You can walk a mile in Conway right now that did not exist a few summers ago, and nobody on the town warrant had to approve it. A few hundred yards away, the extension the town actually owns is still working through ballots and state safety meetings. Same trail system, same season, two completely different clocks.
If you have lived here through any of it, you already sense the pattern without naming it. The rec path most of us walk today came from the town, through a decade of partnership agreements and construction seasons. But the piece that got built fastest, with no vote required, came from the outlet mall next door.
The 2.9 Miles That Took Longer Than It Sounds
The Mt. Washington Valley Trails Association and the Town of Conway signed a formal public-private partnership back in 2015, giving MWVTA authority to build and maintain public, multi-use trails within town limits. Paving on the first stretch, the 2.9-mile stretch from Cranmore Mountain Resort to Hemlock Lane, did not begin until May 2023, and the path became officially open to the public that July. A ribbon-cutting followed that September.
Settlers Green, the developer behind the outlet center on Route 16, described Phase 1 as "over a decade in the making" in its own announcement. That is not an exaggeration. Between the 2015 agreement and the 2023 opening, the town, the state, and a nonprofit trails group had to line up engineering, three wetland-crossing bridges, and a construction contract before the first walker or cyclist ever used the path.
The Mile Nobody Had to Vote For
While the town was finishing that public stretch, the mall was building its own. In the same year Phase 1 opened, OVP Management, the company that owns and operates Settlers Green, donated nearly one acre of its own commercial land on Hemlock Lane to MWVTA, land meant to become a gateway park at the trail's southern end. That same summer, Settlers Green also introduced a separate one-mile walking route on its own property, timed to open alongside the public path next door.
MWVTA president Chris Meier described what the donated land would let the association build there as an inviting and accessible public gateway to the Rec Path, with park areas and other amenities. REI Co-op chipped in too, giving $20,000 toward Phase 1 construction and an additional $5,000 earmarked for the not-yet-built Phase 2.
None of that required a warrant article. It required a developer, a nonprofit, and a corporate donor deciding to move.
| Year | Public Rec Path (Town + MWVTA) | Settlers Green (Private) |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Town and MWVTA sign formal partnership | — |
| 2023 | Phase 1 paved and opens, Cranmore to Hemlock Lane | Donates ~1 acre for trail gateway; opens its own 1-mile walking loop; REI gives $20,000 |
| 2024 | Engineering review of proposed Phase 2 begins | — |
| 2025 | NHDOT holds public meeting on Phase 2 rail-corridor route | — |
| 2026 | Phase 2 funding secured; town ballot vote on design | Books-A-Million relocation opens; Ulta Beauty and Lululemon signed |
What Phase 2 Is Actually Waiting On
Phase 2 would extend the path north from the Cranmore trailhead, through Whitaker Woods, and along the old Mountain Division rail corridor toward the Intervale Scenic Overlook. Getting there has taken longer than the mile of pavement suggests it should.
Bergeron Technical, a local engineering firm, was brought in during the early summer of 2024 to review the proposed design and flag concerns before the project moved further. In 2025, New Hampshire's Department of Transportation held a public meeting, drawing a crowd of roughly 70 people, where officials said they were committed to allowing the path to use the rail corridor between Whitaker Woods and Intervale Cross Road if it could be done safely.
By early 2026, the money was finally in place. The Connie Davis Watson Foundation committed $1 million toward construction, and the federal Economic Development Administration added $2.2 million through the Northern Border Regional Commission, fully funding the extension to the Intervale Scenic Overlook. But funding was not the finish line. Conway voters still had to weigh in on Article 46, a town ballot measure asking residents to approve Phase 2 as designed by the town's project engineer, HEB Engineering. Local coverage has also tracked selectmen reversing their own position on the project at least once along the way.
None of this is a complaint about how towns work. It is simply the honest difference between a project that needs a vote and one that does not. If you have wondered why the mall's walking loop felt like it appeared overnight while the town's extension keeps showing up in meeting agendas, that is the answer.
What Opened This Spring While Phase 2 Waited
Settlers Green did not slow down while the town sorted out Phase 2. Books-A-Million relocated to a space three times the size of its original spot, moving from 1500 White Mountain Highway to 2 Common Court Building, Suite D32, about a five-minute drive away. The new store officially opened on May 15, 2026, with a grand opening celebration featuring book signings, raffles, and face painting on May 29 and 30. It is one of only three Books-A-Million locations in New Hampshire, alongside Concord and West Lebanon.
Earlier this year, OVP Management also announced it had signed Ulta Beauty and Lululemon, calling 2026 a big year for the center as it works to bring in brands North Conway shoppers had been asking for.
Closer to today's date, Settlers Green is hosting its Back-to-School Blitz on August 14 and 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with two days of kids' activities timed to back-to-school shopping season.
A quick rundown of what that means if you have not been by lately:
- Books-A-Million: new, larger location at 2 Common Court, Suite D32, open since mid-May
- Ulta Beauty and Lululemon: signed for 2026, part of the center's newest wave of retailers
- Back-to-School Blitz: August 14 to 15, family activities paired with back-to-school shopping
Tuesday Nights Belong to the Farmers Market
Not everything worth knowing about this summer runs through Settlers Green. The Mount Washington Valley Farmers Market runs its 2026 season on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., June 23 through September 29, at the North Conway Community Center. The market is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit built around connecting local food producers with residents, and it accepts SNAP and EBT, with the Granite State Market Match program doubling those benefits on the spot. Regulars can also pick up a Loyal to Local card, which earns a $25 credit after five visits.
Parking is free along Main Street and around Schouler Park, with a smaller lot behind the Community Center for overflow. Restrooms are available through the Community Center's side door, marked with open flags on market days, or at the New England Ski Museum next door.
Two Clocks, One Town
None of this means the town is slow or the mall is fast in some permanent sense. It means Conway runs on two different systems at once. One moves through warrant articles, state safety reviews, and federal grant cycles. The other moves whenever a developer decides it is worth the investment. Most weeks, you benefit from both without thinking about which one built what.
That is worth knowing the next time you are walking the Hemlock Lane trailhead and wondering why the mall's stretch felt like it showed up overnight while the extension north toward Intervale still shows up in select board minutes. It is not a mystery. It is just two different kinds of infrastructure, moving at two different speeds, in the same small town.
If you are curious how projects like these tend to affect property values or insurance considerations for homes near the rec path corridor, that is the kind of local detail our team at Oberg Insurance & Real Estate tracks as part of everyday business in the Lakes Region and Mount Washington Valley. Contact us anytime you want a straight answer from people who actually live here.
