Wendell State Forest Winter Letterbox Trail LbNA #37352 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Dec 31, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Wendell |
| County: | Franklin |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 6 |
| Planted by: | Curious Crow  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | KiliMama |
| Last found: | Feb 21, 2009 |
| Status: | FFFFFr |
| Last edited: | Dec 31, 2007 |
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Universal Access Program
Wendell State Forest Letterbox Trail
THIS SERIES HAS BEEN REMOVED for SPRING
The CCC 75th Anniversary Letterbox Trail is a year round option on this site!
This 6 letterbox series will be available each winter and covers ¼ mile on hilly terrain. Stamps commemorate some features of Wendell State Forest and some winter Universal Access Program activities. Bring your own stamp pad and pen.
Wendell Winter Letterbox Trail CLUES
Start at the park headquarters on Montague Road in Wendell. Two of these 5 letterboxes are wheelchair accessible, the other four are accessible using Universal Access Program equipment during scheduled programs on groomed trails. Boxes are reasonably easy to obtain by hand and require stepping off trail. Some individuals may require assistance. Only the last box has a log book for stamping in.
1. Accessible Ice Skating: From the park headquarters, locate the skating rink. Check out possible sitting spots in vicinity of the rink.
2. Sit Skiing: To locate this Universal Access icon depicting seated cross country skiing, go to the deck attached to the south side of the headquarter building. The box is hidden in the base of the "iron ranger" who is "talking" about reptiles.
3. Celebrating Cynthia Brown: Cynthia Brown is a regular Universal Access Program participant who recently turned 80 years old and loves the outdoors. You may even meet her if you come on a scheduled program day. February 28 is her birthday and she will be 82 years old this time. Her favorite winter activity can be discovered at this letterbox. Travel down the Friendly Trail to the road that is actually a drive to the snowmobile parking lot below. Turn left, then right again on the Friendly Trail. This box is in a box. If you pass the 2 beautiful stone pillars you’ve gone too far. Let's hope we will all be out in the winter woods when we are 82!
4. What Everybody Wants to See: Continue on the Friendly Trail down into a field alongside Ruggles Pond. Travel across the field towards the pond. Look far ahead and see if you can spot the lodge made by a well-known animal of the wetlands. Head in that direction. Stop among the trees before the pond’s edge. This is good habitat for another wild animal that is returning to Massachusetts. Explore among the multi-trunked trees. The box is well-camouflaged in the center of one. Please re-hide carefully!
5. CCC: Proceed to the left or northwest along the pond. Stay on the main trail for the easiest route to the next box, bearing left just after a brown post on the left with a red stripe. Eventually you’ll come to a T. Turn right, heading back towards the end of the pond. On the way you’ll pass some beautiful stone walls, go over a bridge and hear/see a dam on the right that were all built by the Civilian Conservation Corps 70 years ago. Looking opposite the pond, notice a parking lot which may be snow covered. At the right of the entrance to the lot, notice a plaque attached to a rock above a bench commemorating the CCC.
Beyond this plaque is the site of the work camp where young men lived while they made improvements to the forest in the 1930s. A new pavilion now on site was built of logs recently discovered in Ruggles Pond branded with the CCC stamp. A piece of machinery from that era is perched on a rock nearby. Only a few of the men who built many historic features of our state parks are still alive today. These features include the roads and stone walls you see throughout the state forest here. There is a photo display in the warming room back at headquarters if you want to find out more about their work on site.
This letterbox is temporarily MIA, but you can still do the whole "75th Anniversary of the CCC" letterbox trail in the vicinity - or part of it if there is a lot of snow on the ground.
To find the CCC letterbox, travel northward into the parking lot. Just past 2 larger green rhododendron bushes turn right and head up into a small field towards the playground equipment. At the edge of the woods, notice a series of small stone outcroppings. Look for one that has a young white pine rooted at the left side and a short stump attached to the left of the pine. That short stump may be buried under snow or melted out by the southern exposure depending on conditions. The letterbox is behind a rock that is under a piece of bark inside the stump. Please re-hide carefully!
6. Wendell State Forest: Return to the main road, turn right and follow it up a long hill back to the headquarters. Once you get back to the buildings, go to the east side (facing down hill) and find an odd looking attached wooden section that is used as a launch site during Universal Access Programs. Look around! This box portrays a popular winter activity and some specialized Universal Access Program equipment. You can stamp in inside the warming room if it is open. Please re-hide the box without letting others see its location. Thanks!
