Oyster River Forest (Spruce Wood Forest), Durham

Directions: From Route 155A (Mast Road), turn onto Packer's Falls Road.  Follow Packer's Falls Road for 1.1 miles until you see a dirt road with a gate on your left.  Turn in and park in front of the gate.  If you reach Mill Road, you have gone too far.

From downtown Durham, take Mill Road all the way to the end (approximately 2.5 miles).  Turn right onto Packer's Falls Road.  Almost immediately, you will see a dirt road with a gate on your right.  Turn in and park in front of the gate.  If you see a trailer park or Jenkins Road on your left, you have gone too far.

A small parking area is located near the gate.  Walk past the gate on an unused road.  At the first clearing and fork, head slightly to the left to continue through woods that open onto fields.

https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/boc_conservation/oyster-river-forest-aka-sprucewood-forest

From Durham website above - "The 171±-acre  Oyster River Forest (previously known as the Sprucewood Forest) is owned by the Town of Durham. Consisting of both woods and fields, it is located approximately three miles from the center of town. Boundaries of the property include Mill Road to the south and southeast and the UNH College Woods to the northeast, and on the west it abuts the Spruce Hole Bog and Spruce Hole Conservation Area off Packers Falls Road.

The property will permanently protect Durham's current and future water supplies, contribute to the health of the Great Bay, provide habitat for the threatened New England cottontail rabbit, and provide public recreational access adjacent to the College Woods.

Purchased in 2013 through partnerships with the U.S. Natural Conservation Resources Service (NRCS), which will hold an easement on the property, and The Trust for Public Land, the property sits over a large portion (approximately 55 acres) of the Spruce Hole Aquifer. The Town of Durham intends to use this stratified drift formation, which that has the potential to both yield and store large quantities of water, as a public water supply in the near future. Together with the conserved abutting Amber Acres Farm, the property will protect over a mile and a half of frontage along the Oyster River.

Easy access is obtained from an abandoned forest road or from College Woods. The public may enjoy low-impact recreational uses on the property, such as birding, fishing, hiking, and cross-country skiing."