Amongst the lighthouses, lobster pots, and lush coastal forests of Maine, you’ll find a very unlikely environment….a DESERT!! This out-of-place natural wonder is a cautionary tale of land misuse and ancient geological history.

Check out our latest video to see some awesome drone footage of this otherworldly oddity and learn all about it!

Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Hannah, the videographer, click here!

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See tumultuous Thor’s Well up close and personal as the angry Pacific Ocean crashes through the gaping hole in the rocks! Hear the legend of its origin versus how scientists believe it was formed. And learn just how dangerous it can be if you get too close, all while watching our breathtaking drone footage of this magnificent natural wonder along the Oregon Coast!

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Or watch it on our YouTube channel here. To learn more about Hannah, the video creator, click here.

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What Is the Madison Boulder?

The Madison Boulder is known as a “glacial erratic”. It’s granite – made of fine-grained feldspar and some larger quartz crystals, molded under pressure from a deep molten mass in the earth over 200 million years ago! Notably, the granite withstood millions of years of erosion from wind and water. Also, the Granite State is another moniker for New Hampshire due to the vast quantities of granite found there!

Just How Big (and How Old) Is the Madison Boulder?

The Madison Boulder measures 87 feet (or 25 meters) long (left to right), 23 feet (or 7 meters) tall, and 37 feet (or 11 meters) wide (front to back). Also, the boulder is partially buried at about 10-12 feet underground! And it comes in at almost a whopping 5,963 tons. Or 11,926,000 lbs. if you prefer. That’s the weight of almost 36 blue whales!! And recently scientists have been able to determine that the boulder is around 14,000 years old!

How Do They Know It’s Weight?

Because they aren’t able to put this massive stone on a scale, scientists must estimate its weight. First, they determined that a cubic foot of the Conway Granite weights about 164.86 lbs. Consequently, scientists did a calculation using this information and the boulder’s size and voila – they determined the weight!

How Did It Get There?

During the last ice age, more than 25,000 years ago, a sheet of packed ice and snow covered the entire area, more than a mile thick! This ice sheet moved slowly in a southeasterly direction, even across the highest mountains! As it crawled along, the sheer force and size caused it to break off large pieces of rock and carry them along. As it “retreated”, it left these monstrous boulders behind.

Where Did It Come From?

Scientists believe Conway Granite is what comprises the Madison Boulder. Coincidentally, Conway Granite also comprises The Whitton Ledge, about 2 miles to the northwest. Therefore, they’ve concluded the ice sheet must’ve carried the boulder from that location. Hence, this assumption is the most widely accepted. However, some believe the Madison Boulder is comprised of rock type from Mount Willard, some 24 miles northwest in Crawford Notch! And they believe the ice sheet carried it from there! I’m curious – what do you think?

If you’d like to learn more about the author, Hannah, click here!

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