New Hampshire – Page 58 – New England's Narrow Road

Ruggles Mine in New Hampshire

Ruggles Mine is a tourist attraction in Grafton, New Hampshire. It’s a winding drive on back roads in the middle of nowhere to get to the top of Isinglass Mountain where the mine entrance is located. On a clear day, it’s a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.

After a fairly steep walk down into the mine, the area opens up and you’ll see the many caves and rocks to explore.

It’s no surprise that you will find tons of mica! And it is a fun place for kids to hammer rocks (bring safety goggles) and search for treasure. There is an interesting history lesson about the man who discovered the mine as well.

The View atop Isinglass Mountain & My Boys — The View & My Boys

Sam Ruggles discovered mica on his land in 1803 and mined it in secret and even transported it out to the seacoast under the cover of darkness in the middle of the night. Mica was worth a lot of money back then because it was used for all the things we use glass for today. Sam didn’t want others to lay claim to any of the land he was interested in mining since he wasn’t sure how large the mica deposit was.

If you live in the area, Ruggles Mine is a fun trip for the family. Chipping away at the rocks on the ground is allowed, but not the walls. There is Mica everywhere and so are many other rocks and minerals. In fact, minerals worth money are occasionally found.

**And here is a little secret…when I accompanied my son’s 4th grade class on a field trip last year, the mine employees had set various pretty stones around the area, mostly on the sides of the walls, for the kids to find. So keep your eyes open!

Click here for directions and a link to the site.

Drive By Photography

I don’t ususally do this, but I had my camera with me and while driving on some rural backroads, I thought I’d try to get some photos. Yes, I took them while I was driving. Not safe, but I was the only one on the road and I was not traveling fast.

The countryside was so pretty and the day was nice…and I was bored.

None of the photos came out very well, but with a little cropping I made the car dashboard disappear so they looked a bit more normal.

Small towns in New Hampshire are everywhere. Maybe I’ll try this again sometime.

Our Lake’s Seaplane

Since it doesn’t really go in the sea, I’m not sure what to call this little plane, but the guy who flies it seems to have a great time.

From what I can tell, this house sits empty most of the year, like many of them around the lake near my place. They are small camp-type places and when the lake is frozen and the north wind is blowing I guess there are better places to live.

I rented a house just beyond the plane owners place last Fall. We were only there for about a month, but my kids and I thought it was cool to watch the pilot and his young companion taxi up the river into Gregg Lake. He went by in front of our place to get out onto the open water for take off. We could hear him flying around and occasionally see the yellow plane circling overhead. After a while we would hear the plane taxiing back home.