Preserves, parks, trail systems, clusters of caches

Di and I truly enjoy the many fine preserves and other places with trails where clusters of caches are found. But for geocaching, we would never have visited most of these places. We enjoy a place where we can park, cache for a half day or more, bag a bunch of caches, see some of nature's wonders and enjoy what Maine has to offer. I'm starting this thread to encourage fellow cachers to tell us about your favorite parks or preserves, where they're located, types of caches, and anything a cacher might want to know in advance to add to the enjoyment. There are lots of places like this in Maine so let me be the first to tell you all about one of our favorites.

The Dodge Point Preserve is north of Boothby and south of Damariscotta on the River Road The preserve is expansive and the back of the preserve borders the Damariscotta River. The trails are well marked and I believe there's close to 20 caches of all types hidden. Make sure that you at least get to the caches along the river.

Like a lot of these places, there are rarely trail maps available at the kiosk and I couldn't find a place to download one before we visited. There's a huge ravine that traverses right through the middle of the preserve so many of the trails take a lot of twists and turns. Newbies might wonder why they're suddenly headed "away" from a cache or headed away from the parking area when it's time to head out, but trust the trail markings and have a look at them on the map at the kiosk. Mark your car as a waypoint, as always.

Several cachers have done all of these in a day. We did all but 5 the first visit and I think that's because the last 5 we just did were placed after our first visit.

This preserve is dog friendly and we didn't see any dog hazards although if you have labs, there will be swimming at some point!

I have no restaurants to report about this area although downtown Damariscotta is about 10 minutes from the park.

So let your fellow cachers know about similar places you've visited that you know others will enjoy!:)

Here is just a list of places I've enjoyed that might fall under this topic. I don't currently have time to do a write up on these, maybe later, but if anyone else wants to do a write up on them feel free.

Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Orono
Bangor City Forest
Walden-Parke Preserve in Bangor
Demerrit Forest - University of Maine
Sears Island
University of Maine Experimental Forest - Leonards Mills

The Orono Land Trust also maintains a bunch of different areas and actually places their own caches on them. Some of the places include:
Gould's Landing
McPhetres Forest/Manter Woods
Orono Trails in the Tech Park/Colburn area
Marsh Island Natural Area on the East side of Orono

Great topic Dan, well done. Currently I'm enjoying the Cathance Preserve in Topsham, the Bangor City Forest and an undisclosed location that will be known as "site b". :). As inhUMaine mentioned, Orono Trails are pretty darn good too.

Great topic, Dan. I am currently enjoying the caches around the wetlands and woods near the Pal building on Essex St. This is the home of the Essex St Sliding hill, but there is much more out there. The trails are nice. I can choose flat land or hills, and I have added a many birds to my life list in the 3x I have been out there. Have enjoyed these caches taking me someplace that I didn't know existed.

That is a nice area, dufzor, and they have cleaned it up a lot. The first cache over that way was 175.5 feet from the now active Hidden "Treasures" (Traditional)(Regular) (GCKWR5) by Team Nirvana (2/3) cache, and the hint suggested a game of "ring toss". Unfortunately, it was correct. It was a pile of hundreds of old tires. It is great they have cleaned all (or most?) of those tires up. Another bit of history - the sliding hill was once a ski slope, complete with lift.

And the tires were what remains of the old dump. Ah, how areas change ~ in this case for the better. The Old Bangor Veazie railroad bed is the foundation for part of one of the trails - the marker where it went through Boardway part is the big stone with a V in it.

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Originally Posted by brdad

That is a nice area, dufzor, and they have cleaned it up a lot. The first cache over that way was 175.5 feet from the now active Hidden "Treasures" (Traditional)(Regular) (GCKWR5) by Team Nirvana (2/3) cache, and the hint suggested a game of "ring toss". Unfortunately, it was correct. It was a pile of hundreds of old tires. It is great they have cleaned all (or most?) of those tires up. Another bit of history - the sliding hill was once a ski slope, complete with lift.

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Originally Posted by brdad

That is a nice area, dufzor, and they have cleaned it up a lot. The first cache over that way was 175.5 feet from the now active Hidden "Treasures" (Traditional)(Regular) (GCKWR5) by Team Nirvana (2/3) cache, and the hint suggested a game of "ring toss". Unfortunately, it was correct. It was a pile of hundreds of old tires. It is great they have cleaned all (or most?) of those tires up. Another bit of history - the sliding hill was once a ski slope, complete with lift.

