At this cache location, once stood the Ardbeg Fire Tower. This was a manned tower built in the 1930’s and was a steel tower standing 100 feet tall. This tower was one of the last of four towers standing in Southern Ontario, and was dismantled around 1971 when air fire surveillance took over. It was a popular attraction in its time. All that remains are the 4 corner foundations, the concrete stairs which would have met with the tower ladder and some remaining cables. What is believed to be the old fire watchmen’s building can be found to the south of the tower at the bottom of the hill next to Hwy 520. Ardbeg itself was once a booming lumbering town reaching a population of 800 in its heydays of the early 1900’s, but in the 1920’s, the lumbering boom went bust, and the population dropped accordingly.
The cache contains some small trading items, and the caches original contents included:
• Yellow Glass Octopus
• A Ceramic Elephant
• A Ceramic Sheep
•“It’s all About Me” fridge magnet
•Inukshuk Travel bug (our first to activate)
• $5 Tim Hortons Certificate for the First to Find.
Remember, if you take something; leave something of equal or greater value in return. Please replace cache as you found it. Please note that Parry Sound is home of the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake so be cautious.
Congratulations to dobneyb for the FTF
Please park at recommended coordinates. Access from Sawcut Road is Private and a very narrow road. Please access from Hyw 520. There is no trail, but once you break through the initial tall brush, it is a nice walk uphill to the cache. It is an easy stroll through the trees.