Old Dandrea Ranch Traditional Cache
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(regular)
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Located near Old Dandrea Ranch, which burned down in the Battle Fire of 1972, this cache offers insight into the hard work it took to settle this part of Arizona in a century ago.
Part of the Poland Road Trifecta, along with our McCache (GCCF65) and Tunneling Poland (GCF328).
Located near the site of Old Dandrea Ranch, which burned down in the Battle Fire of 1972, this cache offers insight into the hard work it took to settle this part of Arizona a century ago.
According to Forests and Grasslands - A History of Living With the Land, published by the Yavapai Heritage Foundation, “Louis Dandrea, Sr. and his family settled the Dandrea Ranch in the 1880s. He worked in the Poland Mine mill for many years until it closed in 1913. Then he worked full-time farming down below on his beautiful little ranch raising fruits, grains and vegetables, much of which he sold in Walker using the Poland-Walker Tunnel as his farm-to-market road.”
You can drive to within a few feet of the cache, but we recommend you park at the ranch (N34 24.551 W112 22.795) and begin your explorations on foot. Here, you can see the ruins of what we are told were the steps leading up into the Dandrea ranch house and the remains of a wall that once belonged to the Dandreas’ root cellar. Across the road, nearer the cache, is the field old man Dandrea cleared of rocks by hand. The wall you see around the field is built of those rocks. Throughout the area you can see what’s left of the orchards Mr. Dandrea cultivated and harvested.
You can drive into the area from Walker, Poland Junction, or from the Senator Highway. A sedan can easily make the drive to Five Corners (N34 25.179 W112 23.140) from Walker, but will have trouble coming in from Poland Junction. A four-wheel drive vehicle or SUV with moderate ground clearance will have no problem with either route, although you might want to park at Five Points and walk the final 0.8 mile.
The drive from the Senator Highway certainly requires an ATV or smallish four-wheel drive vehicle and perhaps low-range gearing. Full-size SUVs and trucks will find the road north from the Senator Highway challenging. We have found the road blocked by fallen pine trees weakened by bark beetle damage.
You can also hike to the site, using Dandrea Trail #285 from Potato Patch to the northwest, up and over the saddle between Mt. Union and Mt. Davis.
No matter how you come in, be sure to carefully assess road and trail conditions. They are changeable depending on the weather.
The guide Forests and Grasslands - A History of Living With the Land mentioned above offers a series of terrific driving tours throughout Yavapai County. It costs $5 and can be obtained at the Prescott Chamber of Commerce, 101 S. Cortez, or Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., both in Prescott. It’s great fun to combine these historical tours with geocaching.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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