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Brdad, was just discussing the area with an older gent that I met while caching last night. He is a birder and botonist and we spent an hour talking birds and the area's history. I did a cache in the tires in April and rest assured, there are still lots out there. He mentioned that he is trying to get the city workers to clean up all the old tires and rusty bed springs still out there, and that it had been the city dump. I had no idea. I thought it might have been part of the base. I did not know that the sleding hill used to be a ski area! I do know that on a sled it's a fast hill, but haven't done it since college.

Very nice Dan. I have done Dodge point and easily did them all in a half day probably because I am younger then you. Sears Island was another great place to go. Yes I know we did those together. Nice place to be on a hot summers day with the wonderful seabreeze. This past fall Finsup and myself went to Bear Mountain and did those 12 caches in 3 hours or so. The views from the top are spectacular and the trail is a slow climb upward. Cathance woods is another nice place to go and grab 6-8 caches in a couple of hours. The trail meanders along beside the stream for some of the hike. This past winter I snowshoed 1/2 of Bradbury State Park. The trails were mostly flat and wide with slow elevation changes. I was there with Bamm and we were about 5 hours grabbing up 12 or so caches. Wonderful thread Dan.

Di just reminded me of a cluster we did this past spring....dubs on tubbs. All of these caches are in Reid State Park, a great place to visit anytime of year. If you go with friends, park one car near the gate, drive to Todd's Point and start there and work your way back toward the main entrance. This is part of the park that most visitors would never even look at as the beach is, of course the main attraction. There's a dozen caches, all located either on or very close to well marked trails. In the summer you'll start smelling the fried clams about half way through the series but you'll need to plod on and finish. This will take about 4 hours for most.

Fore River Sanctuary in Portland has 10 or 11 caches along with a nice set of waterfalls. The trails are nice but can be a bit bugy at times. Another favorite is Evergreen cemetery Portland. This cemetery has duck ponds, and walking trails with several caches on them. The trails start at the back of the cemetery by the duck ponds. Across the street is Baxter woods with a few more caches to get.

Helpfull hint...When there are no trail maps except one posted on the kiosk we usually take a picture of it with our digital camera or cell phone for reference later while on the trails.

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Originally Posted by team barbieri

Helpfull hint...When there are no trail maps except one posted on the kiosk we usually take a picture of it with our digital camera or cell phone for reference later while on the trails.

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That is so true. It also is a good idea for stages of multis or puzzle caches. If you enter a digit in wrong or count the wrong number of "R"'s on that plaque, having a digital copy is much easier than backtracking!

That's one of the best suggestions I've heard in a long time. Just slapped the side of my head and said DUH!

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Originally Posted by team barbieri

Helpfull hint...When there are no trail maps except one posted on the kiosk we usually take a picture of it with our digital camera or cell phone for reference later while on the trails.

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Great thread . . . I always enjoy doing a decent hike with a number of caches along the way to break things up. This thread gives me some ideas about places to go.

Dan you should compile all this into a permanent article for new cachers to refer to in the future! Great thread!

Like doing a few caches then ending up on top of mountain with a view? There's 2 hikes off the Watson Pond Road in Rome/Belgrade. One of my all time favorites hike is to the top of Round Top. dblbogey (Henry placed a cache almost in the parking area for a starting point, Round Bottom GC1M6D2. LT used to have a few caches on the way up but I didn't see them on the map when I just looked. Regardless, the hike to the top is fun and you will be rewarded with a spectacular view. The trail is marked, not as well as I would like, but marked. The cache on top is Round Top, GCJM13. When you get to the top and the trail T's, go right.

So if you're legs aren't burning after doing this hike (about 2 hours round trip) go down the road, do I found my Thrill GC1MJYE which will start you up the trail to the top of Blueberry Hill, the cache on top Blueberry Hill being GC1EMNV. Enjoy!

Let's see how the thread pans out. Seems to be some interest. I'm in you neighborhood this afternoon at the All Season Recreational Center if you guys want to learn about how camproads impact water quality. 1:30 to 3:30 and I'll tell a lot of funny stories during that time! Checking to see if there are any caches left in the Belgrade area that I should do while I'm out there...

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Originally Posted by JustPJ66

Dan you should compile all this into a permanent article for new cachers to refer to in the future! Great thread!

