Many, many years ago we discovered this scenic part of Cottonville Avenue when we took our first drive along its length. Long before it became Rustic Road #50, we followed a map that said we would come out on another road at the other end, but at times we weren’t sure we would!
Since then, we have become familiar with every twist and turn of this road and every colorful tree along its edges. Over the years we have seen many changes along the roadside. The “hippie” bus we would always look for was removed a few years back, and there has been some logging between WP4 and WP5. The area that was clear-cut quite a while ago near the western edge of this segment has now grown over with trees and bushes that hide the logging scars.
The best time to drive this section of the road is from mid-September to mid-October when the leaves of the different kinds of trees here take on their various colors at various times, but we have traveled the route at all times of the year. Because the road is gravel and sand, it is more difficult to navigate in the winter and after the spring thaw or a heavy rain. This segment of Cottonville Avenue lies in two townships, and each is responsible for the maintenance of its own miles, so there may be times when one part of the road is plowed, graded, or rocked, while the other part isn’t. The cache is available in winter, but the road conditions may be questionable, and the container may be harder to find.
This cache will have you driving from east to west for about five miles, 3.5 miles on gravel in Richfield Township and then 1.5 miles on sand and dirt in Preston Township. There are seven waypoints along this route (WP1 is at the initial cache coordinates), each of which will take you to a red and white fire number marker. The first five of these are on the left (south) and the last two are on the right (north). You will need to write down the three numbers from each marker and place them in the corresponding spots of the coordinate listing below. If you have done all of this correctly, you will be less than two miles from the final cache location, which is located less than 50 feet off a paved road with room to pull over close to where you want to be.
While you are driving this road gathering information at the waypoints, somewhere there is another cache to find, one in BakRdz's rustic roads series: "WRR - Cottonville Ave." (GC20CD8). Check it out. You can also read more about the rustic roads in Wisconsin at this website.
Cache can be located at: North 44* VA.EQG, West 089* XP.UYZ
- ABC is at WP1: N 44* 03.446 W 89* 39.656
- DEF is at WP2: N 44* 03.435 W 89* 40.385
- GHJ is at WP3: N 44* 03.507 W 89* 40.510
- KLM is at WP4: N 44* 03.472 W 89* 40.851
- NPQ is at WP5: N 44* 03.468 W 89* 41.241
- RST is at WP6: N 44* 03.506 W 89* 41.825
- UVW is at WP7: N 44* 03.321 W 89* 44.349
X = K - M
Y = R + T
Z = H - L
Note: If you end up finding the waypoint numbers by going from west to east (not recommended), you can get back to the area where you should be by going north on 4th Avenue from the given coordinates and then west on Chicago Avenue, both paved roads. From there navigate to your calculated final location.
Land along both sides of this part of Cottonville Avenue is all privately owned and is used extensively for hunting, plus the final is located in a public hunting area. Wear blaze orange and take precautions if you are out of your vehicle in the area during hunting season.