Scotland Brook Sanctuary

Welcome to the

Scotland Brook

Sanctuary

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About the Scotland Brook Sanctuary

Scotland Brook Sanctuary supports a large variety of flora and fauna. An as-yet incomplete inventory of animal life has tallied 22 species of mammals including moose, black bear, whitetail deer, porcupine, and the secretive fisher. Beavers move in and out of the area as their food sources become abundant or scarce. Over 86 species of birds can be seen here, plus four species of reptile, 11 amphibians, and two species of fish.

Plants include 84 wildflowers (10 of them orchids), 52 species of trees and shrubs, and over 16 ferns or fern allies. New species are "discovered" every year.

Scotland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary owes its existence to the generosity of several people. Many thanks to Gene Twaronite and Josie Kelleher, to Joan Farrel for her donation in memory of her late husband, Robert E. Farrel, "who knew this property like the back of his hand," and to the Fund for the Preservation of Wildlife and Natural Areas. The Scotland School, Inc. generously established a small endowment fund, which helps to defray management costs for the sanctuary. Any contributions are welcome.

The Scotland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary is certainly not wilderness. . . not yet at least. But though the land has been abandoned for some time now, it has never stopped growing. . . year by year, decade by decade, into what it once was. Even where part of the property was heavily cut over for timber in the early 1970's, a dense understory of mixed hardwoods has softened the scars left by logging and now provides a good place to watch ruffed grouse hens brooding their young or a cow moose browsing on red maple saplings.

Keep the former tenants and their practices in mind as you walk these trails. Evidence of their struggle to tame the forest still abounds. The forest you see now is not the one the first settlers saw; these woods owe their present and future state to those early settlers, their sheep and their cattle.

"There is a tremendous resilience to our forests. It is the resilience of alder growing on an otherwise bare rock slide... or aspen and cherry quickly invading a fire-blackened site. It is the resilience of nature which always abhors a vacuum and rushes in to fill the opening left by its own vagaries or those of humans."
 Gene Twaronite, from his book Nature's School

Visitor Information

Directions
  1. Please do not collect or in any way disturb plants or animals.
  2. Please keep to marked trails.
  3. Please respect private property.
  4. Only foot travel is permitted--no horses, bicycles, or motor vehicles.
  5. Motor boats are prohibited.
  6. Pets must be on a short leash and controlled at all times.
  7. Hunting, firearms, camping, fires, and swimming are prohibited.
  8. Please carry out all trash and litter.
  9. Be prepared for country walking.
  1. From Exit 38 off I-93 in Franconia, take Rt. 117 south for 3 miles to Sugar Hill.
  2. Turn left onto Pearl Lake Road.
  3. After 3.5 miles, Pearl Lake Road turns left just past Pearl Lake.
  4. Go 2.25 miles, turn left on Jim Noyes Hill Road.
  5. Look for trailhead sign across from Scotland School.
You can also read a brief history of the sanctuary, as well as an Interpretive Trail Guide. There is also a checklist of Wildflowers that can be found in the Scotland Brook Sanctuary. Soon, you can see a trail map of the sanctuary. However, this is a large graphic image and may take a long time to download.

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