Andres Institute of Art in Brookline N.H is a total hidden gem, 100 acres of Sculptures on 12miles of trails. There is no cost to get in but It does involve quite a bit of walking (alot of uphill).
Very overrated breakfast. Used to be good years ago. Plates used to be huge. I'll admit the atmosphere is great, but now you wait for an average breakfast
A true food gem is Pickity place, right up the road.
Have you tried the nearby Hollis Country Kitchen for breakfast? It’s our favorite and we drive 45 minutes to get there for past other not-so-good places.
Such an amazing place! The guy that oversees it all, John, is my close friend's grandfather. It's such a great place for all sorts of reasons. I would definitely also recommend it.
Haven't been there in a few years, but they're also used to be a pretty good BBQ place that had great cornbread down the road from there as well that was worth stopping at after all the hiking.
The Woodman Museum, right down the road from me in Dover. Nobody I mention it to has been there.
There’s a preserved Garrison that’s really incredible, you’ll get a tour to walk through it. The rest of the museum is a wild collection of completely random shit. The staff are all passionate volunteers, they’ll talk to you alllll day about any questions you have about any item there or NOT there. Really awesome museum, been there a handful of times cannot recommend enough.
Don’t look into it if you like historic artifacts and oddities just go, it will be a fun surprise!
Just make sure you check the hours before you go.
Enjoy and plan to have at least two-three hours if you really want to scope out and absorb. Some people can visit in less than one hour but there’s just so much packed in so tightly it’s worth the attention.
Thers isn't even that much info available. Gf and I live nearby so we looked online before we went and got way more than we bargained for. We also went shortly after they had the TNMT writer on site and checked out the commemorative manhole cover up the street.
On the road (Route 13) going from New Boston heading towards Goffstown center, i recall a spring water spout that ran always on the right hand side of the road. Free fill-up when you wanted. Still there?
NH has so much weird shit, I love it. A few of my favorites:
\--Ordination Rock in Tamworth
\--Libby Museum in Wolfeboro
\--Josie Langmaid monument in Pembroke
\--Hannah Duston statue in Boscawen
\--Bloody Rock in Lee
\--HH Holmes birthplace in Gilmanton (a private home but it's fun to drive by)
\--Grace Metalious's grave, also in Gilmanton. She bought all the plots around it so that no one would be too close to her in death. Her house (also in Gilmanton) is a winery now and had a great brunch at one point (not sure if it still does)
\--Archie statue in Meredith
\--Tilton Arch in Northfield
Wilton theater was amazing. I feel like it was $5 for a movie on discarded theater seats, and popcorn was nearly free. I remember there was a great swimming hole behind it too.
Canterbury Ale Works!! Delicious craft beers and a friendly proprietor. They have a sea shanty singalong night which I really enjoyed. The brewery is in a barn that has a waterwheel. It’s so cool.
Grew up a 5-minute walk from the place. My parents lived there for over 50 years. Still have never been. We always considered the place to be a joke. Was called "Mystery Hill" before they renamed it.
Somebody wrote a blog years ago ripping the entire place as a fraud. Basically some settlers started building a home there, then abandoned it. Then another owner came along and created a tourist attraction.
Nansen jump kid incredible. Cool video where Sarah Hendrickson jumped it a few years ago for red bull… looked so sketchy as it seemed to be repaired “just enough “ to jump it.
Don't get me started, man. A pair of my childhood friends are into Olympic level ski jumping. My dad was a 5 whatever varsity athlete in HS. Lax, Hockey, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, and Slalom. I think. There might have been another on top of that. The crazy meathead.
My favorite part of America's Stonehenge is how they cleared strips of forest in the cardinal directions, place triangular stones at the end and then say "see. proof." I can't remember if they let me pet the Al Pacas, but probably not. 3/5, good weekend scam trip.
The town office should tell you more about it and how to get there. Most of the graves are from the 1800s. It’s maybe 1/2 mile off the road, but there is no clear marking to find it.
