Holiday Shopping FUN at The Rocks – Shops Open Daily starting November 3!

The Rocks is THE place to visit for holiday shopping. Our two shops are a feast for the Christmas senses, with unique gift items, one-of-a-kind decorations, and plenty of tasty treats. (S’mores on a stick, anyone? Mmmmm!)

We get really excited about the holidays here, and we strive to fill our Rocks Marketplace and Farm Store shops with a festive combination of customer favorites and beautiful new items each year. We’re also dedicated to providing as many U.S.A.-made items in our shops, and lots of our great gift and holiday items are made right here in New England and the Northeast.

Our intricately whimsical Ginger Cottages are handcrafted in Virginia, and they’re simply radiating with holiday charm. From the snowflake-adorned Elf Academy and Hansel & Gretel’s Ginger Mint Company to the fantastic Cuckoo Clock featuring Santa’s sleigh, peppermints, and gingerbread people, each of these artful creations may be lit with a Christmas tree light to reveal the holiday secret inside!

The Rocks Marketplace also features jingle bells from New Hampshire-based New England Bells; hundreds of unique Christmas tree ornaments; handmade chocolate goodies (s’mores on a stick, bear and moose pops, and more) from RHD Candy just up the road in Lancaster, N.H.; books penned by local authors; handcrafted soaps from Wild Oak Farm in Landaff, N.H.;  Advent calendars from an artist in Maine featuring classic New England scenes; pottery from Sugar Hill; jewelry from Rhode Island… the list goes on and on.

And did we mention moose? Well, the Marketplace is swimming with New Hampshire’s favorite animal! We have moose magnets, moose candies, moose glasses, plush moose toys, moose bottle toppers. If you’re looking for moose, we can help!

In our Farm Store, we have locally-made maple syrup, available in traditional jugs or designer bottles, along with sweatshirts and Ts, more ornaments, and holiday decorations galore!

We really do get excited about the holidays here at The Rocks. Because we’re so eager to share our enthusiasm with holiday shoppers, we’ll open both shops Nov. 3, and they’ll be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. DAILY through Christmas Eve (closed Thanksgiving Day). So, whether you want to get an early start to your holiday preparations or you’re a last-minute shopper, we’ll be here and ready to help!

Mail Order at The Rocks ~ Christmas Made Easy!

We know the holidays sometimes bring a whole lot of hectic along with all that good cheer. So at The Rocks Estate, we strive to help you make Christmas easy!

One of the ways we can add a little peace to your holidays is through our fantastic online mail order shop, where you’ll find unique gifts, beautiful handmade wreaths, even your perfect farm-fresh Christmas tree! 

That’s right: you can order your Rocks Estate Christmas tree online… You tell us when you want it and how tall, and we cut it fresh, package it to stay fresh, and ship it straight to your doorstep.

Here’s what one online Christmas tree shopper told us last year:

We were a bit skeptical about ordering a tree online. But as it turns out, it was an awesome choice! The tree arrived promptly within two days of our requested ship date, and it is an absolutely perfect tree! We think it’s our best tree ever!

The Rocks online shop is ALWAYS open, and shipping is always FREE! You can place your Christmas tree order any time before December 16 and let us know when you’d like it delivered right to your front door – fresh, fragrant, and ready to trim. Or select from our variety of pretty wreaths, garland, decorating accessories, Rocks Estate maple syrup, and other gift items.

Go ahead – sit back, put your feet up, click over to our online shop, and let The Rocks help make your holidays calm and bright!

 If you’re planning a visit to The Rocks this holiday season, here are some important dates to keep in mind:

October 18 is the LAST DAY of our Tag-Your-Own tree season.

Our shops reopen for the season November 3 and will be open daily through December 24 (closed Thanksgiving Day).

Cut-Your-Own Christmas tree season begins November 22, with plenty of festive events in store. Stay tuned to our Blog for updates as the season progresses…

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!

Time to Tag-Your-Own Christmas Tree at The Rocks!

We know that for many of you, it’s never too early to start thinking about the holidays! To help all you Christmas junkies out there, we’re opening our fields (and shops!) at The Rocks Estate during weekends from September 27 through October 18 so you can come tag-your-own tree in the fields and get an early start on your holiday shopping.

Tag-Your-Own Christmas tree seekers are welcome to roam the farm in the search of that perfect tree. We encourage Tag-Your-Own folks to come to The Rocks equipped with lots of colorful decorations so you can claim your Christmas tree in style – and be able to find it easily when you return to cut it later. Tag-Your-Owners may come back to The Rocks to cut and purchase their tagged trees anytime from November 22^nd through December 24^th.

Autumn is an amazingly beautiful time to visit The Rocks, as the farm and surrounding hillsides are bursting with fall color. While you’re here looking for a tree, we invite you to enjoy the scenery and some of the other fall fun offered at the farm:

* Get a jump start on your holiday shopping at The Rocks Marketplace and Gift Shop – two great shops offering a festive array of gifts, decorations, and personal treasures, including a plethora of locally- and USA-made items.

* Take a self-guided tour of our interactive New Hampshire Maple Experience, complete with a working sugarhouse and museum.

