A new bright orange gate at the end of Second Street permanently closes access for trailored boats and other vehicles at Sewalls Falls amid heightened dumping and criminal activity.
New Hampshire Fish and Game installed the gate last week due to a “tremendous increase” in garbage and litter, as well as repeated vandalization of a storage area. A sexual assault incident earlier this month also played into the department’s decision.
“We’re just trying to make it safer for the people who want to use it for the purpose that it was set out to be at the beginning,” said Garret Graaskamp, Fish and Game’s public boat access coordinator. “It’s unfortunate that we have to put a gate up. We don’t have to do that very often.”
Pedestrians still have access to the area beyond the gate, but it closes off parking for trailgoers at the south end of Sewalls Falls Trail. Graaskamp said parking is still available at the trail’s north end, which also sports a boach launch point that cars can drive right up to. No swimming is permitted at or near the launch point, he added.
Some residents are concerned about the area’s accessibility. Mari Lavoie, from Concord, started a Change.org petition to remove the gate, saying the increased distance to the waterfront could pose difficulties to people with disabilities such as herself.
“Access to natural areas is a right everyone should have, without barriers or limitations,” Lavoie wrote in the petition. “The current situation diminishes an inclusive community spirit by excluding those who are unable to make the hike.”
Graaskamp said Fish and Game will work “in the near future” on a smooth-surface bypass around the gate to improve accessibility.
Graaskamp doesn’t view the changes as significant, saying that the area has always been remote. “If you’re walking from Second Street down to that area, then you’re already walking a great distance,” he said.
Graaskamp said the gate will be permanent and does not foresee a reason why it would open again.
