Trails Committee

At the request of the Town of Henniker’s Economic Development Committee (EDC), the Board of Selectmen has authorized the establishment of a Trails Committee made up of seven members of the community.

Background: The primary goal of the EDC is to support and expand economic opportunities in the community, including promoting our vast outdoor natural resources and beauty. The EDC held a business forum last year and one of the comments received was that Henniker has numerous trails but lacks one resource to details their location. In addition, there is no web based resource for this information, a major drawback in today’s environment. In order to expand and promote this asset in the community, which can lead to increased tourism activity and its associated benefits, the EDC suggested the creation of a Henniker Trails Committee to coordinate the many resources available regarding the existing trail network in the community and regionally.

Goals: Review documents such as: The Open Space Trails System Plan, Rotary’s Outdoor Guide, Henniker Trail Travelers map, USGS maps, Town Road map, Regional Planning maps and any other available resources to make a comprehensive trail map of the community that would be available to the general public. The trail map should highlight trails that may be used for a variety of users including hiking, snowmobile riding, ATV, etc. The final map should be made available in both printed form and on the town’s website. Any trails shown shall have the permission of the property owners.  The Committee is encouraged to reach out to the community to obtain input and assistance in achieving its Goals.

Makeup: A Conservation Commission member, one hiker enthusiast, one snowmobile enthusiast, one ATV enthusiast, one mountain bike enthusiast and two at large.

Committee Term: Committee shall remain until such time that the stated goals have been met. Key activities of the committee could include:

• Review existing resources & studies of trails, ClassVI roads, etc.
• Work with key groups (snowmobile, bike, atv, etc.) to gather data and coordination.
• Collaborate with land owners to ensure buy in with the proposed map since it will be a public document.
• Confirm location of all trails.
• Investigate parking availability at trail heads.
• Explore actions of other like committees in the State for ideas.
• Report to BOS as needed to update progress.