Take a short walk from the parking lot to the pond. Bring your poles for catch and release fishing! Look for fish, turtles, and the invasive goldfish but be careful, you don’t want to fall in.
Putting on the GeoTrail every year takes a lot of work, and we couldn't do it without the help from the geocaching community. Thanks to AllstarSS for helping us look after this cache!
Kept in a bowl and fed a controlled diet, goldfish are small, unassuming pets. But when they're released into lakes and ponds, they gain access to an endless supply of food, and they can grow into large, destructive pests.
What once was a cute small fish, can grow up to nine pounds and with the right conditions can live to sometimes 40 years old and is now one of the world’s most widespread invasive species. Once they are no longer wanted as a pet, many goldfish are thrown into local waterways such as our Ashton pond. Here they muddy the water, uproot plants and prevent them from growing, out-compete and threaten our native diversity of fish and invertebrate species, and carry diseases.
Be sure to check out the 15 other caches that are a part of this year’s Metro Parks GeoTrail! To participate in the Metro Parks GeoTrail go to Metro Parks to find complete instructions. Find, log and record the code word from at least 12 caches to be eligible for one of 125 limited edition GeoCoins. Find all 15 caches to unlock the coordinates to the Bonus Puzzle Cache.