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We'll be headed up near there next week and in checking out the websites for Lost River & Polar Caves both mention "mining"...do these places have a setup where you can dig/pan? If so, and if anyone has done this, what's found there (aside from granite)?
I'm fairly sure the "mining" at Polar Caves involves buying the dirt and then panning through it to find some neat stones they put in it; very "kid" oriented as opposed to real mining/panning.
That said, 4 of us (age 26-28) had a great time going through the caves; they actually get fairly challenging (in a good way) and you really need to watch your head/feet. It was funny because the first cave was short and we thought we wasted our money...10 minutes later we were happy and had a ball!
ok, thanks BF, I get it. They "plant" interesting rocks in the dirt you buy for kids to pan out. That's totally disappointing, we're used to the real thing! It does sound like a worthwhile hike through there, although I prefer subterranean caves to those created by fallen boulders.
I'll have to find real rockhounding sites elsewhere
That said, 4 of us (age 26-28) had a great time going through the caves; they actually get fairly challenging (in a good way) and you really need to watch your head/feet. It was funny because the first cave was short and we thought we wasted our money...10 minutes later we were happy and had a ball
We've done the Polar Caves/Lost River a couple of times, yes it's fun (can you make it through The Lemon Squeeze?) but their "mining operation" consists of some sand and rocks which you sift through. The rocks that are planted have already been through the tumbler, and the kids got a kick out of it when they were very young.
You might want to ask for some recommendations over on the Maine forum. There a a number of working and non-working mines in the Western part of Maine that you might enjoy learning about. One of my favorite pieces of jewelry is necklace with a piece of Maine tourmaline. Tourmaline isn't an expensive gem, but comes in various shades of green and pink, and I love that it's sort of "local". Check out Maine Tourmaline, Dig for gems, WMMA-Home for real life digging, but like I said, I'm sure the folks on the Maine forum would be able to help more than I
Happy digging!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lisa g
ok, thanks BF, I get it. They "plant" interesting rocks in the dirt you buy for kids to pan out. That's totally disappointing, we're used to the real thing! It does sound like a worthwhile hike through there, although I prefer subterranean caves to those created by fallen boulders.
I'll have to find real rockhounding sites elsewhere
I've never been to the Polar Caves (although my parents took DH there when he was going to MIT for a semester), but Lost River was very pretty. However, Lost River is a boardwalk through and around boulder jumble. So if you want real caves, you probably want Polar Caves.
I remember the Lemon Squeeze when I was young - scared to death of getting stuck! After that, when I took anyone there I went around that one (and now with my knees I'd have to anyway).
My neighbor's brother used to do some rockhounding around North Conway, I don't think there was a specific place, just some rocky areas he would go to.
Try Ruggle's Mine off Rt 4 in Grafton Center, NH. This is a large pegmatite mine at the top of a small mountain. The view from the parking lot is worth the entry fee. I suspect they have a website. Try goggling them. They have an incredible variety of pegmatite related minerals form tourmaline to uranics and commercial amounts of feldspar. It is a really interesting place for any rock hound or hard rock geologist.
Oh Greg, thanks for reminding me--Lisa, you might find it interesting (I did anyway...) that within the Polar Caves are a couple of really cool veins of feldspar that you can see at your level, and also looking up to the cliffs where the granite pieces fell off from, cris-crossing within the granite. I've done some cave exploration when we lived in Missouri, and my brother down in Kentucky is loving the caves in that state--all we have here in NH is fallen granite boulders, but it's still great fun for a couple of hours
One note--if you're tall, you really need to watch your head!! I'm a bit over 5' tall, and no problem for me but several taller people came out with a couple of bumps on the noggin
Thanks Greg and Val for your suggestions/info!
No worries about bumping my head Val, I'm about as tall as you
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