WeRmudfun
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Last Sunday we decided to revisit Madame Sherri Forest and Mine Mountain in Chesterfield, NH. We had last been there about 2 ½ years ago. This is a really unique hike with a lot of history and some cool things to explore. This is a great place for families to come to and the hike is pretty easy.
We parked at the parking lot for Madame Sherri Forest. We got there early and there was no one else there. By the time we left though, the lot was full and people were parking on the street. Leaving the parking lot there is a kiosk showing pictures and giving some info about Madame Sherri, her castle ruins and her forest. There is a pond to the left surrounded by a stone wall. Further up the trail you come to a right and that trail will bring you to the castle ruins. Madame Sherri was quite eccentric and there are many stories on the internet about things she might have done.
The castle had 3 floors, the basement had a bistro in it, the first floor had a fireplace and a huge bar. Interesting fact about this floor was to get in one had to pass through 2 trees that the house was built around and these trees continued up through the roof. The top floor was access by a stone stairway (called Stairway to Heaven, no relationship to Led Zepplin
), that is still somewhat intact today. This floor was Madame Sherri private quarters and this is where her parties took place, sometimes lasting weeks! She seemed to be a fan of archways as there are 3 in the staircase and 3 in the back of the ruins. Oh yeah, it’s also haunted! It is said that if you touch the staircase, people have heard music and laughter. Madame Sherri’s apparition has also been seen on the staircase overlooking the ruins.
The castle burnt down in 1962 after being ransacked a couple years earlier. The property was foreclosed on in 1963 and sold in 1965 to Ann Stokes. She bought the property to maintain it, but in 1998 she was tired of cleaning up the mess the local kids were making and she donated it to the NH Society for the Preservation of Forests.
We left the ruins and followed the Ann Stokes Loop Trail (2 mile loop) out to the Mt. Wantastiquet Trail and headed out towards Indian Pond. The water level of the pond seemed low and the pond looked murky. We continued along the trail passing some cairn farms on our way to Mine Ledges. There is no official trail to the ledges that we could find. Someone did mark on one of the trail signs which way to go, but the trail is more of a herd path, but the views are fantastic.
Little history on Mine Mountain and where it got its name. People found traces of silver on the top and get rich quick people went to a fortune teller and were told there would be an abundance of silver if they dug into the mountain. They never found any, but they did leave behind a great place to explore. To get into the mine you need to repel down on ropes, not recommended for children. This was right up our alley!
After leaving the ledges we returned to the Ann Stokes Loop Trail and continued the rest of the loop. It was a 1.5 miles back to the parking lot this way. IMHO this part of the trail was a little boring, to be fair though we chose to do it at the end of the day and we had already seen and explored all the cool stuff. There were geocaches which made the hike a little more exciting.
The video is longer than we like to make them at just under 13 minutes, but there is a lot covered on the area. We took some liberties and had a little fun with it trying to make it a little entertaining too. If you watch it and have the time, watch it to the very end.
Best viewed at 1080P
We parked at the parking lot for Madame Sherri Forest. We got there early and there was no one else there. By the time we left though, the lot was full and people were parking on the street. Leaving the parking lot there is a kiosk showing pictures and giving some info about Madame Sherri, her castle ruins and her forest. There is a pond to the left surrounded by a stone wall. Further up the trail you come to a right and that trail will bring you to the castle ruins. Madame Sherri was quite eccentric and there are many stories on the internet about things she might have done.
The castle had 3 floors, the basement had a bistro in it, the first floor had a fireplace and a huge bar. Interesting fact about this floor was to get in one had to pass through 2 trees that the house was built around and these trees continued up through the roof. The top floor was access by a stone stairway (called Stairway to Heaven, no relationship to Led Zepplin
), that is still somewhat intact today. This floor was Madame Sherri private quarters and this is where her parties took place, sometimes lasting weeks! She seemed to be a fan of archways as there are 3 in the staircase and 3 in the back of the ruins. Oh yeah, it’s also haunted! It is said that if you touch the staircase, people have heard music and laughter. Madame Sherri’s apparition has also been seen on the staircase overlooking the ruins.The castle burnt down in 1962 after being ransacked a couple years earlier. The property was foreclosed on in 1963 and sold in 1965 to Ann Stokes. She bought the property to maintain it, but in 1998 she was tired of cleaning up the mess the local kids were making and she donated it to the NH Society for the Preservation of Forests.
We left the ruins and followed the Ann Stokes Loop Trail (2 mile loop) out to the Mt. Wantastiquet Trail and headed out towards Indian Pond. The water level of the pond seemed low and the pond looked murky. We continued along the trail passing some cairn farms on our way to Mine Ledges. There is no official trail to the ledges that we could find. Someone did mark on one of the trail signs which way to go, but the trail is more of a herd path, but the views are fantastic.
Little history on Mine Mountain and where it got its name. People found traces of silver on the top and get rich quick people went to a fortune teller and were told there would be an abundance of silver if they dug into the mountain. They never found any, but they did leave behind a great place to explore. To get into the mine you need to repel down on ropes, not recommended for children. This was right up our alley!
After leaving the ledges we returned to the Ann Stokes Loop Trail and continued the rest of the loop. It was a 1.5 miles back to the parking lot this way. IMHO this part of the trail was a little boring, to be fair though we chose to do it at the end of the day and we had already seen and explored all the cool stuff. There were geocaches which made the hike a little more exciting.
The video is longer than we like to make them at just under 13 minutes, but there is a lot covered on the area. We took some liberties and had a little fun with it trying to make it a little entertaining too. If you watch it and have the time, watch it to the very end.
Best viewed at 1080P