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Originally Posted by dubord207

Let's see how the thread pans out. Seems to be some interest. I'm in you neighborhood this afternoon at the All Season Recreational Center if you guys want to learn about how camproads impact water quality. 1:30 to 3:30 and I'll tell a lot of funny stories during that time! Checking to see if there are any caches left in the Belgrade area that I should do while I'm out there...

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http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache...1-5c343dbfdc20 <----this is a must do cache in Belgrade.

That cache is high on my to do list, but if I go for that today I assume I'll look like a swamp thing when I show up to speak! Trust me, I'll get it, just not today.

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Originally Posted by JustKev

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache...1-5c343dbfdc20 <----this is a must do cache in Belgrade.

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Originally Posted by team barbieri

Helpfull hint...When there are no trail maps except one posted on the kiosk we usually take a picture of it with our digital camera or cell phone for reference later while on the trails.

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You can use that picture as background for your GPS application on your cellphone, snap a picture of the trail map with your cellphone, import picture into your GPS application, calibrate it by pointing where on the map are you now (it usually says YOU ARE HERE), walk to the next corner, calibrate again, this will stretch and rotate the image the way it corresponds with reality. Enjoy :)

For those who travel to the lakes region of New Hampshire, the Working Forest series.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache...log=y&decrypt=

Thanks for the thread Dan.

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Originally Posted by cano

You can use that picture as background for your GPS application on your cellphone, snap a picture of the trail map with your cellphone, import picture into your GPS application, calibrate it by pointing where on the map are you now (it usually says YOU ARE HERE), walk to the next corner, calibrate again, this will stretch and rotate the image the way it corresponds with reality. Enjoy :)

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Now if I was smart enough to use applications and use a "smart Phone" and wasn't so cheap that I won't pay for all this extra stuff....that is good to know. I am sure for some this will be a priceless piece of information. Cano - your skills amaze me!

Adding a new one Di and I did today...The Bear Mountain series by geoskeffs near Turner. There's 13 total caches, a 3 to 4 hour round trip hike with varying but not real hard terrain and then the view at the top which is simply stunning. We had a rumble or two of thunder and had to backtrack after hitting the summit but had another fantastic hike. Specifics: first half mile up is on largely rocky terrain and the steepest part of the hike. It levels off and the footing is much better after the #5 cache. The hides have great coords, but the tree cover made my 550 a little slow to get me on the cache. Use your geosenses. We had no DNF's. If you do all 13, you end up looping back to the main trail which unfortunately we did do because of the impending storm. (Don't be surprised if I run up and get the other 3 real soon!)

Put this bunch on your "bucket list!"

These sound like exactly my kind of caches. Easy on the knees.....

speaking of trail systems...today I was half searching on the site for some trails that might be friendly enough for a stroller. Well packed dirt, or pavement. My back is not up to back packing a one year old at the moment and wondered where we might find some paved bike trails to walk and cache on today. Heard there were some bike trails in the Georgetown/ Reid State Park area but did not find any info online to find out the condition. I know the Brunswick paved trail along the river would be one, but does anyone have any references closer to Rockland area that would fit the bill?

The Trail at Reid would NOT be stroller friendly. The Rail Trail between Augusta and Gardiner is paved so it would be perfect. Most of the trails in the Vaughn Woods in Hallowell where there's over 20 caches would be smooth enough for a stroller.

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Originally Posted by pm28570

These sound like exactly my kind of caches. Easy on the knees.....

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Both of my knees have issues and they're both a little sore today. While the Bear Mountain Mountain series is first class, I think folks with knee issues have to know that there's a solid half mile of walking on uneven terrain punctuated by large stones. That said, Di and I will probably go there again at some point to get the last 3 we didn't get as I'm told by the CO that some of the best views are with those 3.

I think we heed a new attribute....knee friendly.

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Originally Posted by JustPJ66

Dan you should compile all this into a permanent article for new cachers to refer to in the future! Great thread!

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When you talk about these places that they, (I), might not know where they are, it would be heplful if you give them, (me), the starting GC number of the trail so we can find it easily.

I randomly came across a new area this weekend that qualified for this great list
Ecotat Gardens and Arboretum in Hermon
It's a really neat and a little odd place that I never expected to come across. Also EMSDaniel has placed a bunch of quality caches just waiting to be found by all.

There's also 5 letterboxes located in Ecotat if interested. http://www.atlasquest.com/showinfo.html?gBoxId=146646