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!

Sowing the seed(ling)s and other Summer Fun

Planting from a bucket of saplings.

We’ve been busy this spring at The Rocks Estate planting saplings and fertilizing all 52,000 Christmas trees we have growing on the farm. 

In April we planted 4,000 Fraser fir and Canaan fir seedlings, which will grow into full-sized Christmas trees over the next 6-9 years. Next on the to-do list was fertilizing all the trees we have growing in various fields around The Rocks.

Even with Christmas many months in the future, we’re busy taking care of our trees in the field nearly all year ’round! Later this summer we’ll tackle the annual hands-on job of topping and shearing the trees to ensure they’ll continue to grow into full, beautiful, well-proportioned Christmas trees.

There’s plenty of summer activity beyond tending to the trees at The Rocks Estate, too. We’re gearing up for our 32^nd Annual Wildflower Festival on June 2 and the official opening of our Wildlife Habitat Trail at Bretzfelder Park the following week. Check our online calendar for more information. 

We also have weddings lined up through the summer, as well as a variety of groups coming to the farm for customized tours and talks on topics ranging from formal gardens and local heritage to maple sugaring and the wildlife living on and around the farm. To learn more about the array of experiential tours and educational programs at The Rocks, please visit our website. 

As always, our trails are open in every season, from dawn ’til dusk, so come on up and visit The Rocks this summer – we’d love to see you!