About Riverland

Riverland on the Merrimack is a bed and breakfast within an organic farm, surrounded by conservation land on the Merrimack River on the Concord-Canterbury line. It is a public/private partnership of sorts that ensures the protection of an important rare habitat, public access to the river, and continued farming of prime river-bottom lands. It’s a story worth telling because a lot is accomplished in a small space and because it’s a fairly unusual arrangement.

The map shows a quarter-mile, public footpath crossing private lands under conservation easement between a parking lot and the river. The town of Canterbury holds this easement and invites the public to use it to reach the beach. The Bed and Breakfast is located above the path on a sandy bank on private land, not under conservation easement. The farm fields and barns lie on the far side of the path on private land under conservation easement. The whole property is known as Riverland on the Merrimack. The 50-foot wide path continues towards the river, crossing neighboring private land, until it arrives finally to the water’s edge on a parcel owned by the town.

Lucy Nichols and James Farquhar own and operate Riverland on the Merrimack. To learn more about the family, click here.

Lucy writes an Innkeeper’s blog, On Oxbow Pond, discussing the comings and goings at Riverland, what the other species are doing, and how the neighborhood is getting on. To read the blog, click here.

Lucy and James are also trying to bring the farm back into working order. To learn more about the farm, please click here.

The conservation lands owned by the Town of Canterbury and managed by the Canterbury Conservation Commission are known as the Riverland Conservation Area. To learn more about the Riverland Conservation Area, please click here.

The entrance to Muchyedo Banks Wildlife Management Area, managed by NH Fish and Game, is just down the street. To learn more about Muchyedo Banks, click here.

For Directions, River level, Water quality, etc., please click here.