The Boulder Loop Trail is located off the Kancamagus Highway near the Covered Bridge Campground. The three-mile-long trail passes through broad-leafed and evergreen forests to reach its highest point at ledges 1000 feet above the Passaconaway Valley. Allow about 1 to 1= hours for the walk up and one hour for the downward leg. Along the trail are 18 stops which are numbered and keyed to the guide below. Yellow blazes mark the trail route.

Sturdy footwear should be worn on this trail. Hiking boots are recommended. Please stay on the trail and use caution at all times, particularly near the ledges.

Over 50,000 years ago, the Wisconsin Ice Sheet gathered in Canada and grew southward. Eventually it covered every mountain and valley in New Hampshire. On melting, the ice picked up frozen soil and broken pieces of rock. This glacial material acted like a giant piece of sandpaper being dragged across the land surface. The last of the ice melted away some 10,000 years ago.

As you walk this trail you will see the effects and results of glaciers. The scoured and scratched granite was probably covered by soil before the grinding ice dragged the surface material away and exposed the ancient bedrock.

Stop 1: The things that look like dead leaves growing on the rocks are lichens. Lichens are pioneers. They are the first plants to cover bare earth and rock. A lichen is a combination of two plants, an algae, and a fungus. The fungus absorbs and stores water, which the algae combines with sunlight to make food for other plants. The fungus produces an acid which eats in the rock on which it grows. This acid helps to crumble the rock into fine particles. This is one of the first steps in soil formation.

Stop 2: So far, the trail has passed through a broad-leaf or deciduous forest. Starting at this point, evergreens, or conifers, such as the nearby spruce, become mixed with the broad-leafed trees.

Stop 3: Before you is evidence of the damage done by a typical New England "Nor'easter". The high winds of these coastal storms have uprooted several trees in the vicinity, including the pine tree crossing the trail. The majority of these trees have fallen in the same direction, pushed by the wind.

Stop 4: New growth of red spruce is taking place here. Red spruce is able to grow as a seedling in the shade of the surrounding bigger trees. When trees fall and a clearing such as this one is opened, the seedlings grow toward the sunlight.

Stop 5: From this point you can see the Swift River and the Kancamagus Highway weaving through the Passaconaway Valley below.

Stop 6: Expansion within the granite masses causes fractures known as sheet joints (cracks parallel to the rock surface). The parallel cracks before you are illustrative of this jointing. The glaciers quarried out fractured pieces of rock, exposing smooth surfaces of bedrock.

Stop 7: This slope is exposed to the sun's rays during midday. It is, therefore, hotter and drier than slopes which receive less direct sunlight. The large conifers are absent here, mainly because they grow better in a more moist environment.

Stop 8: This old hemlock was at one time a healthy specimen, as you can see by the size. One can only guess what brought about its death. It could have been a prolonged period of drought. Perhaps lightning, disease, or wind. Maybe the leaves were eaten by insects. Most likely it was a combination of these factors.

Stop 9: The cool moist slopes in this vicinity provide good growing conditions for hemlock and paper birch.

Stop 10: Red oaks are able to tolerate a hotter exposure and drier, stonier soil than most other trees in this region. On this rock outcropping, red oak has little competition from other species.

Stop 11: This is the entrance to the ledges. CAUTION: The sheerness that makes these ledges spectacular also makes them dangerous. YOU CAN ENJOY THE VIEWS AS MUCH FROM A SAFE SPOT AS YOU CAN FROM THE CLIFF EDGES. Use good judgment and be careful. As you walk out to the ledges, the hollow sound underfoot is caused by joint fracturing of the bedrock. This is the result of physical and chemical changes— water and temperature at work.

Stop 12: This is similar to stop 7 except it is a south/southeast slope as compared to a west/northwest slope at 7. Originally, this area was bare rock. Over eons of time, lichens, mosses, glaciers, wind, and rain created enough soil to support plant life. Each of these forms of plant life essentially sacrificed itself, making the site suitable for the next stage of succession.

Stop 13: You are in the White Mountain National Forest, one of the 155 National Forests in the United States. These public lands are administered by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. As directed by Congress, renewable forest resources—water, timber, forage, wildlife, and recreation are managed in the best interest of the people. Before you and to the left is an example of the timber management mandate from Congress to grow and harvest timber. It also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs to support the industry. The particular method here is called regeneration or harvest cut. To your right and along the trail for about 800 feet is a selective thinning. To your left is a small clear cut. As you would weed and harvest your garden at home, we are doing the same thing with this stand of trees.

Stop 14: Hemlock trees are capable of surviving for long periods in the shade of other trees. When an opening is created, they take advantage of the added sunlight and grow into good-sized trees.

Stop 15: Foresters refer to this particular decayed granite as rotten rock and use it to cover many of the roads, footpaths, and campsite pads in the White Mountain National Forest. It takes approximately 1,000 years for mother nature to wear down solid rock enough to make an inch of soil.

Stop 16: All life depends on water for survival. This small stream is a tributary to the Swift River, which feeds into the Saco River in Conway. The Saco River meanders to Saco, Maine, where is enters the Atlantic Ocean. Streams like this meet many needs before entering the ocean. A few of these uses include fishing, swimming, drinking water, and irrigation of crops.

Stop 17: This mountain shook when boulders crashed down from the cliffs above. The land was pounded and ancient trees were felled. Here, all around you, the boulders came to rest. Trees and underbrush have healed the scars and obscured the once dramatic plunge of the boulders.

Stop 18: The stumps you see here are remains of the old timber sales in the early 1940s. The new growth shows why timber is truly renewable, thus protecting the soil, supporting wildlife, and giving you enjoyment.