The Park: Holmdel park, as one of Monmouth County's flagship parks, boasts 564 acres, 10 miles of trails, two lakes for fishing, a living history farm, fitness & nature walks & an arboretum.
The Hide: This cache hunt isn't your usual multi stager. After you find the first stage you'll be given two sets of coordinates. One path leads to a dead-end, the other leads the final. If you take the wrong fork in the beginning you could be hunting for a total of 9 stages, but I think you'll almost want to go the wrong way initially. I can't say more without giving away the surprises! There used to be a short-cut for cachers that didn't want to press on to the final... but no longer. Rules, is rules and to claim a find you need to sign the log. Please mention in your online log how many stages you found.
To make it a more interesting hunt none of the stages are the same container. The stages range in size from micros to 50mm ammo cans. They are all are camouflaged but will be obvious to a geocacher and clues are provided along the way. The difficulty rating is valid despite the number of stages. Just make sure to re-hide the caches very well as all of the stages are less then 50 feet off of the trails.
The Hike: The main park entrance is off of Roberts Road. Park in the hilltop parking lot. Some of the trails meander up and down hills but bushwhacking across the ridge is an option. Either way, be sure to enjoy your hike!
The story of this hide: After a rainy afternoon I set out to hide this cache in one of those magical Springtime torrential downpours. As I pulled into the parking lot, against all odds, the sun emerged and lit up the forest. Every drop of rain still clinging to the fresh leaves shone like a gem and the mist coming off of the forest floor was lit with a golden hue. I hide the last of the caches alone in the woods serenaded by the wind, birds & Spring peepers. While in this portion of the park check out all of the multi-trunk tree formations around the final. Afterwards I recommend hiking the Marsh Trail or taking the ridge trail and following it North to the gorge.
This cache is certified Central Jersey
