Topic #1: Current Visitation Impacts -
What Are You Seeing

We know this season and year has been extremely dynamic for many people connected to tourism and land management. Visitor numbers have surged, and sometimes overwhelming local amenities. We are particularly interested to hear what has been happening on the ground in the Northern Forest region, covering Northeast Kingdom, VT, northern New Hampshire, and Western Maine.

We would love to hear your thoughts!

What have you been seeing on the ground (positive and negative) in terms of visitation impact?

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3 Comments

Hello – we are looking forward to this discussion topic and hearing your thoughts. We are especially interested in what has been happening on the ground (positive and negative) in terms of visitation impact, this year.

We have seen an increase in cycle-tourism on the Cross NH Adventure Trail. The trail runs from Bethel, ME to Woodsville, NH. Requests for maps are up 40% year over year with a higher percentage from outside New Hampshire. The number of cyclists who have notified us of completion of the full 83 mile route is up over 25% year over year. In discussions with lodging properties and shuttle services across the trail, we have heard that each property and service has seen an increase in room nights from cyclists over 2020. And we still have the Fall foliage season which is always a highly coveted time of the year for visitors. With this dramatic uptick, we have not seen any negative impacts.

I walk on part of the xNHAT in Randolph, and it’s been a pleasure to see the bicyclists enjoying the countryside. They tend to ring a warning bell so as a walker I haven’t been surprised by them being on the same trail that’s used by walkers and birders year-round and bicyclists in summer and snowmobiles and occasional ATVS in the winter when there is sufficient snow on the wide trail. The state is doing a good job replacing bridges and culverts, and installing beaver deceivers.

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MORE INFORMATION​

For more information about the Northern Forest Rural Tourism Academy, please contact:

Joe Short, Vice President
Northern Forest Center
email: jshort@northernforest.org
phone: 603-229-0679 ext. 104
cell: 603-491-2651

Northern Forest Center,
18 N Main St., Ste. 204
Concord, NH 03301-4926