ purchases: $300,000 from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP); $245,382 from the Department of Environmental Services Water Supply Land Grant Program; a $351,425 bargain sale by the owners; and $1,566,193 from the towns.
There is a property sign with limited roadside parking for 4-5 cars.
