Last weekend we headed over to Mud Pond, which is part of Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, NH. The Mud Pond trail has a large parking lot off of Route 116. This is a regular walk for us and we’ve blogged about it before (Snow Pond). We’ve also explored other parts of this refuge: Lunch with a View and Mosquito Walk.

We had the place ourselves to start the walk. The compact dirt path meanders downhill, past a cross-country ski trail, and alongside a meadow-like field. We spotted painted trilliums and the buds of tamarack trees. The trail then begins a series of switchbacks landing at the start of the boardwalk.

The boardwalk keeps you elevated over wet and boggy soil hosting northern white cedar trees. At the boardwalk end is the small Mud Pond. Sometimes there are ducks or other birds, but the pond was quiet the day we visited. From the viewing platform Andrew scanned the waters’ edge for turtles but came up empty. In the summer you might see pitcher plants, but we couldn’t find any this time. We did identify a few small black spruce trees though.

On our way back up the path we ran into a few people, one birder in search of the ruffed grouse. We told him where we heard his drumming and he headed off in that direction in hopes of marking it off his life list.

It’s a pleasant, but short hike into Mud Pond. A trip to the Triangle Bar in Whitefield for ice cream makes it the perfect afternoon adventure!