* Explore some of the beautiful trails on the historic property, weaving through colorful forests, along old stone walls, and past beautifully restored buildings. Bring along your smart phone to gain glimpses of past and present activities at The Rocks with our mobile tour.

Let the holiday season begin... We'll see you at The Rocks this fall!

Ben Kilham presents “Secrets of Black Bear Society” as fundraiser for The Rocks Estate education center

BETHLEHEM, N.H.—The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and the Littleton Conservation Commission will host noted wildlife biologist Ben Kilham for a presentation about black bears at The Rocks Estate July 29, beginning at 7 p.m. Proceeds from the $15 admission fee will be put toward improvements to the education center at The Rocks.
 A renowned black bear researcher and Lyme, N.H., resident, Kilham has shared his knowledge about bears with more than 40,000 people through his lectures. His slide show is based on the social relationships within the black bear society.
Kilham, who has a wildlife management degree from the University of New Hampshire, has gained his bear knowledge first hand by raising and observing dozens of orphaned black bears. In the spring of 1992, Kilham found himself parenting a pair of orphaned, emaciated, four-pound bear cubs. The experience has led to his parenting over 40 cubs, releasing them back into the wild, and researching and observing the life cycle of the black bear.  His first book about these experiences, “Among the Bears: Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild,” was published in 2002.
Kilham’s dyslexia once barred him from getting an advanced academic degree, securing funding for his research, and publishing his observations in the scientific literature. After being shunned by the traditional scientific community, however, Kilham’s unique findings now interest bear researchers worldwide. His techniques even aid scientists working with pandas in China and bears in Russia.
Moreover, the observation skills that fueled Kilham’s exceptional work turned out to be born of his dyslexia. His ability to think in pictures and decipher systems makes him a unique interpreter of the bear’s world.
Kilham’s second book, “Out on a Limb,” delivers his fascinating glimpse at the inner world of bears, and also makes a passionate case for science, and education in general, to open its doors to different ways of learning and researching—doors that could lead to far broader realms of discovery.
By thinking more from the bear’s perspective, Kilham has designed workshops that provide wildlife managers with tools to disarm threatening bear behavior without destroying bears. Kilham has been featured in National Geographic television specials and articles in The New York Times, People Magazine, and The Boston Globe, as well as on the “Today Show,” “Dateline NBC,” “CBS Coast to Coast,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and many others.

N.H. Maple Experience returns this summer, Springtime happenings at The Rocks

How sweet it was! Thanks to all of you who visited The Rocks during the 2014 New Hampshire Maple Experience. We hope you all had as much fun as we did learning about maple sugaring and exploring the farm.
 

If you missed the season – or just can’t wait until next year to return – don’t fret! Our self-guided New Hampshire Maple Experience returns to The Rocks July 1. The self-guided tour includes a walk along the Maple Trail and a visit to the sugarhouse and Maple Museum.

The Maple Trail begins at the main parking area of The Rocks and meanders along a grassy path through the forest, beside stone walls, and into the sugar orchard. Signs along the trail explain maple sugaring, from the earliest sugar makers and modern techniques to the tools of the trade and how to identify a sugar maple tree. 

The Maple Trail leads visitors to the sawmill/pigpen building, constructed in 1906 and artfully restored to serve as The Rocks’ sugarhouse and interactive Maple Museum, where visitors will learn more about the history and process of making maple sugar. (Read more about the intriguing history of The Rocks Estate here.) An arch between the sugarhouse and museum provides a stunning view of the Presidential Mountains.

There’s always something happening at The Rocks, and visitors are welcome in all seasons. Our trails are open daily, year-round. You’ll find more information about the trails here. We also host natural history discussions throughout the year, on a variety of topics. To see what’s happening, please check out our online calendar.  

We hope to see you soon at The Rocks Estate!

The first sugar makers: Discovering the history of maple syrup at the New Hampshire Maple Experience

Who were the first sugar makers? Long before European settlers arrived in New England, the native people of the region had discovered the sweet sap of the sugar maple trees growing here. There are various legends about how Native Americans discovered that the sap could be boiled into various forms of sugar.

These legends and the history and evolution of maple sugaring are just one part of the New Hampshire Maple Experience at The Rocks Estate, which takes visitors through tales and techniques of early sugar makers right through to tasting some fresh, sweet New Hampshire maple syrup!

The Maple Experience includes a trip to the Maple Museum, where visitors can see and touch some of the tools used through the centuries in the springtime ritual of sugar making. One of these is a long, hollowed-out log once used to cook the sap. Native Americans would pour the watery sap into the log and add hot stones from the fire to gradually cook the sap into a taffy-like maple sugar.

Hollowed-out log for cooking sap.

(See a video explanation of the early sugar making process here.) 

When the first settlers arrived, they observed the natives’ ways of maple sugaring and gradually added new tools and techniques to the process.

Today’s plastic tubing, reverse osmosis systems, and high tech evaporators are a far cry from the wooden spiles, hollow logs, and hot stones employed by the earliest sugar makers. But the end result is just as sweet!

This Saturday, April 5, is the final day of 2014 New Hampshire Maple Experience. We hope you’ll join us for hands-on learning and fun. To read more about the Maple Experience, visit our website. To make reservations for Saturday’s maple tours, please email info@therocks.org or call (603) 444-6228.