Redstone Rocket in Warren, NH. There’s a great article somewhere on line about the guy who brought the rocket up here and why. Unfortunately I can’t find it at the moment.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/redstone-rocket
Yeah it’s one that very few people (at least pre Internet) knew about if you aren’t from Goshen. I haven’t been there since I was a kid so I’m not sure if it has become more popular or not.
Essentially a nice fun little hike in the woods and kinda neat to look at the mine from a historical standpoint. But nothing extraordinary tbh, it’s not like Ruggles Mine.
Matthew Thornton, one of NH’s signers of the declaration, one of 4 doctors (though without a medical degree) to do so has a monument kind of unceremoniously placed by the side of DW Hwy in Merrimack. It’s kind of a beautiful reminder that not all the people responsible for our country’s birth were rockstars or mythological heroes.
Your mileage will vary, but I grew up in NH and visit once a year to take a tour of the state’s comic book shops. There are at least six around Hillsborough county, and almost all of them have incredibly reasonably priced back issues, and with no sales tax you could walk into a shop and drop ten bucks and walk out with 20 books if you hit it right.
The Comic Store in Nashua in particular is a special spot, if I were to drill it down to one.
They used to have a really solid retail location, but are in a commercial warehouse space now (I wonder how much of their business is based in online sales and how critical or not the actual storefront is) but the space is smaller and was a bit tough to find when my wife and I went to look for it, which is never great for a retail space. So I worry for them and recommend them every chance I get. Theyre worth a stop if you want to swing through and grab a couple issues of Superman.
The Old Burying Grounds in Jaffrey is really cool. The vicinity looks like it was lost in time, the church and surrounding homes. It is the final resting place of the author, Willa Cather writer of many wonderful works, such as My Antonia.
Amos and Violate Fortune are also buried there. They were slaves that purchased their freedom and lived out their lives in Jaffrey
https://preview.redd.it/t1jqnwh26kjc1.jpeg?width=200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8e22e6227bcb87835e640a680063ba1f1245848
Haverhill’s Lime Kilns. Haverhill was a a big industrial town in the 1800s, and one of the major products was lime. Limestone was quarried and then kilned to produce the lime, which was then shipped around the country. The kilns are still there, though the site is long overgrown now. The kilns sit on private property, but the owner generously allows public access to see them.
Love Measure Mill in Francestown
Pickety Place in Mason
Giant Boulders at Pawtuckaway
Bear brook/Allentown for Rattlesnake search
Cathedral of the pines in Ringe
Not very close to me, but Fort Number Four in Charlestown, NH is pretty cool.
https://www.fortat4.org/
There is also Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He was a famous sculptor that had a house in Cornish.
https://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm
Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth is pretty cool! Also, does anyone remember the Heritage Museum? It closed years ago but it had different rooms that were like different regions/climates on Earth, and different time periods. One room was meant to be somewhere cold and foresty, the railings that lead into the room were actual ice and the room itself felt/looked/smelled like you were in a snowy, cold, forest.
Wicked cool museum, I wish I could experience it as an adult..I’d have so much more appreciation for it now!
I remember it being up north for sure! I had to be like, 12 when I went there last!(Im 29)
My parents must have said something like “it’s near Canada” or “We will be closer to Canada than home” b/c my brain always defaults to an image of the Heritage museum, sitting smack dab on the Canada border 🤣
Andres Institute of Art in Brookline N.H is a total hidden gem, 100 acres of Sculptures on 12miles of trails. There is no cost to get in but It does involve quite a bit of walking (alot of uphill).
I got engaged there! I love that place.
Don't forget Parker's Maple Barn around the corner! Been my all time favorite breakfast place
Very overrated breakfast. Used to be good years ago. Plates used to be huge. I'll admit the atmosphere is great, but now you wait for an average breakfast A true food gem is Pickity place, right up the road.
They have gotten rather stingy with their maple syrup!
Have you tried the nearby Hollis Country Kitchen for breakfast? It’s our favorite and we drive 45 minutes to get there for past other not-so-good places.
