Bus tours rolling into The Rocks Estate

Tour buses rolling along the back roads and state highways are a common sight all around New England this time of year. As the leaves transform the landscape into a breathtaking medley of colors, people come from all over to take in the beautiful fall foliage. And sometimes they come by the tour bus load.

The road to The Rocks is bathed in fall color!

While The Rocks is known most popularly as a Christmas tree farm, we’re also the North Country Conservation & Education Center of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. As part of our education mission, The Rocks offers natural history programs and tours year-round, as well as working with other area businesses and attractions to boost the region’s economy

Yes, there is more to The Rocks than the neat rows of Christmas trees and picturesque views.

When bus tours first started finding their way to The Rocks, the passengers would generally get off the bus, take a quick look around, snap a few photos and reload for the next destination. Oh, how things have changed!

This year The Rocks will welcome a total of 52 bus tours to the Estate, with groups selecting from a variety of natural history programs to enjoy during their visit. These range from the New Hampshire Maple Experience and tours of the Estate’s formal gardens to presentations on some of New Hampshire’s most famous wildlife – moose and bear.

Fifty-two busloads of visitors translates to more than 2,500 people touring The Rocks and neighboring businesses and attractions. From The Rocks, buses often roll on to the Cog Railway at Mt. Washington or Littleton’s celebrated Main Street. Rocks Estate staff members and volunteers also tout other area attractions like the Brick Store in Bath and Harman’s Cheese & Country Store in Sugar Hill. 

Whether you come by bus, car, or motorcycle, we hope you’ll visit The Rocks Estate and the surrounding area this fall. While you’re here, we invite you to jump into the holidays by Tagging-Your-Own Christmas tree in our fields and visiting our fun and festive shops!

Bus Touring at The Rocks Estate

While winter – and finding the perfect Christmas tree – is the most famous season at The Rocks Estate, fall foliage season is quickly catching on, as visitors enjoy the kaleidoscopic colors of autumn at the Estate and on the surrounding hills and mountains. Often, the fall visitors arrive via tour bus, and it used to be that the bus would pull in, the tourists would unload, take a few photos, climb back on board, and head to the next pretty destination.

Now, more buses (nearly 60 this year!) are coming to The Rocks, and the bus tourists are staying longer and experiencing The Rocks more fully – whether through guided tours of the property or expert-led discussions of the wildlife living in and around this historic 1,400-acre property, now the North Country Conservation & Education Center for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.

Each group chooses a personalized visit to the Estate and is invited to select from a list of natural history programs. The most popular of these is a visit to the New Hampshire Maple Experience and Museum, housed in one of the many history buildings at The Rocks that have been carefully restored for modern use. The Maple Experience includes a virtual tour of the maple sugaring process, which happens in the spring when the sap flows through the sugar maple trees at The Rocks and is collected to make maple syrup. (Visitors are also welcome to visit the gift shop, where they’ll find maple syrup, along with an array of other great gifts!)

A group of visitors from the Midwest at The Rocks.

Other popular group programs at The Rocks include the moose & bear talks led by the Estate’s manager, Nigel Manley, who is an avid outdoorsman, and the Gardens of Yesteryear program, which uses hand-colored slides from 1933 to illustrate the timeless beauty of the formal gardens still maintained at The Rocks.

Whether you’re arriving via tour bus, or coming with your family to enjoy a picnic and tag-your-own tree, we hope you’ll visit The Rocks this fall and enjoy the beauty of autumn in New Hampshire!