Active Living

We know that maintaining an active lifestyle is essential for enhancing both physical and mental well-being. One of the many ways our community achieves this is through recreation in our beautiful outdoor spaces. Whether it’s enjoying a leisurely walk, biking along the miles of wooded trails, or kayaking on one of our many lakes or ponds, our region offers nearly limitless opportunities to get outside and enjoy nature. Unfortunately, not everyone in our community has equal access to these experiences. Thankfully, Monadnock Outdoors is working to develop inclusive, safe, and well-maintained recreational spaces, ensuring that everyone—regardless of socio-economic status or location—can enjoy the transformative power of active recreation and lead a healthier, happier life.

Monadnock Outdoors Workgroup

Monadnock Outdoors is a partnership of community leaders dedicated to building a healthier, more connected community where individuals thrive by engaging with nature and maintaining an active lifestyle. Their goal is to promote physical activity, active transportation, and a love for the outdoors to contribute to the overall well-being and vitality of the Monadnock region. As one of the six workgroups of the Healthy Monadnock Alliance, Monadnock Outdoors is committed to advancing active living in the region, ensuring that all residents have the knowledge, confidence, and motivation to get active and connect with nature and our community. By collaborating with local organizations and community members, they aim to create a supportive environment that fosters a culture of well-being and outdoor recreation.

Objecive: Significantly increase access and engagement with outdoor recreation resources to vulnerable communities.

Key Results:

Collaborate on 5 targeted events focused on sharing workgroup resources.

Send monthly newsletter to 15 service provider organizations or media outlets.

Improve Monadnock Gear Library to demonstrate 50 new members.

Create 1 additional Monadnock Gear Library location.

Enhance Outdoor Resource Map data and website to demonstrate 150 unique users in Monadnock region.

Additional Community Projects

Gear Library

In partnership with the Keene Public Library, Monadnock Outdoors has established a Gear Library that allows Cheshire County residents to check out common outdoor equipment at no cost! The available gear includes camping supplies suchRead More

Outdoor Recreation Resource Map

The Outdoor Recreation Resource Map is a digital map designed to help community members locate and access public recreation opportunities, such as hiking trailheads, public parks, boat launches, and cross-country ski trails. This resource mapRead More

Complete Streets

Complete Streets are pedestrian, transit, and bicycle – friendly streets that provide safe and easy access for users of all ages and abilities, regardless of their mode of transportation. It is an approach to planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the roadway network that considers the context and travel patterns in order to meet the needs of everyone. Complete Streets will look different depending on the context (i.e. surrounding land use) and the function of the road. For example, a rural arterial road will look different from an urban arterial road. In the former case, a larger shoulder that provides room for pedestrians and bicyclists may be sufficient, whereas the urban case would likely require more considerations. Some common elements of complete streets include sidewalks, bike lanes, wide paved shoulders, median islands, curb extensions, and roundabouts. Often streets will have narrower travel lanes, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, pedestrian signals, and accessible transit stops.

Complete Streets are a great way for a community to enhance safety, boost the local economy, create a sense of place, and encourage healthier lifestyles. By encouraging mode switching for shorter trips, Complete Streets also help ease traffic congestion on main roads. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, the many benefits of complete streets include:

Improved Safety
Better Health
Stronger Local Economy
More Livable Communities
Increase in Mode Choice
Decrease in Traffic Congestion
Greater Sense of Place
Lower Emissions and Cleaner Air

With the support of grant funds from You Have Our Trust, the Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) with technical assistance from Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) has supported nine communities in the Monadnock Region to adopt Complete Streets policies. Those communities are: Harrisville, Hinsdale, Jaffrey, Keene, Peterborough, Swanzey, Troy, Walpole, Winchester.

Harrisville – re-adopted 2020
Hinsdale – adopted 2016
Jaffrey – adopted 2017
Keene – adopted 2015
Peterborough – adopted 2017
Swanzey – adopted 2015
Troy – adopted 2016
Walpole – adopted 2017
Winchester – adopted 2017

Two additional towns are in the process of hopefully adopting a Complete Streets policy soon:

Greenville – under consideration 2023, not adopted
Marlborough – under consideration 2023, not adopted