The Meshomasic State Forest LbNA #20225 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Bungalow Boxer  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Dec 7, 2002 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Glastonbury |
| County: | Hartford |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Boxes: | 3 |
| Found by: | enjoinder (3) |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Mar 14, 2009 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFr |
| Last edited: | Dec 7, 2002 |
I HAVEN'T GOTTEN OUT THERE TO PULL THESE YET (YES, I KNOW IT's MAY).
THESE BOXES WILL BE RETIRED ON OR AROUND MARCH 1st 2006.
Rated: Easy/Moderate
Length of hike: Approx. two to three miles. Allow approximately one and a half hours for hiking and stamping in time.
Music Woman checked on these boxes on April 5, 2004. Boxes 1-3 were in good order. (Box 4 was pulled)
My Dad has lived near the Meshomasic State Forest all of his life and has hiked these portions of the forest on numerous occasions in his youth. He was the one who told me about the Nike Missile Sites and the abandoned airplane hanger.
Please be sure to wear waterproof hiking boots all year round, and the LOVELY (just kidding!) Orange gear during hunting season. The trails were quite wet and muddy the day I scouted these, and snowy when I planted them! I will apologize in advance for any obscene spray painting that you will find on this hike. Unfortunately, I can not control the not so nice things that young people paint. I would understand if you didn't want to subject your kids to this. Also, be especially careful in the ruins. Keep children near to you since there are many hazards!
From Points North (Hartford etc): Take Route 2 East to exit 10. At end of exit, take a right. At the stop sign, take a right onto New London Turnpike. At the first stop light, turn left. At the first stop sign, turn left onto Hopewell Road. Where you have your first fork, turn left onto Woodland Street, then another left onto Clark Hill Road. Go under the power lines and park to the right of the metal gate. DO NOT BLOCK GATE! They are building houses between the power lines and the airplane beacon and will need to use the access road.
From Points South (Norwich/New London etc): Take Route 2 West to Exit 10. Take a left at the end of the ramp. Turn right at the stop sign onto New London Tpke. Follow directions above from New London Tpke.
To the right of the parking area, there is a trail with faded yellow blazes. At the fork, bear left to stay on yellow (make sure you stay on yellow! Sometimes the blazes are few and far between!) Once you enter the pine cathedral, you will see a stone wall to your left with a rusted metal object in front of it. The Evergreen Forest Letterbox is hidden in the wall behind the metal object.
Continue on the yellow trail and you will skirt the edge of the field. To your left on the other side of the field is the airplane beacon. This is a beacon which all airplanes use to keep auto pilot on track. Airplanes use this beacon as a turn mark. You will notice that there is A LOT of airplane traffic here! When you go back into the woods, you will a jumble of stones on the right. Go 12 paces on the trail from the beginning of the jumble, and look in between the “dominoes” for the Airplane Beacon Letterbox.
You will skirt the edge of the field again for a short ways until you notice a Y intersection. Take a right and head down the steep hill (careful when wet or icy!) into the forest. Soon, you will come into a clearing with ruins. This was the old Nike Missile Site from the days of the cold war. Nike Missile sites were usually broken up into two parts: A radar center and a missile launch center. These ruins are the radar center. Follow the path to the flag pole.
Once at the flag pole, take a reading of 180 degrees and walk 42 paces. On your left, you will notice a small path. Follow that path 40 paces and you will find concrete debris on your left. You will find the Nike Missile Radar Site Letterbox under the concrete slab hidden by some red clay looking cement pieces.
THE ABANDONED AIRPLANE HANGER LETTERBOX WAS RETIRED DUE TO HOUSES GOING IN. I wonder what happened to the airplane hanger??????
Retrace your steps back to your car, heading Northish from the tank near the flag pole to find the trail you came in on.
THESE BOXES WILL BE RETIRED ON OR AROUND MARCH 1st 2006.
Rated: Easy/Moderate
Length of hike: Approx. two to three miles. Allow approximately one and a half hours for hiking and stamping in time.
Music Woman checked on these boxes on April 5, 2004. Boxes 1-3 were in good order. (Box 4 was pulled)
My Dad has lived near the Meshomasic State Forest all of his life and has hiked these portions of the forest on numerous occasions in his youth. He was the one who told me about the Nike Missile Sites and the abandoned airplane hanger.
Please be sure to wear waterproof hiking boots all year round, and the LOVELY (just kidding!) Orange gear during hunting season. The trails were quite wet and muddy the day I scouted these, and snowy when I planted them! I will apologize in advance for any obscene spray painting that you will find on this hike. Unfortunately, I can not control the not so nice things that young people paint. I would understand if you didn't want to subject your kids to this. Also, be especially careful in the ruins. Keep children near to you since there are many hazards!
From Points North (Hartford etc): Take Route 2 East to exit 10. At end of exit, take a right. At the stop sign, take a right onto New London Turnpike. At the first stop light, turn left. At the first stop sign, turn left onto Hopewell Road. Where you have your first fork, turn left onto Woodland Street, then another left onto Clark Hill Road. Go under the power lines and park to the right of the metal gate. DO NOT BLOCK GATE! They are building houses between the power lines and the airplane beacon and will need to use the access road.
From Points South (Norwich/New London etc): Take Route 2 West to Exit 10. Take a left at the end of the ramp. Turn right at the stop sign onto New London Tpke. Follow directions above from New London Tpke.
To the right of the parking area, there is a trail with faded yellow blazes. At the fork, bear left to stay on yellow (make sure you stay on yellow! Sometimes the blazes are few and far between!) Once you enter the pine cathedral, you will see a stone wall to your left with a rusted metal object in front of it. The Evergreen Forest Letterbox is hidden in the wall behind the metal object.
Continue on the yellow trail and you will skirt the edge of the field. To your left on the other side of the field is the airplane beacon. This is a beacon which all airplanes use to keep auto pilot on track. Airplanes use this beacon as a turn mark. You will notice that there is A LOT of airplane traffic here! When you go back into the woods, you will a jumble of stones on the right. Go 12 paces on the trail from the beginning of the jumble, and look in between the “dominoes” for the Airplane Beacon Letterbox.
You will skirt the edge of the field again for a short ways until you notice a Y intersection. Take a right and head down the steep hill (careful when wet or icy!) into the forest. Soon, you will come into a clearing with ruins. This was the old Nike Missile Site from the days of the cold war. Nike Missile sites were usually broken up into two parts: A radar center and a missile launch center. These ruins are the radar center. Follow the path to the flag pole.
Once at the flag pole, take a reading of 180 degrees and walk 42 paces. On your left, you will notice a small path. Follow that path 40 paces and you will find concrete debris on your left. You will find the Nike Missile Radar Site Letterbox under the concrete slab hidden by some red clay looking cement pieces.
THE ABANDONED AIRPLANE HANGER LETTERBOX WAS RETIRED DUE TO HOUSES GOING IN. I wonder what happened to the airplane hanger??????
Retrace your steps back to your car, heading Northish from the tank near the flag pole to find the trail you came in on.