At The Rocks Estate, It Always Feels Like the Holidays
The Rocks Estate, with its neat rows of Christmas trees and spectacular views of the White Mountains, gets visitors into the holiday spirit like no place else. This year The Rocks has added a few new twists to its tried and true holiday favorites.
For decades The Rocks has offered fragrant farm fresh Christmas trees and beautiful handcrafted wreaths. The Christmas tree farm, owned by the Forest Society, also strives to keep things fresh by introducing new holiday ideas each season.
“Each year we try to bring something new to Christmas, while holding onto the traditions that people expect when they come to experience the season at the farm,” said longtime Rocks Estate Manger Nigel Manley.
Over the years, Manley and his staff have added new features to create an atmosphere of fun and festivity around choosing a Christmas tree. Visitors to the Christmas tree farm are invited to enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride through the picturesque estate and visit with The Rocks’ own “Green Santa,” who presents each child with a fir tree seedling. The more adventuresome visitors may try a dogsled ride courtesy of the dogs from Muddy Paw Kennel in Jefferson.
Families visiting The Rocks this holiday season will also find a large birch deer – made of birch logs and nature’s other offerings – that makes an ideal perch for children for a family photo.
Those looking for the perfect gift or a one-of-a-kind ornament will find plenty of options at the new Rocks Estate Market Place, introduced last winter, which features unique offerings from dozens of New Hampshire artisans.
New this year, The Rocks has added Canaan Firs to its traditional Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir Christmas trees. Guests may cut their own trees from the extensive fields around the estate or choose fresh-cut trees from the lot.
Among the beautiful holiday wreaths, handcrafted right at The Rocks, are a "Chris Moose" wreath decorated with cones, canella berries, statice flowers, and a whimsical stuffed moose. The Christmas Star wreath is adorned with pepper berries and statice. A limited Trees For Troops wreath features a stuffed bear in military fatigues and dog tags. Proceeds from this wreath benefit the Trees For Troops program, which delivers thousands of trees each Christmas to military service members and their families.
The Rocks Estate opens for the Christmas tree season on Nov. 20 and will remain open every day from 10 am-4:30 pm through Christmas Eve. Wagon rides and dog sled tours are offered Nov. 20, 26-28, Dec. 4-5, 11-12, and 18. Reservations are recommended for both. The Rocks’ Green Santa will be at the farm each Saturday, joined most days by a family of beautiful and friendly Bernese Mountain dogs.
If you’re unable to visit The Rocks, you can purchase your holiday tree, wreath, ornaments and gifts via mail order – visit www.therocks.org for details.
Owned by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the landmark 1,400-acre Rocks Estate includes numerous buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, extensive walking paths, and 45 acres planted with Christmas trees. For more information and a full schedule of events, please visit www.therocks.org.
Founded in 1901, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is the state’s oldest and largest non-profit land conservation organization. Supported by 10,000 families and businesses, the Forest Society’s mission is to perpetuate the state’s forests by promoting land conservation and sustainable forestry. For more information, visit www.forestsociety.org.