Willow Creek Reservoir "Island"
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Willow Creek Reservoir is a “horseshoe” shaped lake located in southwestern Rochester. The “island” is mostly surrounded by water but there is a small strip of land connecting it on the southern side of the park that allows you to access the “island”. There is a nicely maintained walking trail that completes a circuit around the lake. To access the cache, you must cross over onto the "island." This can be done on foot, by boat, or across the ice in winter.
2014 marks the 10th anniversary of this cache! It is the granddad of all the current park caches. The original ammo can and log was starting to succumb to the elements, so it has been replaced with a new ammo can, new log, and new swag as of fall, 2014. The cache description and “additional hints” have been updated to help people find their way into the island. Of course, if you’re up for the challenge, don’t read the “additional hints”.
The park is located at the end of Lone Pine Drive SW, off of 11th Av. SW., in southwest Rochester. There is a small paved parking area at the end of Lone Pine Drive SW located at N43 56.442’, W092 29.017’.
There is a nice paved path from the parking area down to a pier on the lake. The walking trail that completes a circuit around the lake proceeds either left or right from this paved path. Either direction will take you to the point where you can proceed to crossover onto the “island”. The distance to this crossover point is .97 miles to the left, or 1.18 miles to the right. The trail to the left takes you through a small wooded area that opens to great views, to the right you will go up and across the dike and have more open views. Whichever direction you choose to proceed, I suggest taking the opposite direction back after your visit to the “island” as it is a very nice and scenic hike around the lake. If you initially proceed to the left, you will have the added benefit of being able to see the area where you were when on the “island” on your return trip if you return in the opposite direction. The entire path around the lake is generally well maintained, kept mowed, and an easy walk. There are occasionally a few spots that can get a little wet and muddy if there has been a lot of recent rain, but the majority of the time the trail is dry.
The approximate location where you can crossover onto the “island” from the walking trail is located at N43 56.186, W092 29.388. Note that if you had originally proceeded to the left from the parking area that this point is located a short distance after crossing the second small bridge. This second small bridge crosses Willow Creek. You may notice that there are a few spots along the trail prior to the second bridge that look like you could proceed from the trail to the “island”. If you attempt to crossover prior to the second bridge you will have to cross Willow Creek on foot.
From the crossover point onward, you will be “bushwhacking” as there is no maintained trail onto the “island”. The difficulty of the terrain will depend on your approach path, the time of the year, and the amount of rain the area has had recently. There are times when it may be impossible to access the “island” without getting your feet wet. Most of the time you can access the “island” in sneakers / tennis shoes while maintaining dry feet. From the crossover point, the most direct or obvious path may not be the best path. The direct path may lead to either extreme bushwhacking or water, or both. (See below in “additional hints” if you want specific information on the easiest path to crossover onto the “island”.) The majority of the “island” and most of the area where you crossover is covered in knee-high grass and weeds, but is actually a fairly easy hike. There are lots of deer in the area and you will probably notice game trails and deer beds in the grass. Often you can walk along these game trails making your hike even easier.
A note about the terrain rating for this cache. The difficulty of this hike and the conditions encountered crossing over to and on the island will vary depending your approach, the time of year, and the amount of recent rain. In the winter when the lake is frozen, it is a quick and easy hike across the lake to the cache. Or, if you happen to have a canoe or boat, again, quick and easy. If it has been very wet, you may need boots to access the island without getting your feet wet. So, dress appropriately and realize that the terrain rating is variable.
While at the park, keep a lookout for wildlife. You can usually spot most of the typical wildlife of southern Minnesota including deer, ducks, geese, turkey, pheasant, blue heron, other assorted birds, and various small creatures. This also appears to be a decent fishing area. I haven’t personally fished here, but I almost always see people fishing when I visit the park.
The cache is a full size military ammo can. Larger trade items and larger travel bugs are welcome!
Additional Hints for easy crossover onto the "island" (this was too long to list in the "hint" section, so it is here unencrypted):
From the crossover point, it will appear that if you head strait north, keeping the thickets of bushes and tall weeds to your right, that you can proceed directly onto the “island”. If you proceed in this manner you will end up coming to the southwestern end of the lake. You will then have to proceed through some very tall and thick vegetation in marshy conditions. Depending on where you try to hike through, you may encounter some extreme “bushwhacking” and probably marshy footing. You can make it through here, but I don’t suggest it.
The easy path that you can take doesn’t look like an easy path initially, but it actually is, once you get onto it. It will look like I am leading you into very dense vegetation, but once you get close, you will see that you can easily navigate in the tall vegetation and that it is not as thick as it first appeared. This thicker and taller area of vegetation only lasts about 60 yards, and again, is easier to navigate than would appear from further away. After this short distance in taller vegetation, it will be an easy hike in mostly knee-high grasses. From the crossover point on the hiking trail located at N43 56.186, W092 29.388, proceed strait east for about 40 to 45 yards to N43 56.186, W092 29.361. You will notice that there are a few tall trees amongst the tall thickets of bushes, keep those trees to your left as you proceed to the above waypoint (and keep them to your right when you return). From the previous point, then proceed northeast for about 20 yards to N43 56.201, W092 29.351. From this point, you should be able to see your way and will notice that the vegetation opens up and you can proceed almost directly north to the “island”. Once on the “island”, you can proceed strait up the hill and though the woods, but it is much easier to proceed to the left in the open grass just down from the tree line for a much easier hike along the southwestern edge of the island. The nice open grass continues all the way to the cache. The direct distance from the crossover point to the cache is .28 miles. The distance following these directions will be somewhere in the neighborhood of .35 miles depending on your exact route.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur pnpur vf ng gur onfr bs na byq qrnq gerr jvgu n ybt ng vgf onfr.