For over 50 years, the Balch Hill Natural Area has been a favorite of Hanover residents for its great views, picnicking, walking, and bird watching. Ten trails provide easy to moderate routes to the 937-foot summit. Its diverse communities include a former pasture and apple orchard at the summit, and forests of pine, hardwoods, and hemlock on the slopes.
The first parcel of land we purchased to own in Hanover, the Balch Hill Natural Area began with 10 acres acquired in 1970 to protect the summit from development. The Natural Area now includes 20 acres owned by the Hanover Conservancy, including the summit, and 46 acres owned by the Town of Hanover. Dartmouth College owns 18 acres on the east side. The Upper Valley Land Trust holds a conservation easement on 10 acres. The Conservancy’s Balch Hill Stewardship Committee manages the Balch Hill Natural Area in partnership with the Town and College.
How to get there
For access to the Grasse Road Trail, park at the intersection of Grasse Road and Trescott Road, where a trailhead kiosk was provided by the Hanover Lions Club in the fall of 2011. Parking for 3-4 cars is available at the top of Hemlock Road for access to the Hemlock Trail.
Our full-color map and guide (pdf) to Balch Hill gives insights into natural features including geology, birds, mammals, plants, and habitats, and explains the trails and the property’s history. Printed copies are available at the trailheads and summit.
Balch Hill’s ten trails are open for foot travel at all seasons, and provide access to the summit from every direction. Check the trail map carefully before leaving to be sure you return to your starting point.
- Please take only pictures & leave only footprints! Pollinators of all types feed on the wildflowers here.
- No fires or camping.
- Mountain biking is permitted only on the Dot Strong Trail.
- Trapping and hunting are not permitted (except archery by special permit only, Sept. 15-Dec. 15).
- Dogs enjoy Balch Hill as much as we do – please pick up after your pet and remove the waste. Dogs must be under the direct control of their owners and not chase wildlife.
- Populations of deer and dog ticks have risen in our area in the last decade, and Balch Hill is no exception. Check for unwanted passengers after your visit whenever the ground is clear of snow.
Elder Trees
Witnesses to Balch Hill’s history remain in its forest. The Maple Trail features several large sugar maples dating from the time of Hanover’s settlement. Nearby, a cattle watering pond created in the 20th century is now a nursery for frogs and salamanders.
Grafton County Champion Oaks
The largest red oak trees in all of Grafton County can be found at Balch Hill. The champion, near the summit on the Grasse Rd Loop, is easily 200 years old and has a circumference of 196 inches, a height of 114 feet, and an average crown spread of 80 feet. The second largest in the county is on the Hemlock Trail. The “Venus de Milo” of oaks, found at the top of the Hemlock Trail, would have qualified as #1 before her large limbs fell.
Pollinator Patch
A 2017 grant from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies helped us begin site preparations for a pollinator garden on the summit. Black tarps trapped the sun’s heat to kill the existing plants (low food value flowers and grasses) as well as the existing seed bank. In Spring of 2018, we tilled the site, then replaced the tarps for a few more months to make sure our garden could have the best possible start.
Finally, in October 2018, we planted a mix of native, perennial grasses and flowering plants that’s been specially formulated for Balch Hill soils. The patch is covered with organic straw so the seeds don’t get eaten or blown away before germinating in the spring. The garden will evolve over the next four years into a long-lasting, beautiful food source for our many native pollinators!
Ten thousand years ago, when glacial meltwaters flooded the Connecticut River Valley, Balch Hill was an island in Lake Hitchcock.
Look for clues to its more recent past as you head up the Grasse Road Trail along a stone wall. This wall and the wide wire fencing are relics of the Sheep Craze days of the early-mid 1800s, when 11,000 sheep pastured in Hanover, including here. Veteran trees along the boundary have grown around fragments of barbed wire that mark the transition to dairy farming after the Civil War. While most of Balch Hill was cleared for grazing in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many large, old trees remain, including a line of ancient sugar maples on the long-ago route of Half Mile Road. White pines reclaimed the abandoned farmland, but many fell on the northeast side during the 2007 Patriot’s Day windstorm.
