UPDATE: Visited the cache on 5/31/21 for the first time since placing it nearly 7 years ago. I have moved the difficulty to 5 since the brush has grown up around it, and you need to either wade or take a boat. Cache is in great shape, and everything inside was in good condition. This geocache is located on the Chowan Swamp Gamelands. I discovered this spot several years ago while squirrel hunting from my canoe. There are other hills in this swamp, but none appear to have direct water access like this one. Unless you want to get wet and muddy, the cache cannot be accessed without a boat or waders. If you decide to walk it, I recommend a topo or high quality aerial photo and a compass in addition to your regular GPS. See Ranger Fox's Log.
There are 3 access points for your boat;
1. 36 23.331 -76 45.449. This is the closest, but is only usable by kayaks and canoes, and only at normal or high water levels as the canal is barely as wide as a canoe at the put-in. There is a good pull off for parking. Put into the roadside canal, paddle about 50 yards back toward the north, then take a right turn up the side canal. You may want to take a saw and some brush clippers in case anything fell across the canal recently. Nice paddle in an area inaccessible to motor boats. Look for wood ducks, turtles, and snakes.
2. 36 23.960 -76 45.044 This is a town park that has plenty of parking and a floating dock for launching kayaks and canoes, but not motorized craft. This put-in can be used at any water level since it accesses Bennett's Creek directly. Paddle away from the bridge for about 1.5 miles, then turn right up the canal toward the cache. This is also a nice paddle, with only one house and one business on the water, and excellent fishing. There is also a cache in the park.
3. 36 21.557 -76 46.29 This is the nearest access for motorized boats, and there is a cache here. The canal access to our cache is small, and there is not a good place to land a large boat, so I suggest only jon boats or small bass boats. Even at that, I recommend waders to get from the boat to land. From the launch, go south on the Chowan River about 5.5 miles, then turn up Bennett's Creek. You will have to go several miles to get to the canal near the cache, on your left.
The cache is full of our trademark Smokey Bear themed goodies including keychains, toy binoculars, wristbands, ruler, and a toy airplane among other things. I have plenty more stuff, so take something even if you have nothing to leave.