You are searching for a regular sized container hidden along the one of the hiking trails at Mackay Garden and Lakeside Preserve
This is a Letterbox Hybrid cache. For anyone not familiar with Letterboxing there is a log in the box for you to sign and stamp (with your stamp), then you stamp your own log or paper (with stamp that is in the box). If you do not have your own stamp, then stickers or handrawn artwork is acceptable. DO NOT TAKE STAMP WITH YOU; IT IS NOT A TRADE ITEM!!!
On the shore of Lake Rochelle in the City of Lake Alfred is a pristine expanse of natural Florida called the Mackay Garden and Lakeside Preserve. With almost a mile of lakefront shoreline, this 112 acre property is home to many species of endangered plants and animals. It has been preserved through a grant from the Florida Communities Trust and has been developed with nature trails, a passive recreational park, a natural canoe launch, and a fitness trail. At its heart is a beautiful mansion built in 1916 by Alexander Mackay. The Mackay family was one of the founding families in the Polk County citrus industry. The house has been restored as a premier special event facility for weddings, business retreats and community gatherings.
The 7,000 square-foot residence is an outstanding example of Craftsman style architecture, with sleeping porches and large porch columns, open interior spaces and a staircase in the main room. The home has had only minor alterations over the years, and is eligible for listing on the National Register. A walled arbor with arched openings is located west of the residence and a sunken garden with a fountain is on the east. An experimental tropical plant garden is attributed to Dr. David Fairchild, a renowned botanist and plant explorer of the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1970s, Rosemary and Peter Mackay James planted parallel rows of Eucalyptus trees in a grove known as the “Cathedral,” which is a copy of another Cathedral of Trees planted in the early 1920s by Alexander Mackay (Rosemary’s grandfather) in Scotland.
This geocache is a part of the Trek Ten Trails 2016 program. Participation in that program, while a lot of fun, is not required to log this cache here. Trek Ten Trails 2016 program marks the ninth year of the Friends of the Parks Foundation’s call to explore the outdoors in Polk County. Fifteen nature trails and a bonus cache have been hidden at nature trail locations throughout Polk County. Each nature trail includes geocaches with a self-inking stamp for validating your visits to at least ten of the featured trails. To receive a completion certificate and be eligible for a other prizes you must find ten caches. Of course you may trek all fifteen trails and we hope you do!
New validation game cards, which participants stamp are available at various locations and are listed on the Friends of the Parks website and OUTPOST 27 CACHE. Trek Ten Trails 2016 program maps, game cards and other information about each of the featured nature trails may be downloaded from the Friends of the Parks website. Check out our Profile for more details.