The Rocks Estate is for the birds – and bear and deer and…

Bluebird atop a Christmas tree

We’re best known at The Rocks for growing Christmas trees, but there’s more to the property than neat rows of fir trees lining the fields. With some 1,400 acres of managed farm and forest lands, The Rocks is home to countless wildlife species, including turkey, bear, deer, and an array of songbirds and raptors who nest here or simply pass through seasonally.

Northern Goshawk

Earlier this week we were visited by a flock of bluebirds, who perched in the Christmas trees, pretty as any ornament. Killdeer are summer nesters in our fields. After we mow the fields to keep the grass low between our trees, we often see Northern Goshawks and Kestrels, which both assist our Christmas tree cultivation efforts by hunting voles, which can damage and kill trees by eating the roots and bark.

With trails through open fields and woods, The Rocks is a popular place for birders. So, if you’re coming to one of our tag-your-own tree weekends this fall, or simply looking for a pretty place to explore amid the blaze of fall color, bring your binoculars along. You might see something unexpected!

The Rocks Estate is the North Country Conservation & Education Center for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.

Tag-Your-Own Christmas tree at The Rocks Estate – and make it gaudy!

Dig out the Christmas tree decorations… tag-your-own tree season opens at The Rocks Estate this weekend! And with the varied colors of fall foliage popping, there’s no more beautiful time to visit the farm – and get a jump start on the holiday season.

The Rocks will be open for tag-your-own weekends from September 22^nd through October 22^nd. During that time, the two holiday shops at The Rocks will also be open, as will the extensive trails system on the property and self-guided tours of the interactive New Hampshire Maple Experience. As always, leashed pets are welcome to accompany their humans at The Rocks.

Tag-your-own tree seekers are encouraged to select a tree in the field and decorate it in their own unique style using ornaments, ribbons, and whatever else it takes to distinguish that tree as their own. The showier, the better – and easier to find come cutting time. Customers should return after the farm opens for the season, between November 17^th and December 24^th, to cut and pay for their tagged Christmas tree. 

To celebrate tag-your-own season, The Rocks is inviting customers to participate in a “Gaudiest Tree” contest on Facebook by posting a photo of their tagged tree to The Rocks Estate’s Facebook page. The tree with the most “likes” will be presented to that customer free of charge. Visit The Rocks Facebook page for details. 

The Marketplace at The Rocks and the farm store will both be open during tag-your-own weekends. The Marketplace features an array of goods from various New England artisans, as well as Fair Trade items, from pet goods and ornaments to jewelry and home goods. The Rocks farm store is filled with local maple syrup, along with jams and jellies, Rocks t-shirts and mugs, ornaments and decorations.

Whether you’re looking for your perfect tree, hoping to get an early start to your holiday shopping, or just want to enjoy the kaleidoscope of autumn colors and surrounding mountain vistas, we hope to see you at The Rocks this fall!

The maple’s gift to autumn: crisp color

The springtime gift of the sugar maple tree is the sap used to make maple syrup and sugar. In autumn, the sugar maple offers another gift: crisp color that stretches from golden yellow to brilliant red and paints the hillsides like a calico quilt.

There is, perhaps, no more splendid time to visit The Rocks Estate and the New Hampshire Maple Experience than during the color explosion of autumn. The Maple Museum is open through Columbus Day for self-guided tours that will bring visitors into a landscape of color to the museum and sugar house, contained in one of many carefully restored historic buildings at The Rocks.

Guided maple tours are also available to bus groups and those looking for a personalized experiential tour. 

As always, our trails are open daily, from dawn to dusk, for visitors to meander and explore. Smart phone users may enjoy the Mobile Tour of The Rocks Estate, which uses QR codes to share the property’s history, modern day forest conservation and management efforts, and information about the varieties of Christmas trees grown on the farm.

Speaking of Christmas trees… tag-your-own Christmas tree season runs weekends at The Rocks from September 22^nd - October 22^nd. Take in the fall foliage as you search for and mark your own perfect Christmas tree, which you’ll be able to collect and pay for beginning November 17^th, when The Rocks officially opens for the Christmas tree season. The two holiday shops will also be open at The Rocks during tag-your-own weekends.

So, whether you want to get an early start on your holiday shopping, are interested in learning more about the age-old tradition of maple sugaring, or just want to take in the unbeatable scenery of The Rocks Estate in autumn, we hope you’ll visit us this season!

Bretzfelder Series welcomes Owls of New Hampshire and Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

The Bretzfelder Family Educational Series continues this Wednesday, August 15 at Bretzfelder Park with a program on the Owls of New Hampshire, as the Forest Society welcomes a naturalist and three live owls from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. 

Who calls in the night? Who glides through the dark on shadowy wings in silent flight? The program will answer these questions and will include a discussion of the habitat needs for the three different owl species exhibited. The Forest Society protects the places where these beautiful nocturnal birds of prey live throughout the state of New Hampshire.

This hands-on, interactive program is designed to engage and educate people of all ages.

Check The Rocks Estate calendar for additional details.

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The summer Bretzfelder Series concludes August 22 with a demonstration of wild lands firefighting. District Forest Ranger Steve Sherman will lead the demonstration, with wardens from the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands and members of the Bethlehem Fire Department assisting. The firefighters will demonstrate how they use special tools, equipment and tactics to fight wildfires.

