Hike at Mine Hill a 19th Century iron mine and furnace in
Roxbury, CT.
Upon entering the preserve we parked in front of an old barn to scope out the area and was greeted by the property owner. He was in the antique selling business for a long time and had sold some amazing things to well known wealthy clients to include a weathervane he sold for 100,000! He gave us a brief tour of the lower structures to include the general store, railroad station and freight depot and a tobacco barn. We parked up the hill and started our hike by walking around the furnaces.
An old tramway wound its way up the hill to the mines and provided a great trail surface to hike on up to the old mine shafts. A lot of tossed aside rock-literally a geologists dream of shiny quartz and granite chunks were strewn alongside raised narrow gauge track.
The mine shafts are now covered with iron cages and are the home of many bats. The cold air and running spring water issued from one of the entrances to the caves within the mountainside. The amount of labor it must have took to mine and process the iron ore was staggering and this place stands the test of time to serve as a testament to the tenacity of the colonial laborers who mined here. We turned around after exploring the mine shaft entrances and backtracked the blue trail down to the car.
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