Memorial Day weekend brought my annual trek in Waldo to stay in a campground and explore the town around me. This year Steve and I packed up and headed to Newport. We stayed at the Crow’s Nest Campground, right off Rt. 10. We’ve stayed there several times before and the owners, Andy and Eva, have always made us feel welcomed. They run a beautiful and clean campground with plenty of amenities (including wi-fi fast enough for me to upload all of my images for this post!). Like many campgrounds, they have a pool and a rec hall, but how many have you seen that have mini-golf course and a lawn chess/checker site…
We got Waldo settled into one of our favorite sites (#27)
Then kicked back to relax the night we arrived…
I don’t think there is a better way to relax than enjoying the comfort of a campfire. Diesel was along for the weekend and had a ball (no pun intended) playing catch…
We took the short walk to the back of the campground so Diesel could play fetch in the Sugar River. It runs right beside the campground and several of their sites are right on the river’s edge.
On Monday, Steve and Diesel headed home and I got down the the serious business of checking out Newport. I knew there were 3 covered bridges that I had to visit. The first was the Corbin Bridge…
When I first got there, a family of geese were near the shoreline. They moved away as I near the river’s edge, but not before I was able to get a shot of them…
There is a beautiful park at the sight of of the Corbin Bridge. I can envision lots of family gatherings and weddings here…
Tuesday was all about bridges, so I headed over to Chandler’s Mill Road to find the other two bridges. The best way to get to these two bridges is to walk along the Sugar River Rail Trail (trail map). The first one I came to was the Pier/Chandler Station Railway Bridge. It is the longest covered railway bridge in the world…
Just a ways down the river is the Wright’s Railroad Bridge. It was recently repaired and the new boards shone brightly compared to the older ones…
Coming out the other side
One of the things that makes this bridge special is the use of laminated arches. For me, it is hard to imagine the engineering that went into this in 1896!
I looked at some of the carvings along the interior of the bridge and people have been defacing it for a long, long time…
Carving from 1954
Near the base of the bridge, just off the water’s edge, I saw a fallen tree with its roots washed clean by the river. I’m fascinated by root systems and can easily imagine morning glory vines twining around this…
As I walked along the rail trail, I spotted some of my favorite spring flowers. I saw a Jack In The Pulpit…
And various colors of honeysuckle…
I recently read on NH Garden Solutions’ blog about why leaves unfold in glorious color, instead of the green they will later become. The young leaves to not have the chlorophyll they will later need for photosynthesizing . The colors remind me of what they will look like in the fall…
I headed back to Crow’s Nest, satisfied that I had done a good day of touring. I stopped at the office and talked to Eva and Andy about what else in town was worth visiting. They were a wealth of information and I knew the next day, I had to head into town to find some of the treasures they told me about. I headed out early Wednesday to search out the ski jump. I had to stop in town on my way. The old buildings and the unusual vehicle parked nearby made me glad I to be a photographer…
More about this one in a future post on my revisited page!
I continued on to the Newport Town Forest (trail map). A short walk down the trail, I came across something that had me scratching my head a bit…
I had never heard of Disc Golfing…
It is done with frisbees…
Just beyond Hole 3 is the 30 meter ski jump. This Olympic ski jump was moved here from Lake Placid, New York in 1976…
I didn’t climb to the top, but I can’t imagine going down it on a pair of skis!
I’m sure it gets a lot of use in the winter, especially considering Newport has the oldest Winter Carnival in the country. The 2015 Winter Carnival will be its 99th. As I walked back to the jeep, I stopped to admire more spring flowers…
Then, I saw something else that made me scratch my head…
There were several sections of logs notched in this fashion. Most were laying on the ground, but this one was standing upright. As I headed to another section of the rail trail, I passed some lovely farms and gardens…
I parked near the rail trail and explored the area a bit…
I was distracted from the natural beauty by the abandoned mill. I saw the No Trespassing signs, but also the well worn paths to it. I had to take a look…
Clearly, I was not the only visitor! Some of the overgrowth was still covered in dew…
I spent the rest of the time just driving the roads to see what I could see…
Eva told me that one of the seasonal people at the campground actually graduated from this schoolhouse!
Since I brought my kayak, I stopped at Alden of Sunapee in town to find out where the best places to put in and paddle were. They gave me several great suggestions (but more about that in another post).
I know I didn’t even come close to photographing all of the hidden, or not so hidden gems, in Newport. I didn’t post the pictures of the bell or gilded eagle on Main Street or the old railroad depot but I hope I gave you enough reasons to come and check it out for yourself!
Touring NH 
One of your more beautiful albums which makes me want to visit and photograph myself. Can you imagine this town in the fall?
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Absolutely! Fall would be spectacular! Thanks for sstopping by.
My grandmother lived in Newport for several years before I was born. Those covered bridges are great! Is that a brick door with hinges?
The white flowers are bunchberry. Great photos as always.
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The door itself seemed to be wooden, covered in a metal wrap. I was amazed that it still swung fairly easily. I thought the hinge was really neat looking.
One of your best posts ever! Wow! You really did a great job of exploring the area. I had no idea Newport has so much to see. Sad I wasn’t there to see the covered bridges with you but you gave me lots of good reasons to go see them. I had no idea the Pier/Chandler was the longest in the world!! Thanks for the tour!!
Next time we can search out bridges together ! Newport is spectacular ! Love it! Wait until next week when I post Sunapee!
Laura, I think this is my favorite post so far! What a gorgeous campground – I’ve seen a lot of things, but never the lawn chess in a campground. How fun is that! And Diesel is so cute! Your photos, as always, are beautiful. Newport looks fascinating, so it’s going on my ever-expanding list of places to visit in NH thanks to you. 🙂 ~Terri
Thank you Terri! I’m looking forward to when you and James come up to NH to visit! So much to see!
Just stumbled across your blog when researching about local wildflowers for my own blog (http://soulyrested.wordpress.com). Being new to NH, I loved exploring some of it through your lens. Thank you, Laura.
Welcome to NH. There is so much beauty and history to discover. One of the best places to find out about wildflowers is NHGardenSolutions.wordpress.com His blog is phenomenal and if you ever have a question, there is a contact me link on his site. He’s helped me out with many identifications. Again, welcome to NH!
Wonderful photos…what a tribute to the locale…very inviting. Well done, Laura. 🙂
Thank you. I wish I had found the waterfall before I posted It is beautiful.
🙂