The 384-acre Hand Hollow Conservation Area, owned and managed by the Columbia Land Conservancy, is characterized by woodlands, meadows, a lake, two ponds, streams, and wetlands.

Improvement Plans

Three trails totaling approximately two and a half miles are currently under construction, each of which provide visitors with unique recreational experiences. In addition, the Conservancy plans to construct a fishing platform at the east shore of the lake, which is an ideal location for fishing.

~~Information taken from the CLC website~~

I have been sitting on this area for quite some time. It wasn’t until the Western MA Picnic came up that I finally got off my butt to place some geocaches in this nice piece of land. It was good timing too as I met with one of the CLC (Columbia Land Conservancy) members that was working at the property. Pete Carroll was very helpful in describing the area and I am even now waiting to hear more about the Hand Hollow’s history from his wife, Joyce. These tidbits of information will be added ASAP.

Since this trip was a bit more rushed than even I like to do, I haven’t made the best of the area and am already thinking of the changes or additions I will be making. I intended on making this a multi (and it may change to that at some future date) but the distance between the two parts was a bit more than I think a lot of cachers would like to do, hence, I came up with two single caches that introduce cachers to each end of Hand Hollow.

Please heed the signs about the Blue Heron nesting grounds and be respectful of the other wildlife found here. I was told that kingfishers, bald eagles and blue heron are among some birds you may see here. There are also some beavers that look to have been quite active as well.

The final container is currently a small container but I have plans to upgrade it to an ammo can.

Disclaimer: You, and all members of your party must read and agree to the www.geocaching.com disclaimer. In addition, you all must agree to hold the cache owner, www.geocaching.com, and the land owners harmless from any and all causes for action. You and all other members of your party must individually and collectively determine your/their physical fitness and outdoors/hiking skill levels, decide whether or not to visit the various cache locations, and whether or not it is safe and prudent to do so under the conditions that will be encountered. Cache seekers assume all risks involved in seeking these cache locations.