Conservation Lands

Joe English Reservation

The Joe English Reservation of 558 acres, as of 2000, is the largest and best known conservation property in Amherst. It is composed of a number of acquisitions and it continues to be expanded.

An extensive color coded trail system opens the complex to hiking and to cross-country skiing and showshoeing in the winter. Trails are marked with signs and sign posts which were added in 2000. The main accesses are (1) at the north end of Brook Road at Peabody Mill Environmental Center, and (2) 3/4 mile up Chestnut Hill Road on the left. Each parking area has some parking spaces and a map box. A trail map is also available here.

The Joe English Brook Reservation was purchased through donations of Amherst residents and with grants from the Norwin S. And Elizabeth N. Bean Foundation and from the New Hampshire Land Conservation Investment Program. The Plumb Memorial Forest was a gift of Edith Plumb in memory of her father. The Harding Memorial Forest is named for Herbert I. Harding, a founding member of the Amherst Conservation Commission. There are also the Boissonalt, Erickson, Michaud and Whitcomb lots included in the Joe English Reservation, among others.

This is a rolling wooded tract with both deciduous and evergreen trees. Several brooks and ponds are located throughout the area. Wildlife consists of beaver and usual pond denizens, migratory waterfowl, and resident birds of pond and forest, small mammals, moose and deer.