Before making a trip to this quarry you had better make sure you have a sturdy vehicle. Anything without four wheel drive is going to have a tough time making it up there. I would also make sure you have a spare tire with you along with the means to change a tire. A cell phone is highly recommended as well. You can always drive in until the road gets difficult, park on the side and then walk up. There is an open area, what looks like a gravel pit that is a good area to park. This mine can be difficult to locate for some, because it is over grown and you can tell few people make collecting trips to this location. That is a good thing, because it means that the area has not been picked clean. The Hedge Hog Hill Quarry is located in Peru Maine in the County of Oxford. Few minerals have been found here, in my mind it is a simple granite pegmatite, but it is still worth the trip. For one thing the view from up there is worth the trip alone. The fact that few people seem to come here is another draw. This is because you do have to drive a ways on a dirt road through the woods to reach the mine.
Minerals observed here are albite, almandine garnet, beryl, biotite, chrysoberyl, fluorapatite, microcline, muscovite, quartz, and schroll. That is it, and I only found garnet, biotite, muscovite, and quartz on my trip. So, just because all of those other minerals were listed, do not count on finding them. The jackpot at this location are the almandine garnets. Some very large almandine garnets can be found here. The open mine face is chock full of them, but don't count on getting these out. It can be done, but it takes a lot of work and you better ware a pair of goggles. Not to mention you can go through all of that effort only to end up damaging the sample you are after. I did not see any garnets worth that kind of effort all though it is said that some very gem quality samples have been found in pockets of quarts. I found one such garnet sample at another mine location of the grossalur garnet variety. This garnet was roughly the size of a golf ball and was gem quality. I hammered around that thing for an hour without so much as making a dent. The crystal was resting in a pocket of quartz. I left it there with a tear in my eye. The almandine crystals at the Hedge Hog Quarry are quite large. I would recommend digging through the talise piles. I can almost guarantee you find one of these large garnets. Simply because very few people have dug through these piles. This fact becomes obvious when you first arrive at the mine. In fact, I would almost bet the only signs of digging you will find are from my trip there over five years ago. I only spent four hours here, but I left there with some great samples. My best was a perfectly formed and whole almandine garnet crystal, about the size of a golf ball. I figured I was not going to do much better than that, and so I left. I plan on going back and spending some more time at this site. Maybe take a tent with me and make a week end of it.
GARNET
Driving directions are as follows:
From four way intersection on route 108 in West Peru, drive 3.05 miles south on Dickvale road. Turn left onto mineral springs road and continue 0.95 mile to intersection. Turn right onto Paradis road (gravel) and drive 1.05 miles to abandoned cabin on left. Park here. Walk on main road from here about 150 ft to quarry road on the right. Follow this woods road 270 feet to fork, keep left at fork. Continue 675 feet to next fork, keep right. Walk 390 feet to stone wall. Follow road through opening in wall and go another 150 feet to end of obvious road. Continue straight ahead on steep down grade following trail for 360 feet to the quarry. (Maine Mineral Localities 3rd EDT. by W.B Thompson, D.L. Joyner, R.G. Woodman, V.T. King)
These directions make it sound very difficult to find, but it really is not simply because there is nothing else up here. Make sure you stay on the right trail when the road forks and you will have no trouble finding the mine. I drove past the cabin and followed the directions until I reached the gravel pit area. I parked here, but don't try to make it unless you have four wheel drive. From here it is a short walk up a steep dirt road to the quarry. It is essentially the top of a small mountain where the mine is. One side has been mined. The talice pile is located off to the side and down below. I should not call the area I parked a gravel pit. It really is just a wide open area that looks like a natural dirt parking lot. I assumed it was a gravel pit, because it was the only reason I could come up with for it being there. Perhaps it is what remains from when the mine was open and in operation. It would be a good idea to bring sub block and bug spray with you. I can not emphasize the bug spray enough. This is a wooded area and black flies and mosquitos are thick here. It is also a good idea to bring a screen for sifting. Especially when the main goal is finding garnet crystals scattered through out the talise piles. You can also bring a chisel and a hammer although they are not necessary. A small shovel would be more useful. I highly recommend making this trip. The garnet samples are worth it, and you never know. You may get lucky and find some of the rarer minerals that have been found here.
Mineral Collecting in Maine (Hedge Hog Hill Quarry) GARNET
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