The Cache at Hobbs Brook is a short walk through a very scenic wildlife area - lots of birds and beaver activity can be sighted here. This walk follows the long since abandoned Charlton Street which connected the town common with Route 20.
In 1962, the completion of the Westville Dam, created to alleviate the flood problems in the surrounding towns, led to the demise of this section of the 'old' turnpike, as this area was now smack in the middle of the flood plain. The closing of this portion of Charlton Street required moving a couple of houses near the cache location and the creation of Hall Road which now connects Route 20 with Route 131 in town.
The area is now overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Westville Lake flood control project. There are two entrances to the Hobbs Brook area, and the main entrance (not suggested) can often be overgrown and flooded - in fact when I placed this cache, it was impossible to get to the cache location from the Sturbridge common side of Hobbs Brook without swimming or paddling. The walk in from the east end is actually more interesting, and usually not flooded - however it can become somewhat overgrown in summer, and boots are recommended in all but the driest of seasons.
Bring your binoculars and you'll likely be treated to quite a few bird sightings!
The new FTF has choice of a lot of swag. I've included 2 scratch tickets, two Halloween related TB's from my collection, and lots of my usual stuff... Some worn out wings, bracelets, shells, glow sticks, etc.
Notes:
1. When parking at the suggested coordinates, please park on the left hand side of the entrance, the other spaces are reserved for the residents. Before I inherited this cache, I pulled into the main drive and parked at the visitor spot ahead and to the left. I had to walk 200ft to the Corps gate. A third parking area is the next door medical offices. You can park in the very back and be within 20ft of the trail. However, I would probably only park there when it's not business hours.
2. There is no need to disturb the stone wall!
The Return to Tradition Caches:
Return to Tradition #1: Burnt Out by Bubba Riley
Return to Tradition #3: Right on the Button by WaldenRun
Return to Tradition #4: Snowbirds at Turkey Hill by Bigrock95
Return to Tradition #5: Otter Slide by geos of the jungle
Return to Tradition #6: Palmer Wildlife Mgmt Area by XiaDog and Dingity
Return to Tradition #7: The Dog Rose by NotThePainter
Return to Tradition #8: Henry's Hill Hybrid by the hermit crabs
Return to Tradition #9: Woronoco Dragon by TomandSiegi
Return to Tradition #10: Return to the First by Goldfinch593
Return to Tradition #11: Mount Pisgah by the hermit crabs
Return to Tradition #12: Pulpit Rock Cache by dphansen and dphansenjr
Return to Tradition # 13: Choate Farm Cache by Danvers Duo