Roxbury, a town of only 12.2 sq. miles and 229 residents as of the 2010 census, was a bit of a challenge this week. My first challenge was that it was only 9 degrees on the morning that I chose to tour Roxbury. I would have waited for a warmer day but I did promise a town a week. The biggest challenge for touring Roxbury was the roads. Nearest I can tell, there are only 13 named roads in town, 2 of which are paved. I don’t mind dirt roads, actually some of my best finds have been down dirt roads, but…at least 7 of these roads appear to be Class VI roads. What is a Class VI road you ask…Class VI roads include those that have been discontinued subject to gates and bars, as well as those that have “not been maintained and repaired by the town in suitable condition for travel” for five successive years or more. (According to the State of NH) I found lots of “Gates and Bars”! Perhaps, I should have waited for spring to tour Roxbury. With all of my whining out of the way, I did find some pretty cool places. The Granite Gorge Ski Area, on Pinnacle Mountain, offers 20 trails for skiing, snowboarding and tubing. While I don’t participate in any of those forms of exercise, I did find lots of people who do…
And they have a great warming house…
Granite Gorge Ski Area is on Rt 9. Otter Brook flows along Rt 9 and offered some beautiful ice patterns…
The Otter Brook Dam can be accessed through Roxbury, but most of the park is in Keene (more about it when I tour Keene). Along the way to Otter Brook, I found what is left of, what I believe is, an old train bridge. It is easy to imagine what it must have looked like back in the day…
There is also a lot of history in Roxbury…
The town offices are housed in the Roxbury, NH Meeting House…
As you can see from the banner, Roxbury celebrated its 200th birthday last year. It is easy to see why I found some very cool old barns on my tour…
I love to see old barns that are being cared for and kept in good repair. But, I have to say that my favorite barn/garage I saw probably wasn’t the vintage as these, but it shows a certain dedication…
Overall, I would say that if you love outdoor winter activities, like skiing, then Roxbury has a lot of offer, otherwise, wait until spring to visit when the Class VI roads are passable. As sparsely populated as it is, there are plenty of places to hike and lots of trails to explore. Perhaps I will update Roxbury in the spring!
To learn more about Roxbury’s history, visit the town’s website
Statistics can be found by visiting the state’s website
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Touring NH 
The railroad crossed Otter Brook on the bridge that was there. My understanding is that when this railroad was proposed, residents of Dublin were split—those in the north part of town were in favor, those to the south against. So the northerners split off to become Harrisville, the newest town in Cheshire County. This route was abandoned in the late ’30s.
Hi Al, Thank you for the history! I’m going to be touring Harrisville soon, probably next week.
Great Shots Laura. Can’t wait to see where you go next!
Thanks Martha!