NOTE: There is garlic mustard at the start of the trail. We pulled five bags of the blooming plants on April 23, 2012, but next year's bloomers are sprouting right now. Please check your clothes and shoes before going into the woods and check them again upon leaving the area to make sure you are not transporting any seeds or parts of this invasive plant. (April 2012)
Fordham Creek joins the Little Roche-A-Cri Creek here as they go on to empty into Friendship Lake about mile downstream. The trail here is on high ground overlooking this confluence and is a nice place to hike any time of the year.
In May, however, the trail and surrounding woods become alive with blooming white large-flowered trillium, bellwort, and other woodland flowers. There are so many that it is hard to keep from stepping on them, but try not to! There is also poison ivy, so watch out for that. Take only pictures, leave only footprints (except at the cache).
Park in front of the yellow gate and walk around it to the left (we’ve seen poison ivy to the right). The parking area used to be open until litter became a problem, so Cache In/Trash Out (CITO) in your search for this cache. In winter it may become necessary to park along the road.
Little Roche-A-Cri and Fordham Creek are both Class 1 trout streams, and the area may see a few anglers in season. This is also public hunting/fishing acreage, so take care if you search for this cache during any hunting season. There is private land to the south and to the east, so respect property boundaries.
We will be posting a note in the logs when the trilliums come in to bloom, if you would like to save your trip to this cache for peak viewing. If you’ve already found this cache, check the logs each May to come back just for the flowers and another great hike!
The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to Pete Wolter and Dale Kufalk of the Wisconsin Rapids office of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at:
http://www.wi-geocaching.com/hiding