Note: Park at the posted coordinates. Mound Farm is not open to the public, do not tresspass. You must view this feature from the roadside only (shoulder of 168th Street).
Note: This is an Earth Cache with special logging requirements (see below), there is no physical container here to search for.
Mound Farm Park is an interesting spot with historical, ecological and geological significance.
Although it is owned by the City of Surrey, it is not open to the public currently, albeit there are plans to develop the area for visitors in the future. Please do not enter the park, but rather view it from the roadside at the coordinates provided (parking available).
- The mound’s first recorded settlement was in 1884, and two heritage wood-frame homes are still situated there today, the functional farmhouse built in 1928, and the Colonial Revival home, built in 1936 (the farmhouse was moved to its present location to make space for the newer home).
- The mound is 30 acres and has approximately 1000 trees, including Big Leaf Maples, Western Red Cedars and Douglas Firs. 25 out of 50 of Surrey’s largest trees are situated here, including Surrey's tallest tree standing at 204 feet.
- The mound rises above the flood plain and agricultural area, and is a geological feature known as a drumlin. The name comes from the Gaelic word druim meaning a ‘rounded hill’ or a ‘mound’.
In 1997, a consultant produced a report for the City of Surrey in regard to Mound Farm. The “Geology and Soils” section of the report states: “The Mound is a distinct geological feature called a drumlin”.
Drumlins are elongated hills that appear like a half-buried egg.
This is a rare example as it is isolated, rather than being typically part of a group known as a swarm.
Drumlin Formation
There are two prevailing methods surrounding the formation of drumlins.
As a glacier advances it encounters the harder bedrock, moving around and over it.
- In one instance the bedrock protects the softer till immediately behind it, which is then only partially eroded until the glacier closes the gap.
- The second method is where the glacier deposits soft sediments in behind the hard bedrock sculpting the landscape.
In either case, drumlins are subglacial bedforms and as such are subsequently only revealed as the glacier recedes.
Stoss is the end that faces the direction the glacier comes from, and Lee is the down-ice side. In the case of a drumlin the Stoss is the blunt, high side and the Lee is the gently sloping side.
Diagram courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, Boulder
To complete this earth cache, please email / message the CO with the answers... do not post them in the logs or unfortunately the log will be deleted.
- As the glacier contacts the Stoss first, the direction of advancement can be determined when viewing a drumlin. As Mound Farm is covered in old growth trees, we cannot see the outline of the land, however the incline of the treetops may provide a clue. Which compass direction do you believe the glacier that formed this drumlin was moving in?
- If there were multiple drumlins here, what term would describe a cluster?
- What term describes the gently sloping side and from this location on which side of the Mound Farm drumlin is it?
- Post a photo with the mound in the background, either of yourself or with your GPS/Geocaching App.
Note: You do not need to wait for a response from CO in order to log your find.
Sources:
City of Surrey Parks and Recreation
Surrey Now Leader article
National Snow and Ice Data Center