MIDDLETON — Residents can take in the changing colors of the season on Saturday while visiting a property protected for recreation and conservation.

Members of Moose Mountain Regional Greenways, a non-profit organization based in Wakefield, are coordinating participants for a free autumn hike, scheduled for Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., along the trails of the Moose Mountains Reservation, a property owned by the Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests.

A small parking area, a kiosk and a trailhead to the 2,325-acre property, which straddles the Middleton-Brookfield border, is at the end of New Portsmouth Road off Ridge Road in Middleton.

MMRG Chair Art Slocum and Forest Society volunteer land stewards Jason Morris and Scott Lavoice will lead the tour of Phoebe's Nable Mountain and the new Beauty Ledge trail. Both areas have panoramic views of the valley below and mountain ranges beyond, according to a release by MMRG

Executive Director Virginia Long said the view is worth the trip up the mountain, especially since volunteer land stewards cleared newly improved view-cuts from the tops. She added the Beauty Ledge trail, new as of last summer, while Phoebe's Nable has been improved recently.

Participants, who are asked to leave their dogs at home, should bring a bag lunch and be prepared to scale a few steep sections along the trail.

Residents and visitors can enjoy more than eight miles of unmarked trails, which are a mix of footpaths, wooded areas, roads and snowmobile trails, on the property, according to the Forest Society's website.

The Moose Mountains Reservation, which the Forest Society acquired in 2005-06, includes Phoebe's Naple Mountain, which has a height of 1,178 feet.

The two organizations have worked together closely and often team up for events on the property in the past few years, according to Long.

Saturday's hike will take place even if it showers. To pre-register, call 978-7125 or email info@mmrg.info. For more information, go to the website of Moose Mountain Regional Greenways at mmrg.info or the Forest Society's website at forestsociety.org.

jquinn@newstote.com