Welcome to the Deadtop Cache!
It may take you some time to get to Deadtop but if you pick a good day to visit it will be worth the effort.
Background
Back in the early 1960's a local company purchased large amounts of land in this area and created the Mt. Tom Ski Area. But the summit where the ski area is located is not Mt. Tom - but actually Deadtop. Maybe naming it the Deadtop Ski Area wasn't very marketable? Although most people don't know where Deadtop is hopefully the Deadtop cache will change that - or at least for Geocachers!
In its hay day the ski area was well equipped: lots of snow making equipment, lights lit up the slopes at night, summer fun on the alpine slide and a water slide and wave pool. In the late 1990's much of the assets of the ski area were sold off as was eventually the land. Today the what remains of the ski area has been divided up and is owned by federal, state, local and non-profit organisations. The Deadtop cache is on part of the Massachusetts dcr's (department of conservation and recreation) Mount Tom State Reservation.
Getting Here
Getting here is half the fun! The cache is located just off the Metacomet Monadnock Trail. In addition to the M-M Trail you can approach the cache from almost any direction but it would be worthy of a plan before embarking on a hike. You may find the dcr's Mount Tom State Reservation trail map helpful: you can pick one up at the reservation or on-line.
Special note if you plan to approach this cache from the old ski area: the gate across the road to the ski area is occasionally open but if you venture past the gate you will likely be locked in with no way to get out. Be warned!
The Cache
Hopefully you will find the cache as interesting as the location. It is fairly small so please only suitably small trade items. There have been a fair amount of people noticed in the cache vicinity so please use care in accessing and hiding the cache so it will be there for the next visitor. The hide should allow year round access as well so don't let the winter's snow hold you back - as the skiers found in days gone by this can be also quite the place to be in the winter as well!
Additional Information
The following third party links will provide some additional information:
Mass dcr Mount Tom State Reservation trail map:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/Mt-Tom.gif
Mass dcr Mount Tom State Reservation page:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/mtom.htm
Good Luck!