This geocache has been placed with permission of Central
Scotland Forest Trust.
There are three entrances to the site.The suggested starting and
finishing point for those traveling from outside the local area is
from the car park on West Benhar Road, where there is space for
about 10 cars. Look for the green, circular CSFT signs that mark
the car park’s entrance.
This former opencast site was purchased from British Coal in
1997 to create a community woodland on. It is an exposed site,
visible as rising land from the nearby M8. There are a variety of
woodlands; to the west, is a conifer shelterbelt, bordering on old
mine and quarry workings; a small area has been planted as a
commercial woodland; and the community woodland contains a variety
of native broadleaf species including ash, rowan and silver
birch.
Within the main part of the site is an attractive knoll (Mint
Hill) with rock outcrops, from the top of which are good views of
the surrounding countryside. This knoll has been left unplanted, as
has the area immediately adjacent to Eastfield village, where some
old farmstead foundations can still be seen. Look out for the
remains of another older farmstead, which has also remained
unplanted.
There is a short climb to the cache location. The cache is a
small camouflaged plastic box, please rehide it carefully.
This cache is one in a series in the Central Scotland Forest,
others are:
Central Scotland Forest: Easter Breich
Central Scotland Forest: Bathville & Hardhill
Central Scotland Forest: Roughcastle