The summit of Balch Hill offers wind-swept views of the Green Mountains of Vermont to the west, including Killington (elevation 4241’), 29 miles as the hawk flies. Seven miles to the northwest is Gile Mountain in Norwich (1873’). Mount Ascutney (3144’), appears 21 miles to the south. We’re hard at work to restore the views from Balch Hill, the only unforested summit in Hanover that is open to the public. In the process, we’re also restoring wildlife habitat, an historic landscape with its stone walls, orchard, and summit meadow with support from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Once known as Corey Hill after an early owner, Balch Hill takes its name from former owner Adna P. Balch (1817-1889). Balch, a prominent citizen who served in the legislature in 1876-1877, promoted the development of the railroad in the Connecticut River Valley and was a director of the Hanover Gas Company. In the early to mid-twentieth century, the summit was known as Dewey Hill Pasture, after owners in those later days.
Explore Balch Hill through the imaginative treasure hunt that is the Balch Hill Quest, created by the Valley Quest program of Vital Communities. Bring along a compass and field guide to help you solve the clues.
The wildlife diversity of the Balch Hill Natural Area reflects its varied habitat, from open meadow at the summit to shrubby edges and deep forest. Older openings invite fruiting brambles that attract many diners, including bears. Balch Hill is also home to white-tailed deer, porcupine, raccoon, fisher, short-tailed weasel, skunk, red fox, snowshoe hare, red and gray squirrels. Small mammals include voles, mice, and shrews. These creatures appreciate the hiding places offered by brush piles when owls and other predators are near.
Birds of Balch Hill
Balch Hill is a stop on the Connecticut River Birding Trail. Year-round residents include barred owls, ruffed grouse, turkeys, blue jays, and chickadees. Spring brings waves of warblers and other migrating birds.
No time is more exciting than the fall migration of hawks over the open summit. Red-tailed and sharp-shinned hawks, kestrels, and even bald eagles ride the thermals on their way south. The best hawk-watching occurs in late September to late October on bright days with a northwest wind after a spell of bad weather. On one morning in 2012, volunteer hawk watch leader David Merker saw six Bald Eagles high over Balch Hill. The following week, he recorded (in only two hours!) 246 Redtailed Hawks, a Bald Eagle, 17 Cooper’s Hawks, one Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Kestrel, 16 Turkey Vultures, 8 Ravens, and too many crows to count.
Monarch Butterfly Habitat
Balch Hill’s sunny summit meadow, full of native milkweed and other nectar-producing wildflowers, offers excellent habitat for Monarch butterflies. In 2014, we registered Balch Hill as Monarch Waystation #7639 to support monarch conservation and help assure the continuation of the monarch migration in North America. More about Monarch butterflies
Pollinator Surveys
In the summer of 2017, staff and volunteers worked with Sara Zahendra from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies to learn more about our local pollinator populations. Over three afternoons in June, July and August, we used nets to gently catch bees and other pollinators, learned to identify them, then released them back into the meadow. This was a casual survey to help guide our meadow management and mowing schedule; a list of species identified can be found here. Additions to this list, or wildlife lists at our other properties, are always welcome!
White-tailed Deer
We’ve been watching both the deer and their snacking habits at Balch Hill for some time, and when the Town of Hanover approached us in the fall of 2013 about opening Balch Hill for a trial archery season to help thin an increasingly unhealthy herd, we gave the idea serious consideration. A survey of our Balch Hill neighbors in 2011 had indicated strong support for hunting to control the deer population. Many Balch Hill deer are noticeably smaller these days, likely due to competition. We began managing a small hunting program on the hill in 2014. Read more about hunting here.
After only one year, Dartmouth forest ecology studies showed deer browse is having an impact on the Natural Area. Other studies have found that over-browsing by deer favors invasive plants, reduces cover for other wildlife, and reduces nesting bird habitat and abundance.
The Summit Meadow
The summit has been an open meadow for over 150 years. Clumps of juniper are clues that it was once a pasture for sheep and later for cows. The Hanover Conservancy keeps the meadow open with regular mowing. In recent years, native milkweed has come to dominate the meadow, to the delight of monarch butterflies but not to the grassland birds that might otherwise nest here. Mowing is carefully timed to help restore better habitat for both.
