Welcome to the SCP-Spruce Creek Park Series, these caches are located in or near Spruce Creek Park. The park is open daily sunrise to sunset with no fee. Access to the park is off of US-1 with parking and restrooms available and leashed dogs are permitted. Each cache in the series has a different D/T (difficulty/terrain) rating to help you fill your D/T grid. You may have some disagreement with some of the D/T combinations but you will surely experience one of each of the different terrains and difficulties if you complete the series (with the exception of the 1 terrain rating that requires wheelchair access). The paddle caches all have the mandatory 5 terrain rating even though they are probably easier to reach than some of the lower terrain rated hiking caches. Depending upon rain and tides many of these caches will require difficult hiking through thick slippery mud, ankle to waist deep water, saw grass, prickly vines, downed trees and brush, saw palmettos (wear leg protection in these areas) and at certain times of the year there may be flying insects (bug repellent is a good idea). Other caches are very easy to access on well maintained trails that are child friendly. Many of the caches have multiple approaches, Google Earth or satellite view in the Geocache app are your friend. All the caches, easy or difficult, will take you to beautiful natural wetlands, salt marshes and pine forests. In several years of hiking all through this area, many times throughout the year, we have never encountered any dangerous animals, but you are in the wild (the park signs warn of alligators and snakes) so use caution, be alert, prepared and be sure to bring more than enough water for your adventure. Please comply with Geocaching’s CITO (cache in trash out) standards and leave nothing behind, this park is remarkably free of trash. Also try not to damage any of the plants and grasses. While some caches will be in wooded areas, no cutting, chopping or hacking of the vegetation is required to get to a cache so please be mindful of this pristine wilderness and have fun.
This cache is located on the east side of US-1 across from Spruce Creek Park on Spruce Creek so we are including it in the series.
Threaded through the drier sections of the wilds between Daytona and New Smyrna was a sandy road that today we would call a trail, and it was almost impassable, so a boat was the common means of travel, whether for personal transportation or the transport of goods. With the growing importance of road travel, Volusia residents began to “chip in” in 1903 to build a road between Daytona and New Smyrna after Volusia County commissioners approved $6,000 if public “subscriptions” could fund the remainder needed.
The Old King’s Road (which had had repairs but few improvements since it was built in the 1700’s) was still in use as the highway from St. Augustine, but Thomas White’s funding ensured that the road would be passable by paying for trimming the growth along the narrow road, for clearing the road itself, and by bridging waterways along the route. Volusia historian Ian the Bond Hebel notes, though, “All motorists were advised to carry a small ax and a shovel to fill holes and cut away fallen timber” It was not until 1920 that a “hard-surface” road was laid between Daytona and New Smyrna, once their populations had boomed to 6,270 and 2,007. In 1925, US 1 was still in the planning stage, but it was to follow the Old King’s Road and Dixie Highway; and by 1927 its route included Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Daytona on down to New Smyrna and then to Miami.
This cache is placed on a section of the original US-1, if you walk a short distance down the trail you will end at the remnants of the old bridge over the creek to Turnbull Bay. You are searching for a preform with log only BYOP.