We took a Father’s Day hike today at Quincy Bog Natural Area in Rumney, NH.  This place is a hidden gem and the perfect place to take a walk and enjoy nature.  We packed up our bags mid morning with snacks and took the 50 min drive to Rumney.  The Bog is just a short drive from Route 93, near Plymouth, NH, nestled in a quiet neighborhood.

We arrived mid-day and stopped at the first bench to eat lunch.  Lindsay and Alden also checked out the Nature Center that had a few displays, a composting toilet, and a friendly volunteer.  The trail circles the entire bog, sometimes right along the edge and other times just a short distance in the woods.  Immediately we got a wonderful view of the bog, dragonflies darting around, green frogs plunking, and red-winged blackbirds cackling.

Alden loved the boardwalks and bridges while Lindsay and Andrew nervously watched him jump and run down them.  As we reached  a quiet corner of the bog, the bridges were in much needed repair (a pile of boards at the entrance were stacked high with a promise that they will soon be fixed).  Alden and Lindsay held hands through many sections with broken boards.  But all of that was overlooked when we saw a small painted turtle swimming in a shallow section.

 

Just a few steps later Lindsay spotted some red-spotted newts floating in the water.  As she started to point it out to Alden, a movement caught her eye.  She reached down a muddy section and pulled out a small snapping turtle.

We passed a volunteer pulling the non-native yellow iris out of the bog, but not to worry there are lots of blue flag iris to enjoy.  We found a red-spotted purple butterfly fluttering that caught Alden’s attention and also saw plenty of white admiral and eastern tiger swallowtails flying around.  At the back end of the bog we spotted moose tracks, but missed the bear scat that a note on the kiosk had mentioned.

The trail veered away from the bog for a short bit and detoured up to some glacial erratics and a stonewall, as well as a nearby giant red oak tree inviting a break and to play hide and seek.

We were more than half way back and Alden started to get tired.  Lindsay carried him for a few minutes, but the bridges and frogs were too exciting.  At one spot Alden had a close encounter with some green frogs.  He was fascinated by the air that filled his sac to make noise.  Lindsay and Andrew also noticed two large leeches feeding on a mass of submerged eggs (frog?).

We passed more groups of people on this end of the bog and the bridges looked to be in much better condition.  The final large bridge was more like a dock with rope railings and Alden loved it so much that we had to walk on it two times.  We also spied what we think was a pumpkin seed fish.

The final part of the pine needle covered trail weaved through a white pine forest.  When we got back to the car we found that we had spent a lazy and fun afternoon (over 2 hours) exploring Quincy Bog.  This place was a real treat and we will certainly come back.