Recreation

The Forest Society's mission includes conserving lands that provide recreational opportunities--and economic benefits through tourism--for New Hampshire residents and visitors. Visit this page to explore stories related to recreation on conserved lands.

Tree buds burst into tiny flowers. Gauzy maple and oak stamens cascade from the twiggy tree canopy. Miniature, tender leaves unfurl, trembling like emerging butterflies, and seem too frail to aspire to shade a forest floor.

A spring storm fades over the White Mountains, as seen from the Christmas tree fields at The Rocks.
The Rocks, Bethlehem (Photo: Chris Whiton)

Today’s topic is perfect for the fall season: cleaning up the leaves. Yes, it’s that time of year again, and if you hate raking as much as we do we’ve got some good news for you. It really doesn’t have to be so…well…impulsive.

Help Us Connect People to Nature!

In the woods, each seasonal transition is accompanied by faint glimmers of what comes next and ghosts of each fleeting moment. Later sunrise and earlier sunset times now stagger in slow-motion toward an embrace they thankfully never reach. Field crickets chirp in lengthening darkness of …

What changing fall colors reveal about the underlying granite landscape

Broad-leaved, deciduous hardwood trees lose their leaves every year. Evergreen, coniferous softwood trees do not. But why?

Behind the impressive economic engine of regional tourism, …

Falling leaves work on my soul. I can't quite describe it...

I've discovered at least four essential fall foliage truths, wise autumnal advice I'm more than willing to share…

Each year leaves will change color to a greater or lesser degree before falling. But only tourists …

In the Line of Duty.

A boyhood discovery turns out to be the gift of a lifetime

The unmistakable scent of balsam was exotic to me when I was a boy, growing up on a street planted with ornamental hardwood trees in the crowded suburbs of northern New Jersey. The “Christmas tree smell” represented a …