This traditional cache replaces an old oft-muggled multi-cache and is the 1st in a series of caches showcasing the colorful history of my town, West Orange.
The town of West Orange today is best known for Thomas Edison, whose laboratory and house make up the Thomas Edison National Park down the hill from this spot. But a little over 100 years ago, Crystal Lake was the town’s biggest tourist attraction, drawing people from miles around (even New York City), who took a trolley up the mountain to stay at resorts, ride a massive carousel, visit the small amusement park and dance in the dance hall, or simply be romantic and paddle rowboats out on the lake.
There’s also a Thomas Edison connection: In February 1898, the first ever filming of an outdoor sporting event took place here, when Edison filmed a pick-up hockey game (which you can see the cool historic footage of here.)
By 1910, with much of the surrounding area taken over as parkland, most of the hotels were on the way out, and by 1924 the trolley line up to Eagle Rock finally shut down. Although Crystal Lake still held on as a destination of sorts through the Depression, and from 1954 to 1975 was home of the Mountain Crest Swim Club, by the end of the 1970s it was a forgotten, junk-strewn pond hidden behind a bowling alley.
Crystal Lake is still somewhat hidden behind a bowling alley, but thanks to recent work by the town of West Orange to open it up as a park, it’s now mostly cleaned up (a great opportunity for you to Cache In, Trash Out!), stocked with fish (there's even an annual kids’ fishing derby), and ringed by a short hiking trail.
If there’s an event at the adjacent OSPAC (Oskar Schindler) amphitheater, or a fishing derby going on at the lake, the place might be overrun with muggles. Most other times, it’s pretty much ignored and pretty quiet.
Here's a little clue to help you on your way:
If you look at the lake from the parking location (posted coordinates), you have roughly the same vantage point of the lake as the above historic photo from around 1900, showing well-dressed young people out on the lake in rowboats. At the far end of the lake in the photo, you can see (from left to right), the icehouse (Crystal Lake was also a source of ice for the area, saved in the icehouse until warmer months), a large carousel (with elaborate wooden horses hand-carved in Italy), and the boathouse. Now look out across the modern-day lake, and you should be able to make out the rough spots where these buildings stood 100 years ago — some of them still have ruins slowly crumbling in the woods. For the most direct route to the cache, you're going to want to head counterclockwise around the lake to your right...
Make sure you rehide the cache well!
This camouflaged cache has room inside for small trinkets and trackables. Good luck!
Parking coordinates: 40°48'04.6"N 74°14'47.0"W