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Wilmington Water Tower LbNA #25528

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Sep 10, 2006
Location: Wilmington Town Forest, Andover Street
City:Wilmington
County:Middlesex
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:1
Planted by:Beaker
Found by: nfsquared
Last found:Mar 18, 2020
Status:FFFFFFFF
Last edited:Jul 31, 2018
NEW CLUES* July 28, 2018. Small prize for first finder.

Wilmington has a Town Forest. The town forest has a water tower. Both are tucked away from the town. It’s typically a quiet place for a walk—and for letterboxing!

DRIVING DIREX:
Take I-93 to the Rte 125 exit that says “Andover – Wilmington.” Head north on Rte 125. Go through the first light. At the second light, turn left onto Andover Street. Follow Andover Street through a light industrial zone and into a residential area. Watch on your left for a dirt turnout across the street from a house (under a mile from 125). There is a brown wooden sign that says “Wilmington Town Forest” at the edge of the woods. This marks the trailhead.

HIKING DIREX:
The trail goes uphill and is blazed with blue squares on trees. Follow the trail until you come out of the woods into a clearing that connects to a dirt road. You should see a line of 4-5 large rocks on the other at the edge of the woods on the other side of the road. Behind and beneath the biggest, pointy-topped rock, covered in leaves, is the treasure you seek. To get to it, climb over the flat rock next to the pointy-topped rock (watch out for scratchy dead twigs). Carry the box up to the water tower hill, where there is a cement pad you can sit on to stamp in. Enjoy the view (better when leaves are off the trees) and ignore the graffiti. Stamp is hand-carved and shows a view of the tower from near the box’s hiding place.

Look for Wilmington Water Tower Nature Series Box 1 while you're here (LbNA #67889).

After you re-hide the box, you can either go back down the way you came (total round trip of about 2/3 mile). Or for a longer trek, continue on the blue-blazed trail (to the left of the dirt road). The blue-blazed trail turns right and goes downhill on some stone steps, and through the woods until it eventually rejoins the dirt road. Take a sharp right onto the road to return to the water tower. From the letterbox through the woods and back on the dirt road adds about a mile to the trip.

Check yourself for ticks when you get back. There are a lot of them in season. July and August can have a lot of gnats and deer flies if the weather is humid.

*New Clues: When this box was first placed in 2006, Wilmington had recently carved a new access road into the Town Forest and the old entrance got overgrown. In 2018, the “new” road is getting overgrown, but the “old” entrance is cleared. The new clues use the old entrance. It’s a prettier trail than the access road.


Hike length: 1 mile