Enjoying a beautiful day on the Cotton Valley Rail Trail!
Welcome to the Cotton Valley Rail Trail
Where you can Walk – Run – Ride – Get healthy & More
Wolfeboro – Brookfield – Wakefield, New Hampshire
The Cotton Valley Rail Trail is located in Wolfeboro, Brookfield and Wakefield, New Hampshire. This 12 mile hard packed Trail offers recreational opportunities to people of all ages and interests – walking, biking (please use caution on platforms when transitioning from trail to inside the rails), running, wildlife viewing, fishing and railway motor cars. And in winter cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
The Cotton Valley Trail Committee (CVTC) and all its partners and volunteers hope that you enjoy the opportunity to get outside and experience nature in a safe and beautiful environment. The CVTC suggests starting in downtown Wolfeboro or Turntable Park, Wakefield or anywhere in between to enjoy views of lakes, woods, open spaces, wetlands and wildlife. Take a moment to rest on one of our many benches or picnic tables and enjoy the silence and sounds of nature without traffic!
Please see our Trail Overview Page and Map Page for additional details.
2024: A very productive year
It was a busy and productive year for the Cotton Valley Trail Committee, Inc. (CVTC).
In January, the CVTC was a recipient of an award from the Wolfeboro Festival of Trees (FOT). That award was used to purchase tools and equipment for maintaining the Cotton Valley Rail Trail. Thanks to Bob Sterndale, Tools Committee Chair, for an outstanding job of organizing and purchasing these items and for cleaning all the donated tools. And, thank you to the ladies of the FOT for their commitment to assist so many organizations in Wolfeboro.
In February, the Board of Directors met with the Chief of the NH Bureau of Trails and were given permission to renovate an abandoned 80 year old building at Cotton Valley. Architect Josh Howell developed the renovation plans. The Board was able to secure funding from local donations, the Fiske Family Foundation, and the East Hill Foundation for the materials needed to complete the project.
In May, the work began with lifting the building off its concrete blocks to pour a concrete floor. By June, alterations began and the building was completed in early August. A ribbon cutting was held and celebrated with ice cream sandwiches from Top of the Hill Farm. The volunteer crew of Dave Wing (Building Committee Chair), Noreen McDonald, Mark Eiler, John Amrich, Frank Frazier, Gene Solod, Dana Pierce, Will Wood, Andrew Ingram, Paul Bolas, Pat Jones, Patty Walker, Jim Sheff, Warren Gould, Randy Zimmerman, Jim Nupp, Jim Alderette, Brett Roberts, Wendy Ingram, Joyce Greenlaw, and Tracy Goodrich worked alongside Rob Nelson, Contractor, and donated over 600 hours to complete this amazing renovation.
The new Cotton Valley Station House is at the six mile mark of the trail and has benches for those wishing to rest for a few moments. (See next news item.)
The Wolfeboro Board of Selectmen granted the CVTC permission to paint crosswalks on town-paved roads that cross the Trail. The crosswalk crew consisted of John Amrich, Beth Baldwin, Mike Curran and longtime volunteer John Millay. The goal of the crosswalks was to create awareness for drivers and trail users. We saw it work on day one! The crew will be back painting this spring.
In April, there was a huge snow/wind storm that knocked down a 1,000+ trees across the trail. The NH Trails Bureau team of Frank Drew and Josh White, with an excavator and chain saw cleared the entire 12 miles of trail in a week. A thousand THANK YOU’S to Frank & Josh!
In May, the Cotton Valley Trail Committee, Inc. and the Cotton Valley Rail Trail Club received the Wolfeboro Heritage Award for “Innovative Re-use and Stewardship of a Historic Recreational Resource, the Cotton Valley Rail Trail”.
In June, NH Bureau of Trails, with FEMA funding, started constructing a new trail section adjacent to the section of trail that was washed-out in 2023. The new 500-foot section is just east of Cotton Valley.
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The Trail Bureau’s crew of Mike Weeks, Frank Drew, and Josh White designed and constructed the new trail and drainage systems. They also cleaned out ditches and filled them with riprap along the trail. The goal of the ditches was to move water away from the tracks/trail and prevent future storm damage.
The crew also repaired several areas damaged by beavers and storms, and improved the Cotton Valley parking lot. Two platforms for the new trail were constructed by volunteer Gene Solod. It takes three men to lift these platforms, and Gene builds them by himself – absolutely amazing! Thank you all for this new Trail section.
In October, the Wolfeboro Garden Club donated 100 daffodil bulbs to CVTC. Thank you to the Wolfeboro Garden Club and to Dorie & Bob Sterndale for planting them along the trail. Also, in October Maryann Goblick donated a bench for the Brookfield Trail section – a nice addition to that section of trail.
In November, CVTC held is annual trail clean-up day. Volunteers removed debris from the April storm which was blocking many culverts and bridges. Special thanks to Trish Duffy, Paul Bolas, John Amrich, Beth Baldwin, Mike Curran, Dave Wing, Curt Treadwell, Bruce Stuart, Jimmy Sheff, Jim Nupp, Noreen McDonald, Kristel Maurer, Cathy Schebling (from Laconia), Tom Straz, Sandy Wing, and Bob Sterndale.
Wolfetrap provided hot soup and sandwiches that were delicious and devoured quickly on such a cold day. Thank you, Jim!