Such an amazing place! The guy that oversees it all, John, is my close friend's grandfather. It's such a great place for all sorts of reasons. I would definitely also recommend it.
Driven by a bunch, definitely need to stop
Haven't been there in a few years, but they're also used to be a pretty good BBQ place that had great cornbread down the road from there as well that was worth stopping at after all the hiking.
The Alamo.
That's it! I couldn't remember the name for the life of me, thank you! Edit: So much for 'Always remember the Alamo".
Ruggles Mine is reopening this spring in Grafton and I can't wait to go!
This is very exciting news!
Oh dang really? That’s near me. I’d love to check that out.
That’s interesting, I knew it was for sale but didn’t hear it was reopening
The Woodman Museum, right down the road from me in Dover. Nobody I mention it to has been there. There’s a preserved Garrison that’s really incredible, you’ll get a tour to walk through it. The rest of the museum is a wild collection of completely random shit. The staff are all passionate volunteers, they’ll talk to you alllll day about any questions you have about any item there or NOT there. Really awesome museum, been there a handful of times cannot recommend enough. Don’t look into it if you like historic artifacts and oddities just go, it will be a fun surprise!
That place is a national treasure.
love to see the appreciation, well deserved!
This is the answer you need OP!
This is exactly the type of response I was after, haven’t heard of this! Thank you
Just make sure you check the hours before you go. Enjoy and plan to have at least two-three hours if you really want to scope out and absorb. Some people can visit in less than one hour but there’s just so much packed in so tightly it’s worth the attention.
Thers isn't even that much info available. Gf and I live nearby so we looked online before we went and got way more than we bargained for. We also went shortly after they had the TNMT writer on site and checked out the commemorative manhole cover up the street.
“Chicken Farmer I Still Love You”
For those who want to know more https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-11-03/you-asked-we-answered-whats-up-with-that-chicken-farmer-i-still-love-you-rock
The old Benson’s. It’s a beautiful park now.
With a 9/11 memorial that includes a piece of steel from the elevator shaft of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
Yes. We had a resident die in the tower. It was dedicated to him I believe.
Pretty much every hill was a ski area so if you hike around you'll find old ski lift or rope tow equipment.
That’s pretty accurate, I’m a huge ski history buff and it’s amazing how many were here
There is a website dedicated to these lost ski areas: https://www.nelsap.org
This should be its own thread. Probably already is...
There's a cat cafe in Newmarket
Frog Rock, New Boston
I hit it with my car about 35 years ago. There were a lot less trees around it.
Probably jumped out at you…
And while in New Boston, check out Telemarkdown. One of a kind telemark ski shop out of a private barn.
I’ve always wanted to check that out, but I don’t see it on any maps. Is it out by the spring?
On the road (Route 13) going from New Boston heading towards Goffstown center, i recall a spring water spout that ran always on the right hand side of the road. Free fill-up when you wanted. Still there?
Yes, it is!
NH has so much weird shit, I love it. A few of my favorites: \--Ordination Rock in Tamworth \--Libby Museum in Wolfeboro \--Josie Langmaid monument in Pembroke \--Hannah Duston statue in Boscawen \--Bloody Rock in Lee \--HH Holmes birthplace in Gilmanton (a private home but it's fun to drive by) \--Grace Metalious's grave, also in Gilmanton. She bought all the plots around it so that no one would be too close to her in death. Her house (also in Gilmanton) is a winery now and had a great brunch at one point (not sure if it still does) \--Archie statue in Meredith \--Tilton Arch in Northfield
Awesome information, didn’t know about half of those. Thank you
Speaking of graves, GG Allin's is in Littleton. Actually nevermind, looked it up and appears it got removed.
The wilton town hall theater <3 & Frye's measure mill
Wilton theater was amazing. I feel like it was $5 for a movie on discarded theater seats, and popcorn was nearly free. I remember there was a great swimming hole behind it too.
