Benson Park

Beautiful Park! Very clean, great for families. There are paved walking trails, wooded hiking trails, a playground, and a beautiful ⁹⁄₁₁ memorial. No indoor bathrooms, just Porta potties. There is a little store that sells snacks and souvenirs. As Dane Cook said, «This is where Benson’s (animal farm) used to be!!»

Such a cool place :) my boyfriend took my sister and I here in the winter to check it out. Gonna check it out in warm weather ! I really applaud the town for doing something awesome with it after Bensons closed! So much land being built up these days!

This is an amazing place to go walking, exploring, picnicking, reading, biking relaxing. A historical destination. It has a pond, wildlife, playground. Beautiful green open space. You can adopt a spot to plant a garden and take care of as necessary. Adjacent dog park but you can bring dog w you in the park as long as it’s on a leash and you clean up after your dog! Many Walking AND Biking Trails. Amazing memorial of ⁹⁄₁₁ is there as well. A must go to!

Very popular with the locals. All sorts of people come and enjoy the huge park right up until it gets dark. If you want to exercise, you can walk outer loops through the woods. Plenty of places to sit and relax. Plenty of grass for Frisbee. The best part are the tributes to the old amusement park/​zoo.

There’s not much more you can ask for from a park. On the site of the old Benson’s Wild Animal Farm, the zoo pathways have been completely redone. The paths lead the way around ponds, over bridges and past the old zoo exhibits, many of which have historical markers stating what used to be there.
Some of the animal cages are still there, like the gorilla cage are still there and you can walk around inside. Along with massive playground, there is an enormous dog park and ⁹⁄₁₁ memorial featuring a girder from the WTC.
It’s absolutely one of the best parks in NH.

I have been told by a thousand people that I had to visit this park, and I am so glad I finally did! Holy cow, walking around the trails will make you completely forget you are in Hudson. The committee in charge did such a phenomenal job on the landscaping and layout-​I couldn’t believe how beautiful and serene it was. Not to mention of course, it is a wonderful walk down memory lane of the old Benson’s Wild Animal Park and it was great to see the artifacts that were preserved. It was a trip to look in the windows of the Old Woman in a Shoe all these decades later, and also to visit the gorilla cage which was everybody’s favorite attraction back in the day. The door on the cage is open too, so I let my son go in and pretend he was a monkey… who knows if they allow it, but he thought it was fun. The playground is better than most parks in the area, and there are miles of trails with lush and interesting plant life. The September 11^th monument was so thoughtfully done, and it is hard to believe it is a piece of the actual World Trade Center tower. The dog park is enormous-​way bigger than Derry, and not crowded. If you haven’t been to this park I promise you it will be much nicer than you can even picture. We plan on going often, as it has something for everyone including the dog!

I am in love with Benson’s Park! ! The beauty, the walking trails and the serenity. … I wish I had seen it when it was a fully functioning zoo!

People forty and older will remember this park as the site of Benson’s Wild Animal Farm, which was open from 1926 to 1989. It was a great local cultural and entertainment attraction, a close second to Canobie Lake Park. Changing social trends causes attendance to drop throughout the 80s, and the park’s closure was a loss to the community. For many years the abandoned lands of this park were left to the ravages of weather, and vandals.
But a few years ago volunteers from around the community came together to improve the grounds, fix the trails, and rebuild and stabilize the remaining buildings. Now this park is the crown jewel of Hudson’s Park system with miles of beautiful, maintained trails, well maintained flower plantings, a small brook, a lake that one can fish in, and a gorgeous new playground for kids of all ages.