Dahl Wildlife Sanctuary
Conway, NH
The Dahl Sanctuary is a 60-acre property along the Saco River near the intersection of Routes 16 and 302 in Conway. It is owned and managed as a wildlife sanctuary by New Hampshire Audubon, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service holds a conservation easement through the Wetlands Reserve Program. The sanctuary is bordered by the Saco River, retail and outlet stores, Route 16, and a private campground. Primary access to the site is via a trail that starts at the southeast comer of the L.L. Bean Retail Store parking lot on Route 16.
The property was donated to NH Audubon by Helen and Ruth Dahl in 1988. Used as farmland throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, the Dahl Sanctuary is now used primarily for open space and wildlife habitat. It includes a wide variety of habitats, including wooded shoreline on the Saco River, a large gravel barren, silver maple floodplain forest, old oxbow channels, upland softwood forests, open fields, and early successional shrub and grassland habitats. Several of the natural community types are rare in the state, and two rare plant species occur. The Dahl Sanctuary is an excellent place to observe wildlife like birds, amphibians, and mammals, and it is open for public exploration on a year round basis.
(photograph courtesy of Phil Brown)