Harborcreek Parks Tour Cache Multi-Cache

This cache hunt will require some extra work, time, and car travel but will showcase all of the various parks that can be found in the township of Harborcreek, Pennsylvania. Harborcreek is located just to the east of Erie, which is right on the shores of Lake Erie. This region is probably mainly known for the beautiful Presque Isle State Park (which also has a few other geocaches for you to find). Harborcreek is also located on the Lake and stretches well south past I-90. You can find more information on Harborcreek at www.harborcreektownship.org.

This cache is a Multi-Cache where you'll have to visit some sites just to get numbers for coordinates which will lead you to other areas. For this reason you may want to bring a note pad, pen, and a calculator for assistance. My Garmin Legend has a calculator built in and yours may have one too. You will end up visiting 6 different parks in Harborcreek. You can aquire a Harborcreek map at the Harborcreek Township building located at 5601 Buffalo Road but that is not necessary. This entire cache hunt should take you about 3 hours. About 30-45 minutes of driving (about 14 miles) and another 2 hours plus of footwork. This estimate is in the best case scenario but if you run into any problems then the time could be significantly higher.

This cache is hidden in a dark green Ammo Box with original contents of Cd-Rom's of Classic Games for your PC, a Geo Metrack car & track, Roll-up Cable organizer, Pocket screwdriver set, 4 toy cars, and a few other small items. Read on for the cache instructions...

1 - Your first visit will be at Slade Park. The entrance is located at N 42° 10.182 W 079° 55.514. You will need to count the number of total bases (not including pitcher mounds) on all of the baseball fields and then multiply that by the number found on the fence of the Eastern most baseball field. Then subtract "2" to get the result which will then be used to replace the "XXX" (the North coordinate) in "SECRET COORDINATE #1" in red below. Get out your calculators! :)

Note... Don't forget to precede the double digit answer with a zero!

For your convenience, write your answers on the blank spaces below... Total number of bases - ___ * Number on Fence - ___ = ___ -2 = ___ (#1 XXX)

2 - Your second visit will be to the 6-mile County Park located in Harborcreek. You can find a place to park at this coordinate... N 42° 07.737 W 079° 55.768. Walk into the narrow wooded area which eventually will lead you to a large wooded area. You will see a "Y" in the path near the beginning and there you should take the dirt path to the left. Stay off the gravel path to the right which just leads to a house. You may also want to look out for horse doodoo. :) Further inside the park look for this coordinate... N 42° 07.445 W 079° 55.729. There you will find a lone evergreen tree. Count the number of other trees within 10 feet of the evergreen tree. Take that total and multiply it by "120" and then add "2". The result will then be used to replace the "YYY" (the West coordinate) in "SECRET COORDINATE #1" in red below.

For your convenience, write your answers on the blank spaces below... Number of trees = ___ * 120 +2 = ___ (#1 YYY)

SECRET COORDINATE #1 - N 42° 09.XXX W 079° 57.YYY

For your convenience, write your answers on the blank spaces below... SECRET COORDINATE #1 - N 42° 09.___ W 079° 57.___

3 - Your third task will be to locate the 1st physical cache at the Harborcreek Community Park using the above "SECRET COORDINATE #1". There are 2 main entrances (along with another secret one) to this park where you'll find parking lots that you can use. One is off Clark Road at N42° 08.752 W 079° 58.292 and one is off Firman Road at N42° 08.711 W 079° 57.988, take your pick. If one is chained off during the off seasons, try the other one. If both are chained off then just park off to the side of either and walk into the park from there. It won't add that much to the distance required. Look for the cache at the above secret coordinate #1. Once you hike past all of the ballfields just follow the path until you see a "Campsites" sign (N42 09.071 W79 58.030) and follow it. When you see the actual campsite area at the end of the campsite path, take the new path to the right and continue. This path will take you to within 200 feet of the 1st cache so don't leave it too early. The container at this spot is a low tupper-ware type container. This 1st cache will have instructions about where to find the next 2 spots to visit.

Your final 3 visits will require instructions from the cache at step #3 just above. You'll visit Shades, Highmeyer, & Whitford Parks, but not neccessarily in that order. The first 2 of the 3 (Number 4 & 5 overall) will give you the final coordinates for the cache at the 3rd (number 6), or final destination. Parking for Highmeyer Park is located at N42 11.603 W79 55.903 off Highmeyer Road. The easiest path there is to start at N42 11.622 W79 55.979

4 - Count the number of Shelters (not buildings) at the park and add 8. Replace XX in "SECRET COORDINATE #2" below with that total. Now add the total number of posts (not walls) holding up the all of the Shelters at this area. Multiply that number by 24 and then add 7. The result will then be used to replace the "XXX" in "SECRET COORDINATE #2" in red below. NOTE: There is one shelter post at this area that isn't obvious as it just holds a downspot. Count it too.

For your convenience, write your answers on the blank spaces below... Number of Shelters - ___ +8 = ___ (#2 XX) Number of posts - ___ *24 +7 = ___ (#2 XXX)

5 - Count the number of Shelters at the park, multiply that by 18 and then add "2". Replace YY in "'SECRET COORDINATE #2" below with that total. Now add the total number of posts (not walls) holding up the 3 Pavilions (Shelters) at this area. Multiply that number by "14" and then subtract "3". The result will then be used to replace the "YYY" in "SECRET COORDINATE #2" in red below.

For your convenience, write your answers on the blank spaces below... Number of Shelters - ___ *18 +2 = ___ (#2 YY) Number of posts - ___ *14 -3 = ___ (#2 YYY)

SECRET COORDINATE #2 - N 42° XX.XXX W 079° YY.YYY

For your convenience, write your answers on the blank spaces below... SECRET COORDINATE #2 - N 42° __.___ W 079° __.___

6 - Now you head to final destination in the Harborcreek Park Cache Tour. Use the above "SECRET COORDINATE #2" to find the final cache. At this final area stay on the paths. One path will take you to within about 100 feet of the final jackpot. Good luck and enjoy the parks of Harborcreek!

If you're still having problems, e-mail me by clicking on my profile near the top of this page.

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