Rock of Ages Visitor Center
558 Graniteville Road
Graniteville (Barre Town), VT 05654
802-476-3119
www.rockofages.com
You might think we have rocks in our heads to suggest you visit a quarry on your vacation. But once you’ve come, we think you’ll agree Rock of Ages is a fun place to visit.
For starters, the quarry is cavernous—nearly 600 feet deep. Tall cranes tower above the surface, capable of lifting a whopping 250 tons. That’s one-half million pounds or the equivalent weight of about 449,740 pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream being lifted simultaneously! Once you’ve seen the ant-like workers cutting giant-sized blocks in the quarry, you’ll enjoy watching the artisans at the factory as they transform hard stone into incredible statuary and memorials. You’ll then be inspired to TRY IT yourselves at the Cut-In-Stone Center. Grab the gun, squeeze the trigger and fell the pulsing throb of air and abrasive leap from the nozzle as you cut a design in granite, leaving with a stone gift made by your very own hands!
And don’t forget to check out the gift shop featuring granite gifts, granite and gemstone jewelry and a fine selection of Vermont specialty foods and products. Rock of Ages offers affordable family fun. Add it to your Vermont itinerary this summer. The Rock of Ages offers self-guided tours of its 160,000 sq ft. facility – where you can observe many carving techniques simultaneously. Come watch sculptors using methods little changed over the centuries juxtaposed against the latest laser etchers and diamond saws. See cutting, polishing and rubber stencil layout for sandblasting. Check out the online store.
The factory is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The factory is closed all weekends, holidays and associated vacation days. The factory is normally closed during January, early February and the first two weeks of July for maintenance of heavy equipment and vacation.
The Rock of Ages Visitors Center is located at 558 Graniteville Road in Graniteville (Barre Town), VT 05654, 5 miles off I-89, exit 6, just 9 miles from Montpelier, 35 miles from Stowe (Ben & Jerry’s) and just 45 miles from Burlington.
Narrated Tours of the Vermont Granite Quarry, 2012 Season
Buy your ticket, hop aboard the shuttle and enjoy a ride to the world’s largest deep-hole, dimension granite quarry (nearly 600 feet deep) as your guide shares the Rock of Ages passion for all things granite: history, cultural heritage, artistry, geology and more.
From the safety of a fenced platform providing a bird’s-eye view of the quarry, watch the quarriers in the depths below as they cut world-famous Barre granite into mammoth blocks then lift them to the surface by derricks (cranes) capable of lifting up to 250 tons!
Guided quarry tours operate May 25-September 1, Monday-Saturday, 9:15-3:35 and from September 2-October 15, Monday-Sunday, 9:15-3:35. Please note that tours also operate the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The whole of the attraction, tours and activities, are CLOSED on July 4th. The quarry tour is about 40 minutes long and departs approximately every 45 minutes as follows:
- 9:15 a.m.
- 10:00 a.m.
- 10:45 a.m.
- 11:30 a.m.
- 12:40 p.m.
- 1:20 p.m.
- 2:05 p.m.
- 2:50 p.m.
- 3:35 p.m.
All departure times are approximate.
Please note that the quarry site itself is very impressive and that we believe you will enjoy the tour whenever you come; however, the quarriers typically work Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. They do not normally work on weekends, holidays or company vacation days associated with holidays. Weekday tours after 3:30 p.m. and weekend tours do not typically feature quarriers at work.
Early in the season they operate caravan tours rather than shuttle tours. The tour content is the same but the mode of transportation differs. Instead of boarding a shuttle, you follow a guide in your own vehicle about 1 mile to the quarry site where the tour begins.
2012 Guided Quarry Tour Rates:
Senior Adults (62 and over) $4.50 Adults $5.00 Children (6-12) $2.50 Children (5 and under) admitted for free as long as they sit on a lap
Quarry tours are outdoor tours. Although the tours usually operate on rainy days, tours may be postponed or cancelled due to severely inclement weather.
For safety and liability reasons, no self-guided tours of the quarry are permitted.
