Concord – Foss
26 Penacook Street
14 acres of forest and wetlands with existing trails
Public access, no formal trails
March 2005
A variety of natural habitat, as well as early New Hampshire history have been preserved with a conservation easement on land in Penacook. Carol Foss and her husband Flip Nevers’ dream of protecting the land became reality on March 18, 2005 when Five Rivers accepted an easement on 14 acres of land near her home in the intervale of the Merrimack River in Penacook, a village in the north part of Concord. As a child growing up in Penacook, Carol spent many hours wandering the bluffs, woods and wetlands, and acquiring over time a deep love of the natural world.
Carol and her husband Flip Nevers have made numerous wildlife observations on the land. It has supported nesting pileated woodpeckers and broad-winged hawks, as well as a fox den. The varied habitat is attractive to many species of migratory songbirds, including scarlet tanager, sandpipers, ovenbird, rose-breasted grosbeak, warblers, grouse, thrushes and flycatchers. Moose, deer, turkey and even the occasional bear have been spotted there as well.
Two springs on the property that run year-round in even the driest years were utilized by the earliest European settlers in the area, who built granite boxes to collect the water. These stone boxes are still visible today.
The property has undeveloped frontage on both Cross and Penacook Streets, and expands an existing network of conservation lands that abut to the south. Trails crossing the Foss/Nevers property connect to trails on City land, providing a connection from Penacook Street to the Rolfe Park lands.
