Hardscrabble Hike

An area in the northeastern part of Pisgah State Park was once known as Hardscrabble because eking out a living from this rocky, hard-to-farm land was challenging for early settlers. Hardscrabble also came to be jestingly known as "Nash City" due to the preponderance of Nash family members who settled there. Today, old stone walls, narrow rocky trails, and crumbling cellar holes are the only clues to human settlement. On a warm, mid-June day, my longtime friend, Curtis Carroll, and I decided to check out this historic area in Chesterfield. We started at the kiosk in the small parking lot off Stones Mill Road. After stepping around a metal gate, we reached a fork and turned right onto the Beal's Knob Trail, which moved uphill through a mixed forest with hemlock and pine. Curtis pointed out a large beech tree with a basal scar. "It's amazing that the tree is still alive. Look up at the tree where it comes to a fork. See, there is also a hollow opening there. The branches are also hollowed out. Someone had a nice home," he said. We continued along the shaded woodland path, which alternated between rocky, small ravine-like sections with bright green ground cover and drier ground with a leaf-matted surface. On this late spring day, one of the highlights of the hike was the number of spring ephemeral woodland wildflowers we saw along the way. These included self-heal, spring beauties — with their pink lines radiating out from the center — common yellow cinquefoil, and yellow wood sorrel with shamrock- shaped leaves, bluets, mountain laurel, and lots of scarlet berries on low-growing, trailing, evergreen partridgeberry plants. About 15 minutes into the hike, we saw a sign pointing the way (left) to Beal's Knob (1,180 feet). A 5-minute uphill walk through hemlock and giant boulders in the woods brought us to a stunning view of Mount Monadnock to the east, with Gap Mountain to the south of that iconic peak. After taking in that vista, we descended back to the junction and continued on the Beal's Knob Trail. "Look at all these stone walls all over the place in different directions, and piles of stones like that one. I can't imagine the work it took clearing this," said Curtis. Soon, we came to the J. Beal homestead cellar hole. We examined the foundation, then turned right onto Beal's Road, which began a steep descent. Tall stone walls lined both sides of the trail. After 10 minutes, we reached the Latham-Beal Cemetery, which sits on a hill and is surrounded by a stone wall. The gravestones were marble and slate, displaying epitaphs about the early families who made their living mostly farming the hill country: the Crouches, Faulkners, Browns, Beals, and Nashes. Back on the trail, we continued past intricate mazes of stone walls located on the south side of the road. We entered the woods to look for old foundations. Curtis found a rusted metal rim. "This may have gone around the outside of a wagon wheel, but it was pretty small; it could have been a wheel for a wheelbarrow," he said. The sheer volume of walls was mind-bending. Several appeared to be enclosures for animals or used as property markers. I saw one huge foundation. "Do you think this was for a barn?" I asked. "Not really. It's not robust enough to be a barn," said Curtis. After examining the "B. Faulkner homestead -1858," we came to an intersection with Fullam Pond Road, turned left, and continued walking toward the pond. At that point, the trail widened and was matted with leaves and lined by ferns, but plagued by mosquitos. After 10 minutes, we came to an intersection for the Nash Trail on the left and the South Woods Trail on the right. We continued walking on the Fullam Pond Trail past a marker on the right that noted a Nash homestead. Soon, we saw a sign for the remains of another Nash (Lydia) homestead near a beaver dam. We followed the trail as it traced the shoreline and headed out onto a narrow peninsula, crossing the center of the pond via a wooden footbridge. On the other side, the trail was wider, drier and carpeted with pine needles. After examining a long-abandoned logging ramp, we came to another trail marker for the Nash Trail — our return route. But first we checked out the stone foundation remains of a sawmill built by Asa Fullam in 1836. A half-hour walk on the Nash Trail, bearing left, brought us back to the intersection with the Fullam Pond Trail. Turning right, we walked back to the Beal's Road intersection, turned right again, and continued past the Latham-Beal Cemetery and the junction for the Beal's Knob Trail to the parking lot. Note: The Beal's Road-Fullam Pond trails are out of the way and not as popular as the Kilburn Road Trailhead. In fact, many refer to the northeast part of Pisgah State Park as the "Lost Northeast corner." Dogs are welcome, and you'll see little traffic. The trail is steep in places, and pretty much uphill on the return trip. Our trek roughly covered 4.5 miles and took three and a half hours to complete. A hike to Beal's Knob and back is a good outing for kids. To get to the Beal's Knob trailhead from the junction of Routes 9,10, and 12 in Keene, drive on Route 9 West for 7.2 miles. Turn left onto Old Chesterfield Road across from the Spofford Fire Station, and immediately turn left again onto Tuttle Road. Continue on Tuttle Road for 0.4 mile, then turn right onto Old Swanzey Road. After driving 1.7 miles, you will reach Stones Mill Road on the right. Continue driving 0.6 mile to the trailhead. There is a small parking area that fits a couple of cars.