Start in Conifer Colorado (Off US 285 southwest of Denver.) Turn
left (South) on Foxton road (Traffic light). Take this Foxton road
south and down to the riverbank of the South Platte river. Turn
left at the river and go about seven miles to the town of South
Platte. Be sure to check out the old abandoned South Platte Hotel
at N39.24.504 W10510.300 Rumor has it that this Hotel was
operational in the early 1970's. Any documented factual information
as to when this hotel closed would be appreciated.
Parking can be at N39.24.507 W105.10.262
Just south of where your car is parked is where both branches of
the South Platte river come together (near the auto bridge)and
eventually empty into Strongtia Springs Reservoir which is just
ahead up the trail.
Start walking on the trail on the the north side of the South
Platte river until you find the cache. Round trip hike should be
less than 30-40 mins. You will be walking toward the Strongtia
Springs reservoir on your way to finding the cache. The path to the
cache, was once the narrow guage railbed of the Denver, South Park,
and Pacific railroad. If you go beyong the cache, the trail
eventually dead ends just before entering Strongtia Springs
Reservoir.
One of the strongest pieces of evidence of the railroad is a
remaining piece of railroad track at 39.24.850 & 105.09.471.
For over 100 years it was on the LEFT side of the trail as you
walked toward the cache. Somebody has taken the old railroad track
and threw it into the river. It is now on the RIGHT side of the
trail and is partialy submerged into the water. Vandels!!
Cache coordinates are on the trail but the cache is located just
above a very old remaining piece of narrow guage railroad history.
Look around for this piece of history, then walk to it. Look
there!! The cache is a camoflaged ammo can.
As I have found, this is a family activity with many people
bringing their young children on these 'treasure hunts'. Please if
possible put something into the cache that a young girl or boy
would enjoy. It's not family fun if Mom or Dad gets something out
of the cache but junior or juniorette finds nothing. (Think kids!!)
If