If you’ve enjoyed the Wendell State Forest winter letterbox trail, come back in the spring/summer/fall to do the 75th anniversary CCC letterbox trail.
Universal Access Program
Wendell State Forest Letterbox Trail
THIS SERIES HAS BEEN REMOVED for SPRING
The CCC 75th Anniversary Letterbox Trail is a year round option on this site!
This 6 letterbox series will be available each winter and covers ¼ mile on hilly terrain. Stamps commemorate some features of Wendell State Forest and some winter Universal Access Program activities. Bring your own stamp pad and pen.
Wendell Winter Letterbox Trail CLUES
Start at the park headquarters on Montague Road in Wendell. Two of these 5 letterboxes are wheelchair accessible, the other four are accessible using Universal Access Program equipment during scheduled programs on groomed trails. Boxes are reasonably easy to obtain by hand and require stepping off trail. Some individuals may require assistance. Only the last box has a log book for stamping in.
1. Accessible Ice Skating: From the park headquarters, locate the skating rink. Check out possible sitting spots in vicinity of the rink.
2. Sit Skiing: To locate this Universal Access icon depicting seated cross country skiing, go to the deck attached to the south side of the headquarter building. The box is hidden in the base of the "iron ranger" who is "talking" about reptiles.
3. Celebrating Cynthia Brown: Cynthia Brown is a regular Universal Access Program participant who recently turned 80 years old and loves the outdoors. You may even meet her if you come on a scheduled program day. February 28 is her birthday and she will be 82 years old this time. Her favorite winter activity can be discovered at this letterbox. Travel down the Friendly Trail to the road that is actually a drive to the snowmobile parking lot below. Turn left, then right again on the Friendly Trail. This box is in a box. If you pass the 2 beautiful stone pillars you’ve gone too far. Let's hope we will all be out in the winter woods when we are 82!
4. What Everybody Wants to See: Continue on the Friendly Trail down into a field alongside Ruggles Pond. Travel across the field towards the pond. Look far ahead and see if you can spot the lodge made by a well-known animal of the wetlands. Head in that direction. Stop among the trees before the pond’s edge. This is good habitat for another wild animal that is returning to Massachusetts. Explore among the multi-trunked trees. The box is well-camouflaged in the center of one. Please re-hide carefully!
5. CCC: Proceed to the left or northwest along the pond. Stay on the main trail for the easiest route to the next box, bearing left just after a brown post on the left with a red stripe. Eventually you’ll come to a T. Turn right, heading back towards the end of the pond. On the way you’ll pass some beautiful stone walls, go over a bridge and hear/see a dam on the right that were all built by the Civilian Conservation Corps 70 years ago. Looking opposite the pond, notice a parking lot which may be snow covered. At the right of the entrance to the lot, notice a plaque attached to a rock above a bench commemorating the CCC.
Beyond this plaque is the site of the work camp where young men lived while they made improvements to the forest in the 1930s. A new pavilion now on site was built of logs recently discovered in Ruggles Pond branded with the CCC stamp. A piece of machinery from that era is perched on a rock nearby. Only a few of the men who built many historic features of our state parks are still alive today. These features include the roads and stone walls you see throughout the state forest here. There is a photo display in the warming room back at headquarters if you want to find out more about their work on site.
This letterbox is temporarily MIA, but you can still do the whole "75th Anniversary of the CCC" letterbox trail in the vicinity - or part of it if there is a lot of snow on the ground.
To find the CCC letterbox, travel northward into the parking lot. Just past 2 larger green rhododendron bushes turn right and head up into a small field towards the playground equipment. At the edge of the woods, notice a series of small stone outcroppings. Look for one that has a young white pine rooted at the left side and a short stump attached to the left of the pine. That short stump may be buried under snow or melted out by the southern exposure depending on conditions. The letterbox is behind a rock that is under a piece of bark inside the stump. Please re-hide carefully!
6. Wendell State Forest: Return to the main road, turn right and follow it up a long hill back to the headquarters. Once you get back to the buildings, go to the east side (facing down hill) and find an odd looking attached wooden section that is used as a launch site during Universal Access Programs. Look around! This box portrays a popular winter activity and some specialized Universal Access Program equipment. You can stamp in inside the warming room if it is open. Please re-hide the box without letting others see its location. Thanks!
If you’ve enjoyed the Wendell State Forest winter letterbox trail, come back in the spring/summer/fall to do the 75th anniversary CCC letterbox trail.