The Dedham Town Forest is 71 wooded acres of rolling hills, old stone walls, vernal pools, rocky outcrops and a meandering stream. It is located in the most unlikely of places; between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-95.
The land was taken by the state in the 1950′s when Rte. 128 was built. In 1972, State Representative Charlie McGowan completed legislation that deeded the land back to the town. He hoped that trails would be developed on the property and that residents would use it for hiking and picnicking.
The trail head and gate to the forest is on the north side of the Washington Street overpass. The fence runs about a thousand feet down a narrow corridor, and the land then opens up into a much wider woods. Even with the trees still bare, once you are inside the woods you don’t really see the highway; but you can certainly hear it.
In 1977, DHS senior John MacDonald set up an exercise course in the forest for his Eagle Scout project. Several of the signs can still be found nailed to trees; a little rusty, some with bullet holes, others bent to interesting angles. The cache is near one of these signs.
The cache is a standard camouflaged lock-n-lock container containing a log book and a few trinkets.