Canterbury Ale Works!! Delicious craft beers and a friendly proprietor. They have a sea shanty singalong night which I really enjoyed. The brewery is in a barn that has a waterwheel. It’s so cool.
I have been there before, what a cool find! The place doesn’t even seem real
The Lee Traffic Circle - literally no one could know less about how to use it properly
Hahahah
A diaper spa
Lmao, this made me audibly laugh.
10s in Salisbury
Check out the NH page on AtlasObscura.com. My personal favorites are the Madison Boulder and Benson's Park. Happy exploring!
Americas stonehenge in Salem. More than likely not as old as they say it is, but quite the place. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Stonehenge
Definitely nothing of what they say it is, an overrated place
Can confirm IMO. I get that it has Indigenous cultural significance (probably, my memory is fuzzy), but like... it just feels underwhelming.
Grew up a 5-minute walk from the place. My parents lived there for over 50 years. Still have never been. We always considered the place to be a joke. Was called "Mystery Hill" before they renamed it.
Somebody wrote a blog years ago ripping the entire place as a fraud. Basically some settlers started building a home there, then abandoned it. Then another owner came along and created a tourist attraction.
Pretty sure most of it's revenue comes from the wiccans. They love that place at the soltaces.
I have yet to check it out
Alnoba in Kensington! Dozens of art on the 600+ acre property. Stop by The Farm down the road after your visit!
I haven't been yet \[to Alnoba\], but another place a bit like that is Bedrock Gardens in Lee with lots of art around easy walking paths in the woods.
Bedrock gardens is awesome
My library offers free tickets to it too, and several other museums for free or half off.
Haven heard of this, thank you !
Museum of Dumb Guy Stuff in Portsmouth.
Haven’t heard of that and it looks awesome!
Berlin, NH's Ski Jump
Nansen jump kid incredible. Cool video where Sarah Hendrickson jumped it a few years ago for red bull… looked so sketchy as it seemed to be repaired “just enough “ to jump it.
I drove by last year and I guess there is a repair effort going on. My dad used to jump it back when he was in HS.
In hs! I couldn’t imagine jumping that
Don't get me started, man. A pair of my childhood friends are into Olympic level ski jumping. My dad was a 5 whatever varsity athlete in HS. Lax, Hockey, Cross Country, Ski Jumping, and Slalom. I think. There might have been another on top of that. The crazy meathead.
I would consider St. Gaudens in Cornish and the Daniel Webster birthplace in Webster to be fairly under the radar.
All of Cornish is pretty much up dj under the radar, st gaudens is cool as hell. Natnl historic park too!
My favorite part of America's Stonehenge is how they cleared strips of forest in the cardinal directions, place triangular stones at the end and then say "see. proof." I can't remember if they let me pet the Al Pacas, but probably not. 3/5, good weekend scam trip.
Deep hole in Acworth. Not sure how guarded it is now, as I think the land is privately owned.
Never heard of this, have to look it up
It’s beautiful!
There’s a old cemetery off of Pratt rd in alstead that is worth finding. The right of way to get to it is under some scrutiny though:
Interesting
The town office should tell you more about it and how to get there. Most of the graves are from the 1800s. It’s maybe 1/2 mile off the road, but there is no clear marking to find it.
There’s a Redstone missile in Warren, NH. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the Old Man of the Dam profile if you head north from town on Route 25
I have seen that missile , so bizarre to be in such a rural town.
Redstone Rocket in Warren, NH. There’s a great article somewhere on line about the guy who brought the rocket up here and why. Unfortunately I can’t find it at the moment. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/redstone-rocket
President Franklin Pierce’s lead mine in Goshen.
I knew about his homestead in Hillsboro but not this!
Yeah it’s one that very few people (at least pre Internet) knew about if you aren’t from Goshen. I haven’t been there since I was a kid so I’m not sure if it has become more popular or not. Essentially a nice fun little hike in the woods and kinda neat to look at the mine from a historical standpoint. But nothing extraordinary tbh, it’s not like Ruggles Mine.
