Lowell Park General Information:
"Lowell Park is a 200-acre woodland along the Rock River, it has beautiful scenic drives, hiking trails, dedicated natural area, picnic shelters, nature center, playgrounds, boat access of which are handicap accessible, and great fishing spots. Lowell Park is one of many parks in the Dixon Park District in Dixon, Illinois. This park is on the National Register of Historic places. President Ronald Reagan spent his summers here as a lifeguard and reminisced on how much influence the experiences here had on him." You can visit http://dixonparkdistrict.com/lowell-park/ for more detailed information about the park's history, reserving Woodcote, etc.
The park has a carry in/carry out policy (there are no garbage bins in the park). Parking is located directly inside the park's gates at the Nature Center (stop in if they're open!). A primitive restroom is also available next to the Nature Center. Park closes at sunset--please note the updated sign on the gate as you drive in (as sunset time varies throughout the year). This cache is "placed" with permission of the Dixon Park District.
Lowell Park Limestone Earthcache Information:
Two of the most commonly mined rocks in Illinois are present in this park: limestone and dolomite. Today you'll be going for the earthcache at the park's main limestone quarry. As you drive through the park, you will notice the many stone shelters and decorative structures; these were constructed out of limestone from this very quarry. Besides their inherent historical and geological value, they make great photo opportunities and are often used by area photographers for events.
The quarry itself sits on a main hiking trail that stretches from the upper level of the park down to the river level. You'll see the map kiosk at the start of the trail a short walk from the parking at the Nature Center. You will see the quarry marked on the map (it's about 1/3 of a mile to it from this sign). The trails are well-maintained, but with any walk through woods, watch out for poison ivy, nettles, and ticks during the prime growth season.
While you will not be using any information from the kiosks, do keep in mind that there are a small handful of kiosks along this trail. In fact, there are two at the quarry site; they provide interesting information regarding the age of the limestone in the quarry and the value of the quarry to certain kinds of wildlife (particularly in the spring).
Limestone itself is a sedimentary rock, formed from mineral calcite and by the accumulation of compacted debris (largely marine in nature--coral, shell, bone, and algae matte). Of all the sedimentary types of rocks, limestone only makes up about 10% of it. This portion of Illinois was once a large stretch of ocean; in fact, Illinois is rich with fossils in general. You can visit one of the most famous "fossil pits" at Mazon Creek in Grundy County (just SW of Chicago). You may even find some fossilized remains in this park. Limestone forming events still occur today, mostly in shallow warm seas--for example, the Bahamas are currently producing a limestone bed of deposits a mere 100 miles SE of Florida.
Feel free to examine the limestone (either exposed at your feet along the trail or down further at the base of the quarry; limestone will have small particles (to varying degrees) of the following: feldspar (a sometimes pinkish/tan crystal), quartz (white-ish opaque crystal), pyrite (fool's gold!), and chert (an opaque rock, commonly white, gray, or brown). In fact, while you're out here, if you look about 50ft to the west of the Quarry Story sign, you'll see a downed tree along the south (quarry-side) of the trail. If you follow that downed tree back to where its roots are now exposed you will see a good example of a very clear mix of limestone and pure white chert. Feel free to examine the two rock types--you'll notice how sharp and dense chert is when compared to limestone.
Limestone is also particularly heavy. At the base of the Avian Oasis signpost, you'll see a footprint-sized slab of limestone. Feel free to pick it up and notice the weight for the small size of the slab. While limestone is fairly brittle and can break quite easily, it is roughly the same weight per cubic foot as granite. Layered limestone, like the limestone in this quarry, weights roughly 150 lbs. per cubic foot.
To log this cache, you will need to visit the site and send your answers to the below questions to the CO via message:
1. At the base of the Quarry Story signpost are some stacked pieces of broken limestone. Examine the pieces and determine, using the information above, what other kind of material is running throughout this limestone.
2. Do some estimation math! You'll clearly see the eastern and western walls of the quarry where the sharp walls appear out of the sloping hills. You're standing on the northern wall; the southern wall would have run from the tip end of the eastern and western walls. Estimate the approximate volume of this quarry in cubic feet (Volume = Length x Width x Height) and then use information above to figure out how many estimated pounds of limestone was mined from this quarry. You may convert your answer to tons if you'd like (Tons = Lbs / 2000).