Corey Ford's "The Road to Tinkhamtown"

[Brush Buster]

Thank you Mills , yes it is nice to always have a place to hunt ,when I was a Boy ,we had more Grouse than you can imagine around the old home place but I couldn't hit them but on occasion ,I know I am not the one to hurt our local population ,must have been loss of habitat !

[10 bore]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hodges

Absolutely, I will give you a call

If this works out, would it be ok for me to tag along. I love the history and the woods. Steve ,I won't get lost

[Dean Romig]

Scott, I can't think of a reason why not..... I've tried and tried but can't come up with a single reason.....

[Steve Hodges]

Originally Posted by scott kittredge

If this works out, would it be ok for me to tag along. I love the history and the woods. Steve ,I won't get lost

Absolutely Scott..............when the weather cools in late August, we will all get together at my house and make the trek

[Dean Romig]

I think Tony Ambrose nailed it with the map that shows Tinkhamtown Brook.

You will also find the "town" of Hardscrabble, (along the 50' parallel) the fabled New Hampshire community where the members of the Lower Forty tramped the hills and meadows and fished Mink Brook. You'll also find Perkins Brook - Remember Uncle Perk's Perkin's General Store in Hardscrabble?
Also look for the Dartmouth Outing Club and the Dartmouth Outing Club Trail.

Corey Ford was a professor at Dartmouth at the time he wrote "Tales of the Lower Forty" for Field & Stream magazine, and was very active in sports and outings with several of the students there.... "Doc Hall" (Dr. James Whitney Hall, III) being one of his favorites.

I think we should begin our trek along Tinkhamtown Brook and head upstream, and cross what's left of the bridge, and eventually up that rise to Tinkhamtown.

[ed good]

are you guys going off washburn road or summers else?

[Dean Romig]

Don't know - there's no road signs on the map.

Hey, I just found "Skunk Hollow" on the map too! Another "fictional" place written about in the Lower Forty.

[Tony Ambrose]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

I think Tony Ambrose nailed it with the map that shows Tinkhamtown Brook.

You will also find the "town" of Hardscrabble, (along the 50' parallel) the fabled New Hampshire community where the members of the Lower Forty tramped the hills and meadows and fished Mink Brook. You'll also find Perkins Brook - Remember Uncle Perk's Perkin's General Store in Hardscrabble?
Also look for the Dartmouth Outing Club and the Dartmouth Outing Club Trail.

Corey Ford was a professor at Dartmouth at the time he wrote "Tales of the Lower Forty" for Field & Stream magazine, and was very active in sports and outings with several of the students there.... "Doc Hall" (Dr. James Whitney Hall, III) being one of his favorites.

I think we should begin our trek along Tinkhamtown Brook and head upstream, and cross what's left of the bridge, and eventually up that rise to Tinkhamtown.

Thanks Dean. Those old maps have provided many great "hints" that led me to believe that this was the area. As Steve noted, the story line also mentions "between Kearsarge and Cardigan Mountain", which always threw a kink into my theory. Since Tinkham Hill is located between these two mountains, it was always worth the search of those map areas to find any hints, but, I always returned to look at the map of the Tinkhamtown Brook area and all those familiar names that could be tied to Corey Ford. I see there are trails or dirt roads leading in to the general area of Tinkhamtown Brook. I wish you guys luck in whatever you end up finding. If nothing else, I hope you find grouse!!

As for me, I'll keep an eye out for a posting of your exploration. Grouse season is slowing approaching and I find it difficult to focus on much of anything else. I'm looking forward to Autumn and following my English Pointer in my coverts of the northern ADKs and central Maine. Maybe I'll spend a few days in northern NH. I have fond memories of some great covers around Lake Francis and First Connecticut Lake, although the last time I was in that area, I thought that someone must have put up a billboard advertising all the great hunting to be found, since I saw more bird hunters in that one trip than I had seen in the previous 10 years! It was enough that I haven't bought a NH license or been back in quite a few years. A couple weeks in central Maine in the last half of October every year has been feeding my New England grouse passion quite nicely. My friends in Maine tell me that they are seeing lots of grouse and woodcock......although not one of them would ever think about following a dog in the woods and shooting one on the wing!

Good luck guys. I hope you actually find the remnants of a bridge on Tinkhamtown Brook!

[Steve Hodges]

Tony, I know what your mean about Pittsburg. I have a camp 13 miles in on Indian Stream and have hunted the area for may years. We sure get an influx of...............................well, I will be kind.

[Tony Ambrose]

Steve - you're right in the thick of it with a camp up there. Much better than renting a cabin for a few days, then running into a truckload of hunters in every other cover that you go to. I can't imagine what it must be like in early October! The last time I hunted up there I couldn't get back over to Maine quick enough.

That area south of the west end of Francis off of Cedar Stream Road started turning into a housing development about 10 years ago with all the homes and camps being built. God help us if it keeps expanding East!