15 years ago, my husband and I lived in Hudson. I drove the streets daily and would often pass the land formerly known as Benson’s Wild Animal Park. The park opened to the public in 1926 and closed in 1987. When I was a kid, I went there with my family. It was sad to see the buildings in such disrepair, vandalized and falling down. Little by little, nature was taking back the land. Weeds, vines and bushes covered the paths, the landscape was becoming wild again.. With the help of many, many volunteers, the former animal farm re-opened to the public as a 168 acre community park, including a wonderful dog park. NH Magazine wrote a great article about it, as did the Nashua Telegraph. I know there is a lot more to Hudson than the park, but I wanted to share the success story with you. My friend Martha over at Therapeutic Misadventures and I spent a great day touring the park. She had also gone there as a child with her family. Our first stop was at the 9-11 Memorial, which was dedicated in 2011…
From there, we picked a path and started exploring. Our first stop was at the iconic shoe (Do you remember the old woman who lived in a shoe?)…
When we got to Swan Lake, we were amazed by all of the turtles on the logs. I don’t think I have ever seen so many turtles in one place…
From there, we wondered over to Bass Pond and watched the heron…
The fall colors were really beginning to stand out…
The hiking trails are so peaceful and take you though several different types of landscapes, from woods to meadows…
There was so much color in the meadow. Wild asters grew all along the path…
We wandered over to the wildlife blind…
Martha checking out Beaver Pond
We didn’t see any wildlife, but loved the colors surrounding the pond…
As we headed back to the parking area, we talked of our memories of the former park and all the memories to come for the new park. Benson Park is a must visit when you take your own trip to Hudson!
Touring NH 
Wow! Your shots of the heron and the turtles are so crisp and close! Love this!!
Thank you. It was great to get out shooting with you! We’ll have to do it again soon!
I also remember being a kid at Benson’s, even though it was quite a drive for my father’s old car. I’d like to see it again. I like the shot’s of the turtles!
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Martha and I both thought of you several times while we were there. Every time we saw a neat or unusual plant, we said “Alan would know what that is!” I lost count of how many turtles there were!
The turtles made me smile, I couldn’t help wondering what they were thinking. Beautiful autumn colours too 🙂
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I loved seeing so many turtles, every log had at least 3 or 4. We’ve had a wonderful year for fall colors!