Riverview Park was an amusement parkl which operated from 1904 to 1967. It was located on 74 acres in an area bound on the south by Belmont Ave. on the east by Western Ave, on the north by Lane Tech High School, and on the west by the North Branch of the Chicago River. Any adult from the Chicago area that was born in the 1950s or before will likely speak fondly of their days (and nights) spent at Riverview. At the end, however, it did become prone to crime.
This Cache will take you to an area that was at the western edge of the park that remains heavily wooded, where the Shoot the Chute log flume ride was located. Unfortunately, the remainder of the amusement park site was turned into a shopping center, a police station, a factory and a public park.
The coordinates for this Cache are for what is now known as "The Garden" or "Garden Jumps." This is a story onto itself. Some time after the demolition of Riverview, area youth took it upon themselves to use this wooded area to create an urban BMX bike track. Of course this was on the "down low" and I imagine alot more than BMX biking was taking place in those woods back then (and probably now for that matter) as it is in back of a High School. This area became know as "The Garden" and BMX riders from all over teh City would hone their skills at what I have read is a very well regarded facilty. In 2008, The Garden became so legitimate that it was included as part of the adjoining Clark Park and is no longer on the down low.
Now, back to Riverview. Because The Garden area was left wooded, I guess the demolition crews did not feel a need to take out everthing. Their laziness is our gain. In The Garden you will find large portions of the foundation for the Shoot the Chute ride. Shoot the Chute was Riverview's log flume ride and had an initial slow river ride, then the boat was lifted via an elevator to the top of the flume, and the boat,which and a driver at the rear, was shot down the flue to the pond at the bottom. Below are a few pictures of this ride. The ride was positioned with its back to the Chicago River.
The coordinates should take you to one of the entrances to The Garden. To find this Cache you will need to find the concrete Shoot the Chute foundations which are long concrete channels running from the middle of The Garden to its northwestern edge. The foundations have been taken over by the many trees and their roots and I have used that to our advantage in keeping this Cache hidden from those pesky teen muggles that certainly frequent this spot.
In particular, find the triangular shaped boat diverter foundation at the far western edge of The Garden. This would have been used to divert the log boats into one lane or the other. The Cache is very well disquised among the roots. I SORT OF DID A "ROOT CANAL" TO CREATE THIS CACHE. BYOP. There is a FTF Coin for the FTF. FYI, typical muggles will be BMX riders or high school kids smoking.
May be hard to find in Winter. Easy street parking.
SEE LOG BELOW FOR AN ADDITIONAL PICTURE TO HELP AS THE FIRST TWO SEARCHES WERE DNF.
