Property Description
The Ticknor Property comprises 186 acres with trails.
History and Features
Using a combination of the Lebanon Open Space Trust Fund, and an NH DES ARM Fund grant, the City was able to acquire this property as part of two separate efforts (2012 & 2017), establishing a 186-acre conservation woodlot with trails in close proximity to Lebanon’s downtown. The Upper Valley Land Trust assisted with the acquisition, and currently holds the land protection easement placed upon the property.
The sizeable cellar hole near the Coach Al Merrill Trail and Ticknor Road intersection mark the location of a former “pest house”, established in the late 1790s for the purpose of inoculating smallpox. The historic Ticknor road, crossing the property in a west to east direction, is part of the earliest formalized road network in Lebanon, dating back to the 1770s. A vernal pool restoration project exists to the south of where the property aligns with Dulac street. The existing trail network provides connectivity between the Ticknor property, Storrs Hill Ski Area, and the Goodwin Conservation property. The property contains over 18 acres of wetlands and both perennial and intermittent streams. The forest includes a variety of tree species with variable stand ages typical of Hemlock-hardwood-pine forest habitat.
Access
The Coach Al Merrill trail provides a connection from the Storrs Hill Ski Area, to the Ticknor Road, via a short stretch across a paved road within the Glenwood Cemetery. The trail easement from Slayton Hill Road, or the Ticknor Road intersection with Slayton Hill Road, provides additional trail access, noting that parking is limited at both of these locations.
