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Thread: Preserves, parks, trail systems, clusters of caches

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    So. China Maine
    Posts
    1,597

    Default 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!
    Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.

  2. #2

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    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

  3. #3

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    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

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Hampden, ME
    Posts
    911

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    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.
    Everyone has the right to be an idiot at times. Just don't abuse the privilege.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    A, A
    Posts
    332

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    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.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Bangor, ME
    Posts
    6,343

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    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.
    DNFTT! DNFTT! DNFTT!

    "The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it..."

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    ME
    Posts
    3,529

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    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.
    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    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.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    A, A
    Posts
    332

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    Quote Originally Posted by brdad View Post
    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.
    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.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    china,maine
    Posts
    417

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    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.
    You can't have everything. Where would you put it?-Steven Wright

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    So. China Maine
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    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.
    Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.

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