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Woodward Forest LbNA #55092 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 13, 2010
Location:
City:Norton
County:Bristol
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:6
Planted by:HoppinHappy
Found by: siblingstwo (5)
Last found:May 31, 2014
Status:FFFFFFFFFFaaa
Last edited:Sep 23, 2015
Woodward Forest Letterboxes:

This is the 1st series of letterboxes done for a Girl Scout Gold Award to promote inexpensive family activities, which help parents and children to enjoy the out of doors, instead of all the indoor electronic activities that take away from family togetherness.

Woodward Forest is a parcel of land acquired by the Land Preservation Society of Norton. There are many such parcels throughout the town that people can enjoy.
Visit www.nortonlandpreservation.org for more information, including trail maps.

Woodward Forest can be found by turning onto Old Taunton Ave off Route 140 in Norton MA and then taking a left onto Gateway Lane. There is a cul-de-sac at the end where you can park.

Box 1 – Salamander Eggs Box
Start from the curb where you parked your car and head into the woods at the forest sign. To get to the first box you need to follow the little path you are on for a bit. On the way you pass a vernal pool on your left, sometimes in early spring there are salamander eggs and frog eggs around the edges. Continue on the path past the pond until you come to a boardwalk, which might be suspended over mud or water depending on the season. Go to the end of the boardwalk. At the end of the last segment of boardwalk, you will need to take 9 paces. Many people believe that a pace is every step when really a pace is every time the same foot hits the ground. When you get to the place after 9 paces (not steps, paces) to your left there will be a mini path at the beginning of this path you want to count another 9 paces along it. Turn to your right, in front of you there are three large oak trees. Take 5 more paces towards them. Your first letterbox, the salamander egg letterbox, is behind the center oak under some leaves and pine needles.

Box 2 – Salamander Box
Go back to the main path and continue on your way. Soon the path will come to an end. There will be a new path in front of you leading both left and right. You want to take the path to the right. Away from the field on the right, until you come to a large rock in the middle of the path right in front of a split in the road. You will want to take the left path. This path goes on for a while, it goes up a hill and then back down the same hill, follow this path until you come across a tree on the right side of the path that has a distinct curve in the trunk it curves towards the woods on your right. From the base of that curved tree take 14 paces along path. Turn to your left and take 5 more paces to what looks like a funky stump, it is actually the roots to upended tree. The next letterbox, the salamander letterbox, is behind the stump, covered.

Box 3 – Turtle Box
Go back to the path you were on. Continue meandering along, enjoying the outdoors. A little way down the path you will see a large maple tree leaning across the path. It’s not quite completely across but it leans over enough that you have to duck. Behind this big tree, in the spring, you can see lots of the delicate little white flower called the Eastern Starflower. Each flower has 5-9 white petals. These flowers usually bloom from May to June. They are very pretty to look at. Also around this spot there have been a few sightings of turtles. At the base of the leaning tree you will find the turtle letterbox.

Box 4 – Frog Box
Continue on the path for a bit until you come to a body of water on your left. This body of water is a vernal pool. A vernal pool is a temporary pool of water, meaning that the water in the pool either dries up completely or partially many times throughout its life. Vernal pools are very important for forests. Many amphibians make their homes there because, unlike in a pond, there are no fish to eat them. In many vernal pools there multitudes of frogs and salamanders and turtles, and if you look hard enough in the spring there will most likely be some frog or salamander eggs (that look like a big blob of floating jelly) floating or close to the top of the water. Whenever you’re ready to continue just keep following the path. There will be a very large pine tree on the right of the path. Behind this tree lies the frog letterbox.

Box 5 – Lady slipper
Follow the path to a two way split. You want to take the left fork. From the beginning of the new path take 30 paces. This should bring you to an area where in the springtime has over 20 lady slipper plants to the left of the path. Lady slippers are endangered orchids that you sometimes see in the woods, near pines. The lady slipper plant has a unique way of pollinating its other plants. Each lady slipper has a slipper shaped pouch that it uses to trap bees inside which forces the bugs to have to climb up past the stamen (a part of the plant that contains the pollen) which then fertilizes the flower. On some non-mature lady slipper plants the flower won’t have formed yet, So on the ground you may just see two leaves with out a flower. Take 5 paces forward from where you ended your 30. There will be a big oak tree on your right, 5 or so paces off the path, the lady slipper letterbox is hidden behind it.

Box 6 – LPS Tree Box
Continue back on the path. When you reach the end, an old cart path will be perpendicular to it. Take this path to your left; this will bring you back to the meadow that you saw earlier. You will want to walk straight across the field to two large pine trees in the middle. You are headed to the pine on the left. Behind this pine tree stands a Chokecherry tree which in spring produces small white flowers in the same formation as grapes look on a vine. When you look at the chokecherry tree straight on and look to its right you will see another big pine tree. Beneath this tree is the resting place of the final letterbox of this series. The stamp is the logo of The Land Preservation Society of Norton. They do the upkeep of Woodward Woods and several other preserves in town. It will be hidden under a large rock at the base.

To get out:
To get back to your cars, you will want to go back to the path you left at the beginning of the field. Continue on your way down the path until a path to the right appears. This path will lead you back along the boardwalk and back past the first vernal pool then to where you parked you car.