Pollinator Patch
A 2017 grant from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies helped us begin site preparations for a pollinator garden on the summit. Black tarps trapped the sun’s heat to kill the existing plants (low food value flowers and grasses) as well as the existing seed bank. In Spring of 2018, we tilled the site, then replaced the tarps for a few more months to make sure our garden could have the best possible start.
Finally, in October 2018, we planted a mix of native, perennial grasses and flowering plants that’s been specially formulated for Balch Hill soils. The patch is covered with organic straw so the seeds don’t get eaten or blown away before germinating in the spring. The garden will evolve over the next four years into a long-lasting, beautiful food source for our many native pollinators!
Elder Trees
Witnesses to Balch Hill’s history remain in its forest. The Maple Trail features several large sugar maples dating from the time of Hanover’s settlement. Nearby, a cattle watering pond created in the 20th century is now a nursery for frogs and salamanders.
Grafton County Champion Oaks
The largest red oak trees in all of Grafton County can be found at Balch Hill. The champion, near the summit on the Grasse Rd Loop, is easily 200 years old and has a circumference of 196 inches, a height of 114 feet, and an average crown spread of 80 feet. The second largest in the county is on the Hemlock Trail. The “Venus de Milo” of oaks, found at the top of the Hemlock Trail, would have qualified as #1 before her large limbs fell.
The volunteer Balch Hill Stewardship Committee updates the management plan for the hill and works with staff at the Conservancy, Town of Hanover, Upper Valley Land Trust and Dartmouth College to ensure future generations will enjoy the same views and native plants & wildlife that exist now. View the current management plan at the top of this page.
Balch Hill Stewardship Fund – Thanks to generous friends and Balch Hill neighbors, we have established a dedicated fund to care for Balch Hill into the future. This is especially welcome news, since annual maintenance costs at this property are significant, and Balch Hill was protected years before land trusts like ours realized the need to plan for the costs of caring for such properties into the future. Donations to the Fund are warmly welcomed.
We’re hard at work to restore the views from Balch Hill, the only unforested summit in Hanover that is open to the public. In the process, we’re also restoring wildlife habitat, an historic landscape with its stone walls, orchard, and summit meadow with support from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
We initiated a new wave of viewshed restoration activity in 2013, focusing on the aspect of Mt. Ascutney and downtown Hanover; this continues today as we improve views of Moose Mountain from the new Chapman Trail. Brush piles are burned as conditions allow, but please note: no fires are permitted on Balch Hill other than those conducted by the Hanover Conservancy.
The Summit Meadow
The summit has been an open meadow for over 150 years. Clumps of juniper are clues that it was once a pasture for sheep and later for cows. The Hanover Conservancy keeps the meadow open with regular mowing. In recent years, native milkweed has come to dominate the meadow, to the delight of monarch butterflies but not to the grassland birds that might otherwise nest here. Mowing is carefully timed to help restore better habitat for both.
Non-Native Invasive Plants
Unwelcome arrivals in Balch Hill’s fields and forests are invasive trees, shrubs, and vines that have escaped from neighboring yards or grown from seeds carried here by birds. Non-native buckthorn, honeysuckle, barberry, bittersweet, and burning bush are the target of a multi-year project by the Hanover Conservancy’s Balch Hill Stewardship Committee to restore native vegetation. The Conservancy is working with a licensed professional in compliance with all state regulations. Non-native, invasive plants provide poor food and habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Oriental bittersweet, a non-native vine that smothers other vegetation, is a particularly aggressive newcomer to Balch Hill. Bittersweet arrived courtesy of birds who enjoy its berries. Highway departments once planted the vine on roadsides in an attempt at beautification (along with multiflora rose, autumn olive, and other shrubs that have since shown their nasty side). Some people purchase wreaths and other decorations made of the non-native vine, for its fall display of bright orange-red berries.
You can help keep Bittersweet from spreading. If you can’t resist its vibrant fall colors, please dispose of the decorations in bagged trash rather than in a compost pile or in the woods. Best of all, avoid planting the vine. Next time you visit Balch Hill, stop by the kiosk for more information on this and other invasive plants.
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