This is our 40th geocache and we named it “Heck Table II" in honor of the original cache that was located in this area but was taken in the Summer of 2002. This virtual cache is located on top of Heck table in the Badlands National Monument. It is such and interesting and unusual place that we wanted it to be, once again shared with all our fellow geocachers.
History: In the early 1900s this area was first populated and used as pasture land for cattle. The grasses on top of the table would be harvested, cut and baled as feed for the animals during the winter. As you hike up onto the top of the table you can still find the remnants of some of the old equipment (located at: N43° 44.029 / W102° 30.862) In the 1940s this area was used as a training ground to teach airmen the flying and bombing techniques that would later be put to good use during World War II.
How to get there: Find the small town of Scenic (about 34 miles west of Rapid City on Highway 44) and turn south onto Bombing Range Road (The highway leading south from the little town of Scenic heading toward the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the South Badlands unit of the Badlands National Monument). There are a variety of different ways to get to the cache site, we parked at the gate at: N43° 43.342 W102° 31.59 and hiked across the prairie dog town to the base of Heck Table.
This is a virtual cache, so to log this as a find you must:
- Find the location and take a selfie picture of yourself and team members with the object at the given coordinates. Then upload and post it to your “found log” on this geocache page.
-Team Family Affair