Free Access to the Park Any Day

Dateline: July 23, 2020

The Allenstown Public Library and the Allenstown Economic Development Committee have collaborated to purchase two season passes to New Hampshire State Parks for the residents of Allenstown.

The 2020 season passes are valid for any day of the week and their purpose is to provide residents with free access to Bear Brook State Park or any other state park of their choice.

Each Library Pass allows two (2) adults and up to four (4) dependents to gain free access for one day to Bear Brook or any park of their choice. The pass is NOT valid at the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, the Flume Gorge, Hampton Beach State Park (South Beach), or Wallis Sands State Park and it is not valid for use at the metered parking on the seacoast or for camping. Passes are available on a first-come basis.

Making a Reservation for a Pass

Step 1: To reserve a one-day pass, call the Library (603-485-7651) on Tuesday or Thursday between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. or send e-mail to allenstownlib@comcast.net. Specify the date on which you would like to use the pass.
The selected date must be at least two days after the date you contact the Library. This will allow time for processing.

Step 2: After you receive an e-mail message with a PDF copy of the Library Pass, print it out.

Step 3: On your selected date, pack up your hiking gear, gather everyone together, and drive to the park. Show the pass to the park employee at the Catamount Pond or Podunk Road Toll Booth to gain admission to the park.

NOTE

Because of health safety concerns due to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, the NH State Parks Dept. has cut visitor capacity to 50% for all parks. For Bear Brook State Park, this is about 450 visitors per day to our 10,000 acre park. They have also set up a tedious State Park Reservation System for daily visitors, but this is an unreasonable burden for our residents who obtain library passes. The system includes a four-page instruction manual. Don't expect brevity from the government. The best plan is to use the preceding three steps, ignore the registration system, and arrive at the park as early as possible so you can get right in. Allenstown residents are typically a much smaller number of visitors thatn people from out of town and out of state.

What You Can Do

Get a free park pass and get out and enjoy a great state park right here in your home town. Remember,

Allenstown is the Home of Bear Brook State Park.