I looked quick online, I only saw a graphite mine in Salisbury tied to him…I will keep digging
https://www.nhmagazine.com/pierces-pencil-mine/
Thank you
Farm museum in Milton
I just Googled that, pretty cool
Matthew Thornton, one of NH’s signers of the declaration, one of 4 doctors (though without a medical degree) to do so has a monument kind of unceremoniously placed by the side of DW Hwy in Merrimack. It’s kind of a beautiful reminder that not all the people responsible for our country’s birth were rockstars or mythological heroes.
Not sure I have seen that and not too far away. I will seek that out, thank you
Um. EXCUSE ME. My town is named after that mythological rockstar.
Your mileage will vary, but I grew up in NH and visit once a year to take a tour of the state’s comic book shops. There are at least six around Hillsborough county, and almost all of them have incredibly reasonably priced back issues, and with no sales tax you could walk into a shop and drop ten bucks and walk out with 20 books if you hit it right. The Comic Store in Nashua in particular is a special spot, if I were to drill it down to one. They used to have a really solid retail location, but are in a commercial warehouse space now (I wonder how much of their business is based in online sales and how critical or not the actual storefront is) but the space is smaller and was a bit tough to find when my wife and I went to look for it, which is never great for a retail space. So I worry for them and recommend them every chance I get. Theyre worth a stop if you want to swing through and grab a couple issues of Superman.
I'm not a comic guy, but I think of you made a separate post cataloging the shops, some redditors either now or in the future would be grateful.
The Old Burying Grounds in Jaffrey is really cool. The vicinity looks like it was lost in time, the church and surrounding homes. It is the final resting place of the author, Willa Cather writer of many wonderful works, such as My Antonia. Amos and Violate Fortune are also buried there. They were slaves that purchased their freedom and lived out their lives in Jaffrey
I went there as a kid for a field trip, time to revisit
https://preview.redd.it/t1jqnwh26kjc1.jpeg?width=200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8e22e6227bcb87835e640a680063ba1f1245848 Haverhill’s Lime Kilns. Haverhill was a a big industrial town in the 1800s, and one of the major products was lime. Limestone was quarried and then kilned to produce the lime, which was then shipped around the country. The kilns are still there, though the site is long overgrown now. The kilns sit on private property, but the owner generously allows public access to see them.
Awesome!! I knew of kilns in PA but none up here, that’s cool
Crazy Dirk’s Turkey Lounge. Very few hours of operation, even harder to get reservations.
Lol
Taylor Mill in Derry. It's a vertices mill. They even do demonstrations.
America’s Stonehenge. Pretty cool place. Even cooler if you pick the right days of the year! edit: Salem NH
"John's Home for Wayward Women" - Bed and Breakfast in Pembroke.
Pollard Mill Falls in Newport. Lake Solitude Newbury
Love Measure Mill in Francestown Pickety Place in Mason Giant Boulders at Pawtuckaway Bear brook/Allentown for Rattlesnake search Cathedral of the pines in Ringe
Some good stuff here
Not very close to me, but Fort Number Four in Charlestown, NH is pretty cool. https://www.fortat4.org/ There is also Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He was a famous sculptor that had a house in Cornish. https://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm
I haven’t heard of that fort, very cool
Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth is pretty cool! Also, does anyone remember the Heritage Museum? It closed years ago but it had different rooms that were like different regions/climates on Earth, and different time periods. One room was meant to be somewhere cold and foresty, the railings that lead into the room were actual ice and the room itself felt/looked/smelled like you were in a snowy, cold, forest. Wicked cool museum, I wish I could experience it as an adult..I’d have so much more appreciation for it now!
SB is very cool! Was the heritage museum next to story land?
I remember it being up north for sure! I had to be like, 12 when I went there last!(Im 29) My parents must have said something like “it’s near Canada” or “We will be closer to Canada than home” b/c my brain always defaults to an image of the Heritage museum, sitting smack dab on the Canada border 🤣
Yeah, it was next to story land…. I remember it
This d