Found! Peter's Oven Cave, Lee NH

Peter’s Oven. This name is given to a natural cave in the side of a steep ledge, a short distance above Lee Hill on the right hand side of the road to Barrington. It is mentioned July 10, 1721 when 100 acres of land, originally granted to Wm. Williams, Sr., in 1662, and laid out to Wm. Roberts in 1663, on the west side of “Whell Rights Pond” were laid out anew to Moses Davis and John Thompson, Jr., beginning at a pitch-pine tree on the west side of the cartway that leads to “Peter’s Oven, so(e) called.”

– Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire by Mary Pickering Thompson.

That’s a mouthful and a lot of info to digest, but the trick is to cherry-pick only what’s pertinent from the paragraph above. A natural cave exists, on the side of a steep cliff, somewhere north of Lee Hill, with references to it going back nearly 300 years. It doesn’t take any more than that to put me on the hunt for something, and in this case that's a good thing because other than this snippet and a couple mentions under the town of Lee's website, Google shrugged its shoulders at every search attempt I made on Peter's Oven. So with my own little X marks the spot treasure map drawn out, Saturday rolled around and I loaded up my backpack for a hike.

I based this day's search on the story behind the cave's name, of which there are two different legends. One says that back when Native Americans were regularly fighting New England settlers, a battle took place at "Whell Rights Pond" that left a man named Peter wounded, and he was able to stumble to the cave before crawling inside and dying. The second legend tells of a homeless man named Peter who roamed the area and made the cave one of his haunts. Since this second legend didn't offer any clues to the cave's location I chose the pond battle story, and parking about a mile south of the Wheelwright Pond I entered the woods and headed north.

Markers for this being conservation area were on trees throughout my hike, and although I never saw anything telling me I'd exited public land, a couple times I felt like I was creeping onto private property. One such time was when I found this swing for two perched high up in a tree, perfect for those Saturday afternoons when you can't decide if your mood is more adventurous or romantic.

I eventually made my way to the pond, where if Google Maps is to be believed I went for a nice swim, then headed back via a more westerly route. But not only did I not find the cave, I didn't even find any cliffs to give me hope of being in the right area. It was a beautiful day for a hike, but that's all it turned out to be, and after 3 miles of bushwhacking I was forced to go home and call it an unsuccessful yet still enjoyable afternoon.

New Hampshire's unseasonably warm weather continued the following Saturday, and once again I was roaming these woods looking for anything that resembled a cliff. At one point I found myself stepping over a stone wall - nothing unusual in this part of the country - but as I continued walking something in the back of my mind kept kicking that thought around. Stone walls are often used as property lines. Also, the 1721 reference to the cave had been used in the context of defining a property line.

However long it took for you to piece together these clues it took me double, but eventually it clicked and I scrambled back, positive I was finally onto something.

Times like these are full of failures however, and as sure as I'd been that I was getting close, those hopes ended as abruptly as that wall did smack in the middle of nowhere. Day two's search had covered over three miles once again, and with my mind already wandering to what new adventure I should plan the following weekend, I started back.

But with presumed failure sometimes comes a little luck, as happened with my hunt for the Catamount Hill Cave and our group search for the Paddock Mineshaft, for it was during my walk to the car - full of those desperate side-trips to check just one more spot - that I began following a rock outcropping and finally had my breakthrough. For the first time in two weeks I came to an actual cliff, and before I knew it was looking at a suspiciously dark shadow near the top. Upward I climbed.

It was a cave alright, but one I would have to slither into. It wasn't even big enough to enter on my hands and knees. Nevertheless, after two weekends of searching I finally found myself at the opening of Peter's Oven Cave.

So having seen it up close, here is my theory on how it got its name, at least if I'm to choose between the two legends that have carried through the years. The wounded man climbing into this cave to die is more of a stretch to me, because although it wasn't overly hard to scale the cliff, it wasn't overly easy either. And coming down from the top looked even trickier. Would a mortally wounded man be able to make the climb? Possibly, but I'm siding with the legend of Homeless Peter. This was the right sized cubbyhole not only for getting out of the rain, but it was high enough to afford some privacy and protection while sleeping. Plus, it's makes for a great lookout spot, because here's the real kicker - the cave sits in view of this road, just behind a row of trees.

I imagine people traveling this path on foot centuries ago, passing by and never realizing Peter was holed up above, watching them. And on this day I did my best impression of Peter, stretching out my full length into his cave while I snacked on Pringles and secretly watched the cars drive by. 

This led me to my next question - just how visible, or invisible, is this spot from the road? Of all the people who drive it on a daily basis, shouldn't somebody have spotted it by now? It would seem so, but then why couldn't I find a single picture of it online? It was like the Fermi Paradox for caves, so when I returned to my car I decided to do a test.

Driving north, the cave was impossible to see due to the curve of the road and tilt of the cliff. So anyone headed to Barrington was off the hook. Then I drove the road south, and although I was technically able to spot Peter's Oven from this direction, that statement comes with some important asterisks. First is that I knew exactly where to look for it, second is that I couldn't recognize it as a cave but only as the spot where I knew it existed, and third is that I nearly wiped out someone's mailbox in the process. If this were any old road on any old day, I would miss it a hundred times out of a hundred, and I'm speculating that some people might know it's here, but most do not.

If you enjoy large caves that you can stand in and wander around, this one's going to be a real bummer, dude. But if you enjoy local legends, historical mysteries, and beautiful fall afternoons spent hiking through the woods, go ahead and add searching for Peter's Oven to your to-do list.

The enjoyment of this adventure is all in the chase.

Links:
Landmarks In Ancient Dover, New Hampshire, By Mary Pickering Thompson