Roxbury Mine Hill Preserve & Furnace

Roxbury Mine Hill Preserve

What: Mine Hill Preserve (National Register of Historic Places), Hiking, Fishing, Cross-Country Skiing
Address: Mine Hill Rd. Roxbury, CT
Website: Roxbury Land Trust
Hours: Daily; Sunrise-Sunset
Admission: Free and open to the public
Description: Mine Hill is the home of a former iron mine.  The abundance of granite found in many of Mine Hill’s quarries provided the building material for the ore roaster and blast furnace, as well as for such world wonders as the Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

Today the land is maintained by the Roxbury Land Trust and includes 3.5 miles of hiking trails,  a restored blast furnace, roasting ovens, granite quarries, abandoned mine shafts (now home to bats), and a stone bridge.

A detailed history of Mine Hill can be found by clicking here.

A front view of the blasting furnace, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.   This furnace was once attached to a large wooden structure.

The roasting ovens.

An inside view of the roasting ovens.

An opening to the Mine Shaft.

Ventilation Tunnel for the Mine Shaft.  Now home to bats.

Looking down 3 layers of tunnels.

Another opening to the the abandoned mine shafts.

The largest opening – located along the Donkey Trail.