Welcome to Smith's Mill Pond, also known locally as the Oakland Pond. This is a great place to kayak, canoe, paddleboard etc as it is sheltered on all sides and is actually quite a bit larger than we imagined. We had talked about placing some water caches on this pond for sometime and this past weekend presented the perfect opportunity. We were able to utilize most of the main pond and came away with 20 hides for your enjoyment. All these caches were designed and placed with the intention of being accessed from the water. To try to access these from land would result in TRESPASSING as the entire pond is surrounded by private property.... so please respect. This series has a variety of difficulties to challenge cachers of all levels, so please do not try to attempt anything out of your "comfort zone".
Smith's Mill Pond is the home of the original mill that is now known as Brant Flour Mills Ltd. The first mill was built in 1823 by Job Loder on the NW side of the McKenzie Creek. A dam was built creating a pond which allowed a water wheel to turn which drove the milling process. Several people owned the mill until the Smith family purchased it in 1897 and operated it through 3 generations until 1976. At that time a modern electric mill started production under the present day owners, the Storjohann family.