Located along the border of Lebanon and Lancaster counties, Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is a prime destination for wildlife and folks who care about wildlife and wild places. It was built for waterfowl, at a time when Canadian geese were in less than desirable numbers in the Commonwealth, particularly in the east.
There is a vast network of hiking trails at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. One of those hiking trails, Millstone trail, is an uphill, semi-rocky hike which features a large Millstone at the top, and a vista overlook with beautiful panoramic views of Middle Creek below.
I have always been intrigued by Millstone Trail, and the prominent feature located at the top. The Middle Creek Wildlife Museum says that long ago, the Conestoga Millworks handcrafted top of the line millstones that were highly sought after. These craftsmen would seek a certain type of sandstone rock, prevalent in this area. They would hike the area of Middle Creek, and hand shape the millstone from large boulders in the mountains, and then using a team of horses and ropes, slowly bring the millstone down to the bottom. The millstone at the top of Millstone Trail was damaged, and therefore they never put forth the effort to remove the millstone from the top of the mountain. So the question of "how did this thing get up here" isn't accurate. It was simply never taken down from the top.
I hope that this virtual brings you to a unique, hidden piece of history that you may not have known about. If you have been here before, I hope you come back and enjoy the beautiful views and sit and relax on the bench at the nearby vista.
Logging Requirements: Please upload a photo of yourself or GPS with the Millstone at the posted coordinates. Logs without photos will be deleted.
While you are in the area, you may be interested in finding another piece of caching history. GC6759, hidden in 2002, has been a community effort from it's inception. Stop by the Middle Creek Wildlife Museum to solve this puzzle, and pick up maps of the Millstone Trail and surrounding area!
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.