The lock digits can be found at these caches attached to the log book or actual cache container. You will know the number when you see it.
First digit-Pack Your Bags GC6TMWP
Second digit-Get Your Ticket GC6TRKC
Third digit-Fernwood Express Travel Bug Depot GC6TMXZ
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This cache takes you to the beautiful Railway and Adventure Gardens. The Railway Garden has been present at Fernwood for eight years. A fire destroyed the original Railway garden in 2015 and it was quickly rebuilt and opened in May, 2016. The Paul Busse-designed Railway Garden follow four trains on various levels of track as they pass your favorite local landmarks made of all-natural materials, cross bridges, enter tunnels, and skirt ponds and waterfalls. The Railway Garden will be open through October 31. Fun for kids of all ages!Be sure to explore the Children's Nature Adventure Garden, located just beyond the Railway Garden, and designed with little ones in mind! Explore the twists and turns of the arborvitae labyrinth, run over grassy moguls, balance on tree cookies, dig in the sand pit, and hide in the hobbit houses.
Respected landscape architect and naturalist, Paul Busse of Applied Imagination in Kentucky, created two permanent railway gardens especially for Fernwood. The outdoor railway garden opened to the public in June 2009, and the season is approximately May through October. The inside railway garden was installed just before the holidays in 2010. Both gardens are a fine blend of garden design, art, and history—all key elements of Fernwood. Fernwood will remain what we all have come to know, love, and support over the years but with an added incentive to return with family and friends.
Paul Busse has designed and installed over 100 gardens across the U.S., including projects at Chicago Botanic Garden, Longwood Gardens, The New York Botanical Garden, and the holiday train garden at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. Paul and his team were at Fernwood the first two weeks of June 2009 to install the new outdoor railway garden. Trucks and trailers transported lumber, tools, track, trains, and crew—everything needed to create a railway garden. Plant material came from Fernwood's collection and local nurseries. Volunteers from the Southwestern Michigan Garden Railway Club came from Holland and Coloma to help with wiring and other tasks.
The artistry and architecture of our fun railway garden includes replicas of local historic buildings. Busse chose the historic Niles Depot as his first regional piece for the exhibit, and he has stated that it is one of his best and favorite depots to date. The small scale depot is incredibly life-like and readily recognizable. Another local landmark that Busse's team designed for Fernwood's railway garden is the historic Pears Mill in Buchanan, with birch bark representing the mill's white siding. In addition, our permanent collection contains the St. Joseph Lighthouse, the Golden Dome of Notre Dame, and Niles' beautiful Chapin Mansion.
* Approximate size 50' x 50'.
* Four trains, each running at different elevations: approximately ground level, one foot, six foot, and seven foot levels.
* The trains travel through three island gardens, under pedestrian walk-over bridges, and atop seven-foot-high trestle bridges.
* 510 feet of track.
* A seven-foot waterfall.
* Two mountain tunnels.
* A children's tunnel will lead little ones to the Discovery Garden beyond.
* A six-foot-tall mountain range with stream descending to a ten-foot-wide lake.
* Detailed miniature garden featuring dwarf evergreens, specially pruned trees, alpine plants, and natural materials such as stones, branches, and moss.
* Themed buildings from Paul Busse's collection that change each season.
* Scale models of local landmarks including the Niles Depot, Pears Mill, St. Joseph North Pier Lights, Notre Dame's Golden Dome, and Niles' Chapin Mansion, each created with natural materials such as pine cone scales, bark, seeds, twigs, moss, and more.
This cleverly placed cache is hidden within the grounds of Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. As there are admission fees, we recommend that you also take the time to hike the numerous trails and explore the many gardens. Take a break with visits to the Nature Center and the gallery exhibits within the Mary Plym Visitor Center. If you're present at lunch time, enjoy a lovely meal in the cafe or bring your own picnic lunch. You may only visit Fernwood during normal operating hours and parking is solely permitted in the Mary Plym Visitor Center lot. Please enter the grounds through this building entrance before starting your search for this or any of the other Fernwood caches. Be sure to pick up a map of the grounds and follow Fernwood's no off-trail hiking rules. If you forgot to print off cache sheets or the coordinates, ask the receptionist at the visitor center.