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Clark's Trading Post
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
8 reviews for Clark's Trading Post
Pretty cool!
Went here on Sunday. Easy drive just straight up 93 for a couple hours. Traffic was nothin'.
Neat place! You pay like $17 each to get in, and once inside you can do any of the activities within. They have little museums of stuff like old cars and old ... stuff. They have little shops - one where you can dip-color your own candles. A couple of weird little houses that the hosts guide your through - each place with an optical illusion of sorts. Rock Climbing wall. Water-boat things. Oh, and segways. And Bears. And BEARS ON SEGWAYS.
The bear show was really cute.
We even took the goofy train ride out and got attacked by the "wolfman". I want that job.
Cool place. Got young kids? They'll be in heaven here.
We came totally for "da bears" and ended up having the best time here on our week vacation!
THIS PLACE ROCKS! It's a cute little place but packed with a bunch of cool stuff to do! You can take the little train through the woods and get chased down by "Wolfman" ! It's actually really fun! I know it sounds really lame. But, hey I"m 41 and I had a blast. The place is super clean, too!
First, let me tell you about the bears! Those bears live better than us! They were loving it! They really love those bears! They keep the ring so amazingly clean. They were walking around several times just picking up the smallest piece of "nothing" and throwing it away! The show was really great! The bears were swinging on swings, getting in barrels, riding segways and scooters! They were hilarious. I really love animals and this was just great to see how happy these animals really are! They were actually excited and scratching to come out and put on the show. They love their ice cream!
On to the park. Super clean and very well taken care of. It's like a mini street full with mini house that are filled with some antiques! There's one fun ride called "Merlin's Mansion."
Best part of the day..BUT, it is extra and worth every single penny...PAY THE EXTRA!! You get to take segways in the back woods of Clarks and cruise around on ski mobile tracks and woods and again to see "WOLFMAN" (Who by the way is super nice-he takes pictures and feeds chipmunks) This ride was amazing and I cannot wait to do this again next year. The staff were absolutely amazing and a blast!!! I will defintitely return next year just for the segways..oh and the bears!!!!!!
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Clark is definitely still alive. I go every year with my family, and now his son does the show. Every year its the same show, and same jokes, but its is still so much fun to go see the bears. Seeing bears play basketball and ride a bike is just awesome.
It is also a village with museums, and shops. They have Merlin's mansion where you sit down the room spins around you, and then there is rock climbing and bumper boats. A nice day of family fun. The ice cream is great. Mark and I got our picture taken in vintage clothing- its on my profile page if you take a look.
I love it!! Worth it if you travel to NH!
I don't know if Clark is still alive (he was about 800 years old when I went as a kid), but the Bear Show was great. Bears eating ice cream; bear sitting in chairs, doing tricks; bears pulling hijinks on Clark much to the audience's delight...oh sweet childhood memories.
If bear shows are not your thing, there are all kinds of cute little attractions at the trading post. For example:
- Wander into the shops for some Native American-inspired jewelry, art, apparel and decor. I love those cedar-scented sachets for drawers...
- Go on the train ride. But this isn't just any train ride, you will undoubtedly come across the Wolfman, where you get to scream G-rated obscenities like "Scram, you old goat!" until you're blue in the face and he rides off in his little buggy, shaking his stick. (I didn't actually realize this was not an actual "wolfman" until I was 9. )
- Go to the Tuttle House. Yes, everything is on an angle, its kind of cool as you walk through their crooked home. Hey, maybe the builder had vertigo...
- Check out the large emporium with things like old engines, old Americana...and, if you are young and easily excited by novelty things, a PIANO THAT PLAYS ITSELF. Gee whiz!
- Merlin's Mystical Mansion. Hey, are we sitting on the ceiling? Why, yes, yes we are.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of Clark's Trading Post trips. I would highly recommend it as a side trip if you are in the area, stop by if you have kids 6 and up.
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Great fun, been going here since I was a kid and now bring my kids each year, still get a kick out of the wolfman and the tutles crooked house. They got a new ride this year on segways that looks cool.
Whenever I try to explain this place, people look at me like I am crazy.
Trained bears, a wolfman, candle making, Merlin's Mansion, circus freaks, olde timey photographs, stuffed two-headed animals... what's not to love?
This is one of my favorite places ever, I even loved it when I was a bitter teenager.
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Come for the bears, stay for the chachki's.
The bears are pretty cool for sure, but that's actually why I've chopped off two stars - I just don't know how that sits with me, ethically. I think even when I visited this place, back when I was eleven, I was saddened by the bears, rather than delighted, and spent most of my time there, as I wandered the aisles upon aisles of Americana-crapola that's made in China, obsessing about how I could sneak back at night and liberate the bears.
With that being said, I still think of this place fondly, some 15+ years later. Hell, it's where I got my "New Hampshire: Don't Take it for Granite" bumper sticker. Plus, I think they sell hoarhound candy, which I love.
Bears eating ice cream.
Folks, there's your money's worth right there, and everything else is just gravy. In all seriousness, this place exceeded expectations, and would be a great place to bring visitors or families.
That being said, I think my wife and I were the only ones there without kids or grandparents, but it wasn't like being stuck in kiddie purgatory. Admission was like $12 for adults, and concessions are refreshingly non-inflated.
The bear shows, which is what it's all about, are pretty cool. One gets the sense that the bears are extremely well cared for, and their playful nature seems to indicate that they enjoy what they do. At any rate, it didn't trip off any alarms with my animal-loving vegetarian wife.
There's a steam train ride, where you can see the semi-famous "Wolfman". It's kitschy, but in an innocent and old-timey way.
The main park is organized like a miniature main street, with some museum exhibits and little shops.
All in all, it's a must-see for families with kids or grandkids, and worth the trip. Easy to get to off the highway, and located next to the Sunny Day Diner, where you should go eat!