The Polar Caves might be celebrating its 100th anniversary this summer, but let’s face it, that’s kind of like observing your 28th birthday into perpetuity.
After all, it’s been some 50,000 years since a continental glacier moved over what became known as New Hampshire, helping to deposit granite boulders from the base of a section now known as Hawk’s Cliff. These granite blocks formed a series of passageways and caves that have attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists over the decades, promising visitors the chance to freely explore the caves on their own and to experience an iconic summer attraction in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
According to the park history marker, “Polar Caves was discovered by a group of local teenagers playing in the boulders beneath Mount Haycock in the year 1900. Twenty-two years later, Edwin Collishaw, seeing the potential, opened the caves to the public.”
One hundred years later, Polar Caves is prepared for another summer season of welcoming visitors into its popular lair of nooks and crannies. Many of them might be familiar with the “Orange Crush” or the “Lemon Squeeze.” Others might be visiting the caves for the first time.
Either way, what you’ll find in Rumney, N.H., are nine granite boulder caves, each boasting its own distinguishable traits for self-guided tours. There are boardwalks and stairs built into the landscape, allowing for easier traversing through the caves. It wasn’t always that way.
In 1935, the park was purchased by its present ownership, Resort Enterprises, after Hugh E. Flack of Potsdam, N.Y., sited the caves and immediately recognized the potential to create one of the most popular playgrounds in New England. It turned out to be the turning point for the Polar Caves as we know them.
In its earlier years, the caves were not navigated quite as easily. Until 1936, as the Boston Globe noted at the time (June 21, 1936), “the Polar Caves were just a natural phenomena in which many were interested, but they were taken merely as a matter of course. The trails and surrounding terrain were unattractive with debris and clutter everywhere.”
The rustic walkways and bridges added that year changed everything, turning the Polar Caves from local curiosity into regional appeal.
As for the caves themselves, the aforementioned Orange Crush and Lemon Squeeze both have narrow passageways to try and navigate. The same can be said to certain degrees of the other seven caves: Polar Pinch, the Ice Cave (you might find some of winter’s leftover snow inside), King Tut’s (a cave that features a bench for taking a load off), Fat Man’s Misery (no explanation needed), the Indian Council Chamber, the Bear’s Den, and Devil’s Turnpike (don’t look down).
Collishaw, the original entrepreneur, chose the name “Polar Caves” due to the cold air currents emanating from the granite passageways. According to the history marker, “the perpetual cold air rises from glacial ice preserved for ages below the boulders.”
The Polar Caves’ 100th season kicked off in May and is open weekends until late June, when the park will begin a seven-day schedule that lasts until the final week of August. A two-hour pass to explore the caves runs $24.50 for adults, $15.50 children ages 4-11. Seniors and military members/first responders can purchase passes for $21.50. Walk-up tickets might be available at the main lodge, but Polar Caves does suggest that interested parties book their reservations online (www.polarcaves.com). Day-of ticket prices run $26.50 adults, $17.50 children ages 4-11. Online reservations also take priority over walk-up visitors. No refunds within 48 hours of booking time.
Polar Caves recommends closed-toe shoes for hiking the property. Also, because the caves are cooler than the outside temperature, visitors should choose appropriate clothing that is comfortable to move in.
Polar Caves Park is located at 705 Rumney Route 25, only six miles from I-93’s Exit 26.
Eric Wilbur can be reached at eric.wilbur@skijournal.com.
