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Lizard Mound State Park Virtual Reward 2.0 Virtual Cache

Hidden : 7/14/2020
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   virtual (virtual)

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Geocache Description:


DAY PASS IS $5.00.

Enjoy the interactive education center at the front of the park with maps and fun information.

2121 County Highway

Town of Farmington

Hours: 6AM - 9PM

Park is open April 1- November 14

TAKE A PICTURE OF YOURSELF OR YOUR HAND WITH YOUR GPS IN FRONT OF THE ROUND "WELCOME TO LIZARD MOUND" sign found at the entrance/education center and post with your log. This is a virtual cache meaning there is no container to find, just a great park to explore and learn!

Lizard Mound County Park is located in the Town of Farmington, north of West Bend, Wisconsin on County Trunk "A", one mile east of State Highway 144. Established in 1950, the park was acquired by Washington County from the State of Wisconsin in 1986. The park contains 28 effigy mounds in an excellent state of preservation, reputedly one of the best effigy mound groups remaining in Wisconsin. A self-guided anthropological nature trail winds around the park. Trail markers reveal information about the extinct culture that built the mounds. An unusually beautiful group of mounds, each is of prominent height and careful construction. Most of the mounds rise more than three feet above the ground surface. The variety of mound shapes found in the park is considered unusual. Two are large bird effigy mounds and seven are long-tailed animal forms. These long-tailed effigies are usually referred to as "panther" effigies. One of the 28 mounds is named "Lizard Mound". This mound might have been intended to represent the same animal, whether a panther or something else, but in a spread eagle posture that shows all four limbs.

History: The Mound Builders lived in Wisconsin and bordering states between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1000. They survived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. They moved from place to place often. In the summer they could be found closer to rivers and lakes, while in the winter they moved into sheltered upland valleys. They built burial and effigy mounds shaped like mammals, reptiles, birds and other creatures, both real and mythical. They also constructed conical, oval and linear mounds. The effigy mound builders usually buried their dead in small pits or laid them on carefully prepared surfaces. The mounds were then built over them like grave markers. The custom of building effigy burial mounds died out about 1000 years ago; it was a custom unique to the general area. Little else is known about the Mound Builders. Even Indians who lived in Wisconsin when the first white men arrived didn't know why, or by whom, the mounds had been built.]

Please leave the following text at the bottom of the page, so cache finders understand the Virtual Rewards 2.0 project.

Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache, I am proud to be one of lucky few. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

GNXR N CVPGHER BS LBHEFRYS BE LBHE UNAQ JVGU LBHE TCF VA SEBAG BS GUR EBHAQ "JRYPBZR GB YVMNEQ ZBHAQ" fvta sbhaq ng gur ragenapr/rqhpngvba pragre naq cbfg jvgu lbhe ybt gb pynvz guvf pnpur. Guvf vf n iveghny pnpur fb gurer vf ab pbagnvare gb svaq.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)