Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Whitefield

I would likely have given 5 stars if we had actually arrived. Our GPS took us to the entrance off of the airport road which was not safely traversable yesterday (7/25/20). There were stretches of large rocks which we assumed were safe and intended to be driven on. After one lengthy stretch of about 1000 feet of rocks, we found ourselves with a punctured and very flat tire. After changing the tire, driving to Littleton and purchasing 2 new tires, we returned to the same spot. This time we parked at the entrance to the road and walked in, but after 20 minutes we came to deep mud which could not be traversed without special footwear. We never saw the parking/ kiosk which was described online. What we did see was beautiful, including a beaver, a great blue heron and a kingfisher. If we had had more time we would have tried entering via the rail trail off of 115A. We're glad we did what we did, but beware of the...

I was expecting a nice nature walk. My daughter, granddaughter and cousin’s granddaughter took off in the afternoon with plenty of bug spray-anticipating the worst due to All Trails reviews. Several of the reviews had shown pictures closer to the water’s edge and wooden planks and comments about how well the trail is marked. We actually walked a gravel path for the entirety-mostly in full sun and ended up at a small viewing platform. We saw the map on the trail entrance on our way back that showed us the path we could have taken further to see more of the water and possibly a better “trail!” It’s on the wrong side of the kiosk 🤨. Would have been nice to see the map at the viewing platform. There were a few other ladies at the platform that were feeling the same. They ventured on but with the two younger ones, we...

We hopped on the Presidential rail trail at the Pondicherry end. After a short ride we came upon the lookout. We stopped to take a look. Beautiful views and some nice benches to sit on and observe the wildlife. While I did not see it, my husband saw a quick glimpse of a moose before he went deeper into the woods. The only drawback was the black flies and deer flies. Just a bit annoying. One of my companions got a tick on them but it was easily spotted and removed before the beast dug in. Overall worth the minor inconvenience for the views. We only saw two other people on the trail so very secluded and if we were no biking, I am sure we would have seen...