Bushwhack, Bogs & Bugs Traditional Geocache

Bushwhack, Bogs & Bugs was created for those who want an above-average challenge. If you need lots of information, do not want a long hike, do not like bushwhacking, getting your feet wet, your face slapped by branches, your eyes poked by sticks, fighting voracious bugs, pulling ticks off you and getting poison ivy, this cache is not for you. If you like all that stuff, do this cache. If you do, you will be deep in the woods where people do not go and you may see some wildlife. You will be able to sit quietly in the middle of the woods (bugs notwithstanding), knowing you could sit there all day and no one will come walking by.

Bushwhack, Bogs & Bugs is in the heart of the greater Boxford State Forest woodlands area, which is probably the largest contiguous unroaded woodlands in NE Massachusetts. It includes Boxford State Forest, several state and local wildlife refuges, a number of Essex County Greenbelt properties, and some local town reservations of Boxford, Middleton and North Andover. It is a huge area of really pristine woods, crisscrossed by numerous trails, some mapped but many not. Information on some (but not all) trails can be found at the following websites: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/boxford600.gif, http://www.ecga.org/properties.html, http://www.btabolt.org. You will want to be careful during hunting season, particularly since you will be off-trail (see http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwpdf/dfw_hunting_dates.pdf). My reading of the schedules indicates there is never hunting on any Sunday. If you go out during hunting season, wear bright colors (to be safe you might want to do that even on Sundays).

There are lots of ways to enter Boxwoods. I have personally found, used and verified a dozen trailheads which are all, to my knowledge, public access. To encourage exploration, these 12 different parking locations are listed below, going full compass circle around the cache. Trailheads which are clearly on private property are not listed. Interestingly, trailheads which are physically close may actually take you in via very different routes. I also hereby create a new geocaching award, “First to Park and Find” (FTPNF). Be the first to find this cache from a specific parking location and you will be immortalized in the table below! Individual cachers can claim more than one FTPNF, but they must be on separate days and each FTPNF must be logged both in the cache logbook as well as online. To keep it challenging for the next cacher, when you log your visit below, please do not list road or street names but instead only refer to P1-P12 parking locations or geo coordinates.

The cache is an ammo box. Many thanks to Surfcacher who helped me set this cache up on a beautiful April afternoon.

8/28/07 update: Be sure to visit BB&B's new sister cache Shangri-Lost (GC15EDR) on the other side of the swamp!

6/27/08 update: Haverood’s completion of FTPNF for P8 completes FTPNF’s for all 12 currently-posted BB&B trailheads. Congratulations to all BB&B FTPNFers!

Bushwhack, Bogs & Bugs
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