White Mt. NF--Long Pond, Benton

White Mt. NF--Long Pond, Benton

Benton, New Hampshire 03785

Official Website
White Mountain National Forest Official Website

About this Location

Long Pond is about a mile long and a quarter mile wide and has no development or road noise around it. The pond has several islands to explore and is surrounded by the mountains of the Kinsman Range. Long Pond is accessible from the south end of Long Pond Road, which branches off from NH-116 near Glencliff. 

The Long Pond Day Use Area offers picnicking, fishing, and boating and provides picnic tables and fire grates, a pit toilet, and a boat ramp for launching small non-motorized watercraft.

About White Mountain National Forest

See all hotspots at White Mountain National Forest

In the decades prior to 1911, the unregulated logging practices of private timber companies in the White Mountains had resulted in a damaged landscape susceptible to both fire and flood. Fires had burned thousands of acres, and flash floods affected the water power necessary to the mills of major industrial centers downstream, such as Manchester, New Hampshire, and Lowell, Massachusetts. Concerns over losses to industry, business, and tourism, and the growing conservation movement led to citizen action. The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) spearheaded an effort to ensure the permanent protection of the White Mountains from further depredation. After years of lobbying and intense public pressure, Senator John Weeks of Massachusetts, a native of Lancaster, New Hampshire, introduced legislation that became known as the Weeks Act. The Weeks Act was passed by Congress in 1911, appropriating 9 million dollars to purchase 6 million acres of land in the Eastern U.S. In turn, this led to the creation of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) in 1918, and twenty-one other national forests throughout the north and southeast. Many of the groups who were instrumental in the passage of the Weeks Act, including the SPNHF and the AMC, are still active today, and the WMNF has grown from 7,000 acres to almost 800,000. Today, the reforested mountains and hillsides supply forest products and provide magnificent recreational opportunities while maintaining healthy watersheds and ecosystems.

Features

  • Restrooms on site

  • Roadside viewing

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

Content from Official Website and White Mountain National Forest Official Website

Last updated November 12, 2023