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). Nature Center parking is located directly inside the park's gates (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 Dolomite 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 popular dolomite outcroppings. You can either turn right past the gate and wind down the hairpin road (exciting!)--this will lead you to access parking option 1--or you can go straight down the main road once inside the park--this will lead you do access option 2 via the trails.
As a bit of colloquial information for you, the are you're going to is referred to as the Ice Box. This is a stretch of dolomite--sometimes referred to as dolostone to avoid confusion with the crystalline mineral dolomite--that juts out from under the earth. The Ice Box itself is a popular destination in itself for park visitors. This nature trail leads up, and through, the structure. If you visit the park on a warm day, you'll easily realize why it's so named--your scramble up through the narrow Ice Box will result in a nice cooling sensation for you. The temperature is noticeably cooler between these dolomite structures, allowing for natural A/C on a hot day! You'll find a cozy, natural stone seat at the base of the Ice Box, too, perfect for a woodsy photo opportunity.
The Dixon Park District requested this earthcache for a couple different reasons. The first one involves the foliage here. While information about the plant life here is not needed for the earthcache logging, it is important to note while you're out here, nonetheless. Dolomite itself is one of the most common rock types in northern Illinois, but the Walking Ferns you'll find on these three large dolomite structures are not. You may see a couple on the two Ice Box stones, but if you look just around the corner at the third large dolomite piece, you'll definitely see some Walking Ferns (they are generally up toward the top). If you stop in the Nature Center before coming out here, you'll see a large, impressive photograph of this dolomite structure with the Walking Ferns on it--the Nature Center staff can point out what you're looking for, if you'd like a little primer on it before you hike out here.
Dolomite, like limestone, is a sedimentary rock. Much of the dolomite formed around the same time as limestone, but in different conditions. Dolomite is primarily made up of calcium and magnesium. These minerals give dolomite is hardness properties, making it much more sturdy than limestone, to the point that is nicely resistant to erosion. If you also visit the limestone earthcache out here, be sure to note the differences in the two rock types.
Although dolomite is resistant to erosion from the usual sources (wind and water), it is susceptible to solution features. Solution features (marks, tubes, and caves) happen from a mixing of the acidity of groundwater with chemicals in the specific rock. Limestone, for example, is very solution susceptible. Dolomite is less so because of its hardness, but you can still see solution evidence on these structures. You'll be looking for circular marks of various size, either shallow on the surface of the stone or making a deeper tube back into the rock.
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. Roughly midway through the Ice Box pass is the narrowest part where the two large dolomite sides get closest to each other. Estimate the measure of this narrowest point.
2. Take a look at the various solution features on the dolomite here. What would you say their average size is? No need for a measurement--you might give an answer like "dime-sized" or "plate-sized," etc.