The lovely Mrs. M and I decided to take off for a day last week to escape our COVID bunker. We decided on a nice hotel in Dover, NH, since the price was right, and New Hampshire is one of the states we can travel to without COVID legal consequences. After checking some area websites and Traillink.com, I also find a running trail not too far from the hotel. My early morning run on Friday was on the Dover Community Trail; here are my impressions.
My warm-up run starts at about 6:30 in the morning. The first thing I notice is the temperature; it is a relatively cool and dry 55°. I begin my run out of the hotel parking lot and head the opposite way from where the trailhead is located, only to find a dead-end street. Interestingly enough, I also see a small pedestrian tunnel located at the end of the road that burrows under Route 16. This allowed me to get in the distance I was looking for and gave me a great place to do some leg swings before the main run—apologies to the cyclist that I almost kicked over.
My main run starts out at the tunnel and heads down Silver St. to Rutland St., most of which is downhill. A left on Fisher Street brought me to the well-marked trailhead. Traillink.com said this is where the trail starts; however, I did notice the trail also traveled in the opposite direction. I believe that the plan is to connect this trail with a more extensive trail located near Portsmouth, but I do not know if this is completed or, for that matter, even open. Off we go.
The first thing that I noticed is the amount of shade that this part of the trail provides. With the heat that this summer brought, I thought this would be a great hot weather course. After about a quarter-mile, the trail goes under Silver Street via an old railroad tunnel.
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Tunnel Facing South
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Upon coming out of the tunnel, you will also find another remint of bygone railroad days.
I am not altogether sure what this device was used for, to be honest. The trail then suddenly ends and pours out into what looks like an entrance to an apartment complex. You will cross a small street and then encounter what looks like a tiny driveway with apartment parking. You are still on the trail. You will discover a fence with some maze-like qualities that you have to navigate to get to the next part of your run.
You will need to pay close attention here, try not to be a doofus like me and run up a neighboring driveway. The trail continues on to an updated trestle that spans the Cocheco River.
Coming off of the bridge is where things get a little tricky. The trail seems to abruptly end at a parking lot used for the town's Amtrak depot; with no trail markings or signs, it would seem logical that this is the northern trailhead, but the trail does continue. You will have to take a right through the parking lot to Chestnut Street, and once you hit the street, take a left and go over the railroad tracks. I would tell you here to be careful crossing the tracks, but oddly enough, I saw a few people walking alongside them, strange anytime but particularly baffling at this early hour. Take your second left unto Fourth Street, and continue about a quarter of a mile until you see another bridge.
Continuing with our theme of the trail not being marked, the trail goes into the woods along the Cocheco River with absolutely no markers or signs. It leaves the road at the end of a driveway for a propane delivery company and drops down very sharply until you get to a path near the edge of the river.
You will be on this part of the trail for about a mile, and absolutely no part of it is paved. The trail path itself is very narrow but relatively easy to follow. While there is an occasional tree root springing up and a few uneven surfaces, the footing is much softer than asphalt. You will also pass a couple of baseball fields and what looked like a public garden before coming out on Whitter Street.
If you cross Whitter Street at this point, you will see a small dead-end street called Whitter Falls Way. The trail continues down this street and follows the banks of the Cocheco River to the western edge of Dover at Watson Road. There is a trail sign at the beginning of this street; however I completely missed and decided to continue my run through the streets of Dover. As it turns out, if I had followed the trail, I would have ended up quite a distance from the hotel with no real clear cut route back. I would estimate that this part of the trail goes for about two miles and goes through mostly wooded areas; however I have no idea if the track is paved, gravel, or dirt.
All in all, I was on the trail for roughly two miles, which would explain the "partial" in the title. I thought the trail had more pros than cons. I liked the fact that there was plenty of shade, an option that I have not had during any of my summer training. I also liked the fact that you could switch from an asphalt surface to the ground on the same run. The fact that the surface changes almost gives you the feeling that you are doing two different runs on the same course and helps with things like balance and stride. I thought that the parts of the course that offered actual trail running was a nice change to a softer landing for the feet and provided ample opportunities to pee (both of which I took advantage of). The cons were pretty simple. The lack of trail markers or signs at specific points of the course was frustrating. If I had not checked out the course information, I would have, at best, gotten removed from the trail, and at worst, gotten wholly lost. I also wondered if the trail could be of limited use to runners in the snow. Since I was on the trail for about one-third of my run, I also questioned how well the trail integrates with the rest of the town's running opportunities. I really liked the rest of my run through Dover; there was a nice mix of hills, the busy streets had nice sidewalks, and never once did I feel in danger or unsafe. It seemed like if you wanted to take a nice run in Dover, you had plenty of options.
I would give the Dover Community Trail a solid four and one-have out of five stars. I would love to travel to Dover again to take a long run on the trail and to go back to Patti B's Italian Restaurant to carb load!
