By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

BERLIN – A new 19-site recreational vehicle campground is being proposed for Jericho Mountain State Park using about $2.5 million in federal American Rescue Act Program funds.

If approved Wednesday, it will effectively double the camping opportunities at the state park and be adjacent to the existing campground, which will get some modifications and improvements as part of the plan.

“This will be a great addition to what we already have because many people are looking for a campground and to be directly on the trail,” said Paula Kinney, executive director and events director for the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce Monday.

She said it could help to attract larger gatherings and accommodate people in the city rather than having to have them trailer in or go as far away as Bethel, Maine to sleep.

Another economic benefit could be that the contractor the state has selected is from Berlin.

The Executive Council will be asked by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, to enter into a contract with Ray’s Electric & General Contracting, Inc. of Berlin with the contract extending through October 22, 2025.  

“The project will substantially increase the camping facilities at this popular park which caters to all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts. The new RV campground will supplement the existing 20-site camping area with an additional 19 sites designed to accommodate RVs and equipped with electrical, water and sewer hook-ups.

“Additionally, the project will add two new sites to the existing campground, construct two new camping shelters, and provide electrical service to five existing camping cabins,” said Brian Wilson, director of state Parks and Recreation in his request to the governor and Executive Council.

Ray’s was among six contractors that attended the mandatory pre-bid meeting in June and three qualified bids were received.

It was the lowest bid.

In 2005 Jericho Mountain State Park was established just north of the city, when the state combined a 230-acre Berlin City Park tract with another 7,200 acre private property along the shores of Lake Jericho.

The park has 60 miles of All Terrain Vehicle trails which can be used in the winter for snowmobiling and has put the state on the map for OHRV riding as a destination, Kinney said.

She noted in 2016 and 2017 the site attracted a major event sponsored by OHRV manufacturer Polaris and it has been the site for many events which have drawn over 5,000 people.

Last year, the machine manufacturers could not commit to being on the Jericho park site but her organization still held a downtown block party and concert in August.

She said the project could substantially increase the camping facilities and would be “a great addition” to state parks, noting that the state does have camping trailside opportunities farther north but not in the Berlin area.

The amenities at Jericho include swimming, fishing and canoeing due to a flood control reservoir built to regulate the flow of the Dead River through the city center of Berlin, located downstream. 

There are bath houses, picnic sites with grills, and a shelter that is still used for functions. It is the only major state-owned ATV riding area in New Hampshire. 

The trail system is operated and supported by the Androscoggin Valley ATV club and by the White Mountain Ridge Runners Snowmobile club, both of Berlin through a maintenance agreement with the state.

In 2013 as part of the Ride the Wilds effort, a new ATV club, the Sunset Riders ATV club of Success, opened a new connecting trail system between Success Pond and the Millsfield trail system in Errol, allowing connectivity between the Berlin/Jericho areas and other towns and existing riding areas to the north. Riders at the Jericho park can now ride to the towns of Gorham, Berlin, Errol, Millsfield, Colebrook, Stewartstown, Pittsburg, Columbia, Stratford, and Groveton as well as to the states of Maine and Vermont.

The executive council meets this Wednesday in Hollis at the Brookdale Fruit Farm to vote on this and other contracts.

A link to the state park website is here https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/jericho-mountain-state-park

Money for the project is coming from a federal post-COVID-19 recovery program in which the state has received almost $1 billion.