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All the United States New Hampshire Lincoln Clark's Trading Post

Clark's Trading Post

Come for the gun-toting hillbilly madman, stay for the ice-cream loving basketball bears.

Lincoln, New Hampshire

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Clark’s Trading Post   Cliff on Flickr
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Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
Clark’s Trading Post   kendra mack
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The infamous Wolfman’s keep and a rocket, to keep you out of his mine while you’re on the train   ickaimp / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Sitting beside Route 3 in northern New Hampshire, Clark's Trading Post is a modest theme park preserving the eccentric and wonderful tradition of the New England roadside attraction.

The majority of the park's campus is a recreation of turn-of-the-twentieth century “main street” America, complete with a fire house, car garage, and ice cream parlor. The majority of these buildings actually house museums, which are informal in arrangement, and yet boast impressive collections of “old time Americana,” including electrical, mechanical, automotive, musical, and entertainment artifacts. There's even an exhibit dedicated solely to Moxie, a soft drink beloved to many New Englanders. And visitors should bring plenty of nickels and dimes to drop into the impressive collection of fully functional coin-operated player pianos and mutoscopes scattered throughout the park.

But Clark's Trading Post is best known not for its museums, but the Bear Show and steam-powered train rides that run at timed intervals throughout the day. Since 1949, the park has featured trained black bears that perform tricks such as swinging, dunking basketballs, rolling on barrels, and riding scooters – all performed at the incentive of ice cream licks. Nearly as notorious is the scenic locomotive ride into the woods, where visitors are delighted (and perhaps perplexed) to meet the Wolfman – a scruffy bearded “backwoods recluse” who chases after the train in a ramshackle tractor. Classic New England fun!

Clark's Trading Post has been around since 1928, opening first as a roadside attraction featuring sled dogs (now absent, though there's now a sled dog museum). Beyond black bears and Wolfman, the park features Segway tours, mind-trick attractions, and other unique amusements and shops.  

Update April 2018: Sadly, the Wolfman has passed away. 

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Amusement Parks Bears Animals Museums Museums And Collections

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kendrawashere

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e1savage, EricGrundhauser, ickaimp

  • e1savage
  • EricGrundhauser
  • ickaimp

Published

August 19, 2013

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark's_Trading_Post
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/6075
Clark's Trading Post
110 Daniel Webster Highway
Lincoln, New Hampshire, 03251
United States
44.048277, -71.685902
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Nearby Places

Ice Castles

Woodstock, New Hampshire

miles away

Indian Head

Lincoln, New Hampshire

miles away

The Basin

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Lincoln

Lincoln

New Hampshire

Places 4

Nearby Places

Ice Castles

Woodstock, New Hampshire

miles away

Indian Head

Lincoln, New Hampshire

miles away

The Basin

Lincoln, New Hampshire

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Lincoln

Lincoln

New Hampshire

Places 4

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