The Smith Blackburn Homestead, just east of Elk Island National Park, is one of the many conservation areas that make up the UNESCO Beaverhills Biosphere Reserve. This mosaic of wetlands and upland forest provides habitat for breeding waterfowl and songbirds, large mammals, and more!
The Smith Blackburn Homestead was donated to the Edmonton and Area Land Trust by someone who visited the property frequently as a young person, as the land had been homesteaded by her great grandmother, and lived on continuously by her uncle until 1989. This land is an ecologically rich natural area that has been preserved, stewarded, and appreciated by several generations of people.
Read more about the land, location, and visiting guidelines here: https://www.ealt.ca/smith-blackburn
When you arrive at the entrance to this conservation land, please park on the road outside of the gate and do not block the gate. If the gate is open, please do not drive through it. Access to the site is through private land, so please be respectful and follow all signs and visiting guidelines.
To get to this cache, you will cross over a boardwalk and enter into a protected land of beautiful forest, wetlands, and meadows. As you walk, enjoy the sights and sounds of insects buzzing around the pollinator garden, beaver activity near the water, and loons echoing from the horseshoe-shaped lake a bit further away.
Keep an eye out for signs of wildlife - bears and moose live here. After you have found the cache, consider visiting the pollinator garden and exploring more of the trails!