Rhododendron Loop

Dogs No Dogs

Connect to this loop via the Woodland Loop. You'll follow the blue blazes with arrows to show direction. This trail travels away from the Woodland Loop before crossing through the power line area, crossing over the Milestone Brook, crossing back through the power line area and then around the loop portion of the trail which travels through the Rhododendron thickets.

From NH Natural Heritage Bureau: "This trail passes by several dark green thickets of giant rhododendron, a shrub that grows in large, interwoven colonies. Giant rhododendron blooms in late spring, producing large, showy clusters of pale pink or white flowers above the broad, evergreen leaves. Leaving the Woodland Loop, the trail first drops steeply and passes through a damp hemlock forest with mossy rocks. The loop winds past a beaver dam and an associated marsh. Notice all the standing dead trees, called snags, drowned when the area was flooded. Snags provide good habitat for various birds and other small animals. The trail then traverses a ridge between drainages, with more giant rhododendron in a mixed hardwood-hemlock forest.