A key group for Trail maintenance are our trail adopters! Each year, in the spring, these volunteers are out on the trail clearing away winter debris. In the fall, they remove the leaves, and throughout the seasons maintain the trail through branch removal, filling in chipmunk holes, etc! Some of these volunteers have been maintaining their sections for 25+ years. Please say “thank you” to theses volunteers when using the Trail.
The Trail is so special thanks to these dedicated individuals: Randy & Marilynn Zimmerman, Zeke & Lynn Bly, Mike & Linda Dill, Larry & Linda Wilberton, Peter Cole, Joe Carilli, Carl Crosby, David & Laura Bourque, Tracy Richardson, Dave & Deb Denby, Bob & Judy O’Keefe, John & Judy Russell, John Millay, John Adams, Gene Solod, Bob & Dorie Sterndale, Andrew Ingram, Andy Sauer, Dave Wing, Will Wood, Frank Frazier, Steve Berry, and Rick Wehrhan.
Special thanks to Allen Hooper, for his dedication to maintaining his section. He retired this year after 20 years of service.
Larger and/or more challenging projects are taken care of by specialized teams who volunteer their manpower and heavy equipment when needed. They tackle trail wash outs, sink holes, erosion issues, remove fallen trees, low hanging branches, etc. Special thanks to John Amrich, Dave Wing, Paul Bolas, Mark Eiler, Rick Wehrhan, Frank Frazier, and Steve Berry. When we need expert assistance on projects we call on the NH Bureau of Trails: Mike Weeks, and his fantastic team of Frank Drew and Josh White.
This year, the Kiosk at Turntable Park was relocated to the front of the park by the public parking lot. Frank Frazier rebuilt the Kiosk. Frank, Rick Wehrhan and Keith Arcari along with Frank Drew/Skid Steer form Bureau of Trails installed it.
The Wakefield Lions Club built a new garden area at the base of Kiosk — a welcome improvement at the start of the trail in Wakefield.
The future takes shape
A former fishing shack at the halfway point of the Cotton Valley Rail Trail is being converted to storage for maintenance equipment. Here’s an article from the Conway Daily Sun elaborating on the project.
CAUTION: Trail detours starting at 1/4 mile from Route 16 to a 1/2 mile from Route 16 due to bridges under replacement / construction. Please use detour to pass safely.
The photos below show the progress being made with the help of dedicated CVTC volunteers.
 The upgraded storage shed takes shape |
 Dave Wing, Will wood, Rob Nelson, and John Amrich take a break from their labors |
 Mark Eiler, John Amrich, and Frank Drew work out some details |
 Volunteers (back) Josh White, Dave Wing, Frank Drew; (front) Andrew Ingram, Warren Gould, John Amrich, Mark Eiler, Noreen McDonald, and Will Wood |
A working partnership
The symbiotic relationship between the Cotton Valley Trail Committee (CVTC) and the Cotton Valley Rail Trail Club (CVRTC) is well-known to residents of the three communities — Wolfeboro, Wakefield, and Brookfield — through which the the Cotton Valley Rail Trail passes.
CVTC maintains the trail itself and serves as liaison to the New Hamphire Bureau of Trails, while CVRTC takes responsibility for maintaining the old railroad tracks and regularly runs members’ refurbished railroad maintenance cars over those tracks.
For those who are less familiar with these two organizations and the work they do to maintain an important community resource, pages 22 and 23 of the June 10, 2024, issue of The Laker provides a brief but comprehensive look.
Trail organizations nab heritage award
The Wolfeboro Heritage Commission honored five recipients with the second year of Wolfeboro Heritage Awards at a May 29 ceremony in the theater of The Village Players. May is National Historic Preservation Month, and the event provided an opportunity to show how much Wolfeboro cares about its history and historic character.
The awards were created to recognize those who care for historic buildings, work to research, maintain and share evidence of our history, and advocate for saving our community’s character and historic charm.
Honorees included the Cotton Valley Rail Committee and the Cotton Valley Rail Trail Club. The two organizations shared an award for Innovative Re-use and Stewardship of a Historical Recreational Resource, the Cotton Valley Rail Trail.
In its recognition of the work carried out to protect and improve the rail trail, the Heritage Commission stated:
These two groups came together in the early 1990s to implement a vision of preserving the state’s first railroad corridor for recreational use – after the state of NH had purchased the corridor following the closure of Wolfeboro’s tourist railroad. The Cotton Valley Rail Trail Club (CVRTC) was given permission to maintain the tracks and infrastructure for use by rail motor cars, and the Cotton Valley Trail Committee (CVTC) was approved to construct and maintain a multi-use recreational trail. Their crowning achievement was completion of the 12-mile Cotton Valley Rail Trail, from Wolfeboro to Wakefield, celebrated with a Golden Spike Ceremony at Cotton Valley Station in 2017.
CVRTC members maintain and preserve the railroad tracks while keeping alive the skills and experiences of railroad workers who used rail motor cars to maintain rail lines around the world. The CVTC maintains the Cotton Valley Rail Trail for walking, bike riding, cross-country skiing and other passive recreation, and both groups work closely with the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails.
Commission Chair Maggie Stier noted, “Through active, volunteer-led operation and stewardship, these groups are dedicated to preserving motorcar history and maintaining public use of the right-of-way. Truly a community effort, these two groups are the unsung heroes of one of Wolfeboro’s (and Brookfield’s and Wakefield’s) favorite historic places and pastimes — traveling along the 1872 rail corridor.”