Croydon was quite an adventure. I knew before I headed out, Toad (I finally named the Jeep) and I would get to have some fun. There are miles and miles of Class VI roads in Croydon, a true 4×4 playground…
Yes, that really is the road
As I splashed along, I wondered about the 12′ high fence on the side of the road. I didn’t know then, I was following the boundary of Corbin Park, now know as the Blue Mountain Forest Association. I had seen Corbin Park on the map and planned to check it our later. What I didn’t know at the time was that it is a 26,000 acres private preserve, founded in 1890. The link above has some fascinating history, old photos and includes some of the controversy surrounding the park. I finally had to turn around when I ran into some mud and water I wasn’t sure I wanted to tackle alone.
Once I was done playing in the mud (for a little while anyhow) I set out to really check out Croydon and I found some wonderful sights. The population of Croydon was on 661 people in the 2000 census. The one room schoolhouse is still in use today. It is the longest continuously used one room schoolhouse in the country…
There are many farms in Croydon, but this one in particular stood out to me…
Festive colors and drug free cows, what more could you want?
They seemed happy to me
I continued on and found more beautiful barns…
There were so many lovely views, it was hard not to spend all of my time gazing at the distant mountains…
When I wasn’t entranced with the mountains, I was enjoying the lakes and streams…
Some of the other sights I saw…
As I was driving down one road, I happened to notice an odd sight…
I don’t know how long this old piano has been sitting out in the field, but it is right next to a hog pen. Just up the road a bit was a couple cleaning up the rocks on the edge of the road. I stopped and asked if they knew the story behind the piano. And while they didn’t know, they sure had plenty of great information to share with me about Croydon. She had graduated from the one room schoolhouse. While they had traveled extensively in their younger years, Croydon was home. I spent the better part of an hour listening to their stories. It’s wonderful when people are so friendly and helpful. I left them to finish the cleanup and headed out to find one of the 4×4 trails they said I shouldn’t miss. I had no problem finding 2nd NH Turnpike and Toad and I set off again into the woods. Just before the road turns into more of a trail than a road, I stopped to check out the birdhouses in a field and the marsh beyond…
And, you know, I had to stop at the cemetery…
As I drove on, I thought about the days when 2nd NH Turnpike was a main thoroughfare, before the days of paved roads and an immediate need to reach your destination. I could have driven all the way into Lebanon. But sunlight was getting short and I knew it was time to call it a day. Thanks for coming along as I toured Croydon. If you like history, rural scenery, 4 wheeling and friendly townsfolk, then Croydon is a must visit!
Touring NH 
Now that’s a muddy road, Laura! Toad must have been in heaven. 🙂 I was so struck by the one room schoolhouse. As a former teacher I always thought that running a one room schoolhouse would be very cool … and challenging. I think my favorite sight is the tree stump with the painted “root nails.” 🙂 ~Terri
Toad & I had quite the adventure on those “roads” Sometimes I get a little over adventurous and find myself in places I probably shouldn’t be. I haven’t gotten truly stuck yet, but it could happen. Not fun by yourself! It was really neat talking to the lady who graduated from that school. I can’t imagine all grades in one room. The tree root really caught my attention too. Patriotism abounds.
Drug free cows and plenty of great vistas. I have always wondered about the buildings such as the first one you posted. Looks like a meeting house/church or town hall. Why did they have two front doors? It’s not like there were so many people living there that if they all ran for the exit at once, there would be a traffic jam??!!
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Maybe traffic flows one way and one is an entrance, the other an exit, lol.
That meeting house that Martha asked about might be Shaker with the two doors. One side for women and the other for men, maybe, even though it seems to have a little more decoration than they would have used.
You can tell by the slate gravestones that the cemetery is an old one.
This is another NH town I’ve never been too.
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I hadn’t thought of that. It could have started out that way and been added to later. I know there was/is a shaker population nearby. Yes, the cemetery was quite old.
I’ve always been curious about the fire tower in Croydon – the only one in the state on private land, closed to the public. From your photos, it looks like Croydon’s worth a visit, even without the tower.
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It is definitely worth a visit. Someone told me about the fire tower but I didn’t go looking for it since it is on private land. I didn’t realize it was the only one closed to the public.
The piano is a real curiosity and those roads look like they’d make a good hiking trail. You certainly have some interesting places nearby.
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There are miles of those types of roads and you are right, they would be excellent hiking trails. The variation in the terrain would make it great exercise.