Old New Hampshire Route 10 in Keene, New Hampshire

The people who know me best know that I am as much of a waterfall enthusiast as I am a road enthusiast. When I was looking to make a day trip to southwestern New Hampshire in May 2018, I decided to check out Beaver Brook Falls in Keene. What I wasn't expecting is that the trail to the waterfall is a well preserved old alignment of NH 10 leading northeast from the city of Keene. That was a pleasant surprise. The old alignment of NH 10 is on a road called Washington Street Extension, which was bypassed by the early 1980s by a northern bypass of Keene utilizing NH 9 and NH 10.

Not too much has changed with the old road since the bypass opened other than the forces of time. The old pavement, guide rail posts and bridge over the Beaver Brook remain today in a quiet, forested environment. You can follow the old road about a half mile to the Old Man of Keene (a rock formation) and to Beaver Brook Falls, located 0.7 miles from the trailhead. Let's take a look and see what the old alignment of NH 10 in Keene looks like today...

The journey begins at a gate at the end of Washington Street Extension. The old road is now a nature walk operated by the City of Keene Parks & Recreation Department that brings you to the Old Man of Keene and Beaver Brook Falls. Parking is along the shoulder of Washington Street Extension.

You can notice some old pavement markings along the old road. The old road is being encroached by nature over time. Maybe that is by design, or maybe the road was not wide enough to begin with.

Continuing up the old road.

Some old guide rails.

Some sweeping curves too.

The Beaver Brook.

Crossing the Beaver Brook on an old bridge.

Some fallen rock meets the road.

Lots of leaves have collected along the old roadway, almost completely covering the road.

The Old Man of Keene, presumably named for its resemblance to the late, great Old Man of the Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Getting closer to Beaver Brook Falls, the old road hugs the hillside and the Beaver Brook. It's a bit narrow through this stretch, so you can see why a northern bypass of Keene for NH 10 was built on a different alignment.

The lands of Beaver Brook Canyon were generously donated to the City of Keene in 1969 for the public's enjoyment and passive recreation.

There is a pullout to the right, which is conveniently located next to Beaver Brook Falls.

Beyond the waterfall, the old alignment of NH 10 has returned to nature.

Beaver Brook Falls of Keene, not to be confused with the Beaver Brook Falls in Colebrook, New Hampshire. Beaver Brook Falls is a 12 foot tall plunge waterfall that cascades downstream. You won't get a good view of the waterfall from the old road, so you will need to make a short bushwhack down a slope to the Beaver Brook to check out the waterfall. There is a herd path down to the Beaver Brook that you may be able to make out from the old road itself.

A little wider view of Beaver Brook Falls. At this point, I took my picture, climbed the slope back to the old road and walked back to my car.

How to Get There:

Sources and Links:
New England Waterfalls - Beaver Brook Falls
NH Tour Guide - Beaver Brook Falls Keene NH
NH Family Hikes - Beaver Brook Falls
Keene Sentinel - History of the Keene bypass: Not entirely welcomed at first
Touring NH - Keene

Signed County Route J37; the last Signed Tulare County Route and the Lone Pine to Porterville High Sierra Road

Recently I drove the entirety of Signed County Route J37 located in rural Tulare County. Signed County Route J37 is notable in that it is the last Signed County Route which actually has field signage left in Tulare County and was intended to be part of a Trans-Sierra Highway known as the Lone Pine to Porterville High Sierra Road.

While researching California State Route 190 and more specifically the gap in the highway over the Sierra Nevada Range it became quickly apparent that there was far more to J37/Balch Park Road than initially thought. The previous blog on California State Route 190 can be found here:

California State Route 190; the Trans-Sierra Highway that could have been

On the above blog I attached an article from 1926 written by the Los Angeles Times detailing the route of the Lone Pine to Porterville High Sierra Road which was slated to begin construction in 1927. The route of the Lone Pine to Porterville High Sierra Road would have followed Carroll Creek southward out…

Paper Highways of the Mojave Desert and San Gabriel Mountains; CA 48 (ii), CA 122, CA 196, and CA 249

In this edition Paper Highways the planned California State Highways of the Mojave Desert and San Gabriel Mountains are explored. This issue will cover the planned routes of; the second CA 48, CA 122, CA 196, and CA 249.

Part 1; the wholesale Legislative Route adoptions of 1959

CA 48, CA 122, CA 196, and CA 249 prior to the 1964 State Highway Renumbering all were adopted as planned Legislative Routes ("LRN") in 1959. Part of the planned LRN 267 west of Lancaster was already part of the existing CA 138 on LRN 59. CA 48 east of Lancaster was planned as LRN 267 which was to have an eastern terminus at LRN 266. LRN 266 was planned to originate from CA 2/LRN 61 near La Canada Flintridge and cross north/northeast over the San Gabriel Mountains into the Mojave Desert near Palmdale. LRN 266 was planned to continue northeast from Palmdale to former US 466/LRN 48 near Hawes. LRN 266 became CA 249 and CA 122 during the 1964 State Highway Renumbering. LRN 269 was planned to be rou…

Old California State Route 65 on; Famoso-Porterville Highway, Sign County Routes J35/J22/J29

Earlier in March I traveled down to Famoso of Kern County to take the original alignment of California State Route 65 north to Lindsay in Tulare County.

This blog is a spin off of the below entry on the Southern Segment of current California State Route 65.

California State Route 65; South Segment

Part 1; The Stockton-Los Angeles Road, the East Side Line, and early California State Route 65 on Legislative Route 129

The corridor of CA 65 is closely aligned to the Sierra Nevada Foothills which first became a popular route of travel as part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road. The Stockton-Los Angeles Road came into use after the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush began. The Stockton-Los Angeles Road was a replacement of the earlier El Camino Viejo. Unlike El Camino Viejo the Stockton-Los Angeles Road avoided the dense Tule Marshes in San Joaquin Valley. The Stockton-Los Angles Road stayed close to the Sierra Foothills near the new claims on the Kern River watershed. The earlier El Camino Vi…

Gribblenation

Search This Blog