Weather permitting, the firefighters will conduct a live demonstration with a fire at the park. More information about the demonstration is on our calendar.

Bretzfelder Series continues with tour of Wildlife Habitat Trail

The summer session of the Bretzfelder Park Family Educational Series continues this Wednesday, August 8 at 7 p.m. with a guided tour of the new Wildlife Habitat Trail at Bretzfelder Park.

The 1.5-mil trail, which opened last year, was designed to provide a year-round outdoor educational venue for families and local teachers. The trail traverses several wildlife habitats, including wetland, beaver marsh, spruce-fir forest, and deciduous forest. Interpretive signs along the way describe the various habitats and the animals living there.

The Wildlife Habitat Trail was developed in a collaborative effort between the Forest Society and Bethlehem’s Bretzfelder Park Committee, who work in conjunction to manage the park.

Priscilla Didio will lead the guided tour of the trail. Didio is a local naturalist and a teacher at Bethlehem Elementary School and helped design the trail’s interpretive signs and develop the trail as an interactive learning activity that appeals to all ages. For more information about the trail and the tour, check The Rocks calendar.

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On August 15, the Bretzfelder Series continues with a program on the Owls of New Hampshire, as the Forest Society welcomes a naturalist and live owls from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. 

The program will cover myths and facts about various owl species, as well as the habitat needs of owls. Check our calendar for additional details.

***

The summer Bretzfelder Series concludes August 22 with a demonstration of wild lands firefighting. District Forest Ranger Steve Sherman will lead the demonstration, with wardens from the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands and members of the Bethlehem Fire Department assisting. The firefighters will demonstrate how they use special tools, equipment and tactics to fight wildfires.

Weather permitting, the firefighters will conduct a live demonstration with a fire at the park. More information about the demonstration is on our calendar.

Bretzfelder Series begins with Ms. Barb’s Nature Songs

Ms. Barb and Ms. Woodchuck  - Chris Whiton photo

This week marks the start of August, which means the summer session of the Bretzfelder Park Family Educational Series kicks off Wednesday!

Local naturalist and musician Barb Desroches begins the Bretzfelder series with her wonderfully entertaining and informative performance of Ms.Barb’s Nature Songs. Barb’s original music is packed with fun facts about the wildlife around us. She’ll bring along her animal puppet friends to help her entertain and inform.

Barb’s music is geared toward children aged 3 years and older, who will be encouraged to sing along. The fun starts at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, August1. 

***

The explorative learning continues August 8 with a guided tour of the Wildlife Habitat Trail of Bretzfelder Park.

The 1.5-mil trail, which opened last year, was designed to provide a year-round outdoor educational venue for families and local teachers. The trail traverses several wildlife habitats, including wetland, beaver marsh, spruce-fir forest, and deciduous forest. Interpretive signs along the way describe the various habitats and the animals living there.

The Wildlife Habitat Trail was developed in a collaborative effort between the Forest Society and Bethlehem’s Bretzfelder Park Committee, who work in conjunction to manage the park.

Priscilla Didio will lead the guided tour of the trail. Didio is a local naturalist and a teacher at Bethlehem Elementary School and helped design the trail’s interpretive signs and develop the trail as an interactive learning activity that appeals to all ages. For more information about the trail and the tour, check The Rocks calendar.  

***

On August 15, the Bretzfelder Series continues with a program on the Owls of New Hampshire, as the Forest Society welcomes a naturalist and live owls from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. 

The program will cover myths and facts about various owl species, as well as the habitat needs of owls. Check our calendar for additional details.

***

The summer Bretzfelder Series concludes August 22 with a demonstration of wild lands firefighting. District Forest Ranger Steve Sherman will lead the demonstration, with wardens from the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands and members of the Bethlehem Fire Department assisting. The firefighters will demonstrate how they use special tools, equipment and tactics to fight wildfires.

Weather permitting, the firefighters will conduct a live demonstration with a fire at the park. More information about the demonstration is on our calendar.

Oh, Christmas Tree – Shearing & Pruning at The Rocks

Chances are your thoughts are far from the chilly days of winter as you enjoy summer… but at The Rocks Estate, Christmas and Christmas trees are always on our minds!

Trimming the top...

In July and August our staff is busy in the field, basal pruning and shearing our thousands of fir trees by hand. Pruning and shearing help ensure that our trees grow into the lovely symmetrical Christmas trees our customers look for come the holidays.

We start shearing – shaping each tree by trimming its sides, and cutting buds from the top whorl to prevent multiple top branches – the first week of July. With more than 50,000 trees growing in our fields, it takes us all summer, right through to September, to complete this job.  

...and the bottom.

When a tree has been in the field for three years, we also basal prune, cutting the lower branches to a height of 6- to 10-inches from the ground. This allows better air flow around the tree, which helps prevent disease. It also ensures that the lower branches are not broken or twisted and the trees are not shaken when we mow between rows. And, of course, it allows a smooth “handle” for the customer to place the Christmas tree stand come tree trimming time!

With a weather cycle of rain followed by high heat this summer, we’ve also been doing extra mowing around our trees. So, rest assured, we’re looking out year-round for your future Christmas trees and making sure they grow up fragrant and beautiful!