Abe Emerson Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary consists of 103 acres that is primarily a wetland complex of red maple swamp and open marsh. This area drains into the Lamprey River, which flows into coastal Great Bay.

The Sanctuary’s gentle terrain does not deviate much from its average elevation of 425 feet. The upland areas (which comprise less than 20% of the Sanctuary) are wooded with closed-canopy forest dominated by red maple, oak (mostly northern red oak and white oak), and white pine. the wetland areas range from slow-moving open water to cattail-dominated open marsh to shrub wetlands to a red maple-dominated swamp. This diversity of habitat supports a wide variety of aquatic and wetland-associated plants and animals including dragonflies, frogs, salamanders, turtles, ducks, herons, beaver, mink, and muskrat.

During the early twentieth century, Abraham F. Emerson (1865-1947), a banker, church member, and farm manager, utilized much of what is now the Sanctuary to produce hay crops. The stone walls that remain are evidence of the agricultural use of the land in former times. The Emerson family donated the Sanctuary land to New Hampshire Audubon in 1974 and continued to donate additional acreage to the Sanctuary until 1984.

The AllTrails website has a description and map of a hike at the Abe Emerson Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary.