Travel Tips

This 30-acre complex of stone walls, tunnels, and standing stones was discovered in 1826. Pottery fragments and carbon dating puts parts of the site at 1000–2000 B.C. No one knows who built it or why, but reports by people who study such things say it’s built with a high level of stone work and uncanny astronomical alignment. Official research started in the 1930s; it’s privately owned, and has been open to the public since 1958.

There are two parts to the site: the main site, and the astronomically-aligned stones around the edges. There are about 30 distinct structures in the main site, including chambers, walls, and the Sacrificial Table pictured at the top. The Sacrificial Table has a groove around the edge and a drain, perfect for draining the blood of the offering, and a stone-lined “speaking tube” that allows a person to make some eerie noises that appear to come from the table itself.

The structures don’t look like much, but if you consider how much work it would take to move and position some of the stones using what was available before 1826 they’re impressive.

The standing stones around the edge of the property aren’t on the scale or of the complexity of the Stonehenge, but do resemble smaller standing stone sites in places like the fringes of Scotland. Or, they might if the woods weren’t there. Some of the descriptions strain credibility – “when viewed from a large boulder about 20 feet north of the south end of this wall, the [other stone] becomes the most southerly position of the 18.61 year cycle of the moon” – since patterns can be found anywhere. But who’s to say?

It doesn’t much matter – it’s a nice outdoors afternoon. There’s a visitors center at the gate showing a couple of short films detailing the site, as well as a large gift shop with locally-made crafts and alpaca yarn from the small alpaca farm on site. At the bottom of the trail there are some nature- and archeology-type activities for kids. It takes an hour or so to walk the circuit, longer if you take some of the side trails.

A lot of the explanatory material makes an effort to justify the site’s status as a legitimate archeological site rather than a hoax – to the point of hinting at suits for libel towards those who claim it isn’t real. Some locals say it’s a waste of the entrance fee; others say it’s real. It’s been the subject of continuous research documented by New England Archeology groups, and it made it into Weird New England* (although the standing stones aren’t included).

It’s off of a back road and easy to miss – look for this sign.

603-893-8300
www.stonehengeusa.com

*Citro, Joseph A., Weird New England: Your Travel Guide to New England’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.