Clearing house lots, commercial sites and acreage between the Merrimack River and the ridges.
We clear land in Hooksett for builders, homeowners preparing a lot, landowners opening up acreage and commercial owners along the Route 3 corridor. Our track loaders, mini excavator and grapple handle trees, stumps and brush, and our trucks and trailers haul debris off site. Stumps can be ground in place.
Call (603) 438-6492 or use Get a Quote with the address or a parcel map and what you want the land ready for. We are family owned, fully insured and have 12 years of experience. For a closer look at the equipment and process, see our land clearing page.
Hooksett's zoning puts specific limits on how much and how close you can clear. These are the ones we check first.
Nonresidential development along the Merrimack River must leave a 100-foot strip of natural vegetation under the town's zoning, and the Planning Board can require new planting where a buffer is thin. On a river-side commercial parcel, the clearing line is set by that strip, not the property line.
In the U.S. Route 3 Corridor Performance Zone, a steep slope is a half acre or more of continuous ground steeper than 25 percent, and no more than half of it may be cleared of healthy vegetation. Clearing a corridor lot with a bank or ridge edge often means leaving part of it standing.
Hooksett requires a 40-foot undisturbed buffer around wetlands of one acre or more and 100 feet around prime wetlands. Those lines fix where machines can work, which matters most on larger wooded parcels with wet pockets.
Land near the Merrimack includes floodplain forest, and the town's zoning ties work in floodplains to its Floodplain Development Ordinance. We ask early whether any part of the lot falls inside it.
Hooksett prohibits removing sod, loam, sand or gravel from a lot unless it is incidental to construction, agriculture or normal landscaping, or the Board of Adjustment grants a special permit. If grading will generate material to export, we flag it in the plan.
Larger clearing jobs can trigger state and town rules. These are the ones we look for with you.
Alteration of Terrain. NHDES requires a permit when earth moving cumulatively disturbs more than 100,000 square feet over 10 years, or more than 50,000 square feet if any part is in protected shoreland (Env-Wq 1500 (opens in a new tab); RSA 485-A:17 (opens in a new tab)).
Wetlands. Excavating, removing, filling or dredging in or on any bank, flat, marsh or swamp next to state waters needs a state permit (RSA 482-A:3 (opens in a new tab)). Hooksett's Wetlands Conservation Overlay District adds local buffers (Zoning Ordinance, Article 18 (opens in a new tab)).
Town rules. The ordinance sets a 100-foot vegetation buffer for nonresidential development along the Merrimack River (Article 3, Section L), limits clearing on steep slopes in the Route 3 corridor (Article 10-A), and requires a Board of Adjustment special permit to remove earth materials from a lot except in listed cases (Article 3, Section D).
Intent to Cut. If clearing produces timber, the owner files a notice of intent to cut with the town's assessing officials before each cutting operation (RSA 79:10 (opens in a new tab)).
Check with Hooksett's planning and assessing offices for your parcel. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Sources: NH Code of Administrative Rules Env-Wq 1500 (Alteration of Terrain); NH RSA 485-A:17, Terrain Alteration; NH RSA 482-A:3, Wetlands permits; NH RSA 79:10, Notice of intent to cut; Town of Hooksett Zoning Ordinance 2026, Articles 3, 10-A and 18
HomeGuide (opens in a new tab) puts national land clearing averages at about $1,200 to $8,000 per acre: roughly $1,200 to $2,500 for light brush, $2,500 to $4,500 for moderate growth and $4,500 to $8,000 for dense woods. Grading is listed separately at about $2,000 to $5,000 for a small home site on mostly level land, and much more on rocky ground. These are national reference ranges, not our prices.
Land clearing has too many variables for a calculator, so we price it after looking at the lot. If part of the job is brush or small trees, our forestry mulching cost calculator gives a rough starting point.
Cost references: HomeGuide: Land Clearing Cost
A few places locals know, and what they mean for outdoor work nearby.
A steep granite promontory above the Merrimack River in a town park, reached by a roughly 1.1-mile hike with about 200 feet of climb. It is a reminder of how quickly lots in town change from river flats to steep, rocky ground.
Get directions to Hooksett Pinnacle (opens Google Maps in a new tab)About 116 acres of protected land along the Merrimack River off Merrimack Street, including floodplain forest and hay and corn fields. It is one of the last undeveloped stretches of riverfront south of Concord, and a good example of open land that has to be managed around the river.
Get directions to Merrimack riverfront conservation land (opens Google Maps in a new tab)The pond that supplies Hooksett's primary public water source. The town's zoning requires a 50-foot no-cut buffer around the pond and along both sides of Brickyard Brook inside the wellhead protection area.
Get directions to Pinnacle Pond (opens Google Maps in a new tab)The village center at the Merrimack River bridge crossing, a census-designated place of about 5,300 residents. Work in built-up areas like this is usually close to neighbors and buildings.
Get directions to Hooksett village (opens Google Maps in a new tab)Photos from our crew's jobs across New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
For nonresidential development, Hooksett requires a 100-foot natural vegetation buffer along the river, and state shoreland rules apply within 250 feet of public waters. We look at the parcel and its buffer lines before we set a clearing limit.
Yes. Corridor lots can have steep banks where the town allows no more than half of the slope to be cleared of healthy vegetation. Send the address and a site plan if you have one, and tell us what the lot will be used for.
Only for larger projects: more than 100,000 square feet disturbed over 10 years, or more than 50,000 square feet when any part is in protected shoreland. Many single house lots stay under the line, but add up past work on the same parcel.
Hooksett limits removing sod, loam, sand and gravel unless it is incidental to construction, agriculture or normal landscaping, or the Board of Adjustment issues a special permit. Tell us early if the project will create extra material.
Yes. We can grind stumps in place 4 to 8 inches below grade, or pull them if the plan calls for it. Stumps within 50 feet of the river may have to stay in the ground under state shoreland rules.
We haul logs and debris away with our trucks and trailers, or mulch brush in place when that suits the lot. Tell us if you want to keep firewood. If the cut produces timber, the owner files an intent to cut notice before work.
See every town we cover on our service areas page.
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