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Wolf Pits LbNA #26128

Owner:J.E.S.S.
Plant date:Oct 5, 2006
Location:
City:Lynn
County:Essex
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:1
Found by: sano2pop
Last found:Aug 8, 2014
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFU
Last edited:Oct 5, 2006
Stamp: Hand carved
Terrain: Can be rocky, some ups and downs
Time: 1 hour (or longer if you do the Scary Frog Letterbox)

Where it is: Lynn Woods Reservation.
Great Woods Road, off of Lynnfield Street, Lynn MA.
For a trail map and more information: http://www.flw.org/maps.html I strongly suggest printing out a map and bringing it along as it clearly shows where the trail markers are located!

The Wolf Pits Letterbox and the Scary Frog Letterbox form a nice loop if you do them at the same time!

History
Wolves were supposedly a frequent danger to the lives of the early settlers of Lynn and their livestock. Some say that there was and still is a sort of wolf hysteria originally brought over with the colonists from England. In the northern section of Lynn Woods to this day exist narrow, rectangular, stone lined holes which were built in the early 17th century as wolf pits. There is an old Lynn tale that tells of an Indian woman, traveling home after dark who fell into one of those baited traps and found herself face-to-face with an incarcerated wolf. According to the story the two of them spent the night cowering in their respective corners in terror until help arrived the next morning. This “brutal man-eating beast” was removed from the pit and bludgeoned to death.


Clues
Follow the parking lot all the way to the end. The trail begins to the right of the little brick building at the far end of the parking lot. Follow Ox Pasture Road up and into the woods. Walden Pond will be on your left. Continue walking for about a mile until you come to trail marker D3-3 in the middle of a clearing on your right. Walk over to the tree with the trail marker on it. You will see two trails beyond it. The Wolf Pits are located just several paces up on left hand trail. Check them out but be very careful. The first one is especially deep! Go back to the tree with the trail marker on it. Facing Ox Pasture Road, you will see a fallen stump at about 165 degrees, approximately 14 steps. Look here and you will find what you came for.

Retrace your steps back to your car or continue on following the directions to the Scary Frog letterbox backwards.

Directions from the Scary Frog Letterbox
After stamping into the Scary Frog Letterbox, continue on the red trail. Shortly, you will come to a cool rock formation which we call “natures amphitheater.” Continue to follow the red trail which curves to the right and then up and left to a great overlook. When you get to the top of the cliff, note the big dead tree straight ahead then look to the left for a great view of Boston! Go back toward the big dead tree where the red trail goes to the left of it and the trail you want to take, the blue trail, is to the right of it. You should see a blue trail marker within a minute, if not, go back and check your dead tree. Zig-zag down this trail and over a short bridge where you will bear to the right (D3-2). You are now back on Ox Pasture Road. You will quickly see a fork in the road. Stay to the right. Look to the left for marker D3-3 in the middle of a clearing. Walk over to the tree with the trail marker on it. You will see two trails beyond it. The Wolf Pits are located just several paces up on left hand trail. Check them out but be very careful. The first one is especially deep! Go back to the tree with the trail marker on it. Facing Ox Pasture Road, you will see a fallen stump at about 165 degrees, approximately 14 steps. Look here and you will find what you came for. Continue on Old Oxford road for about a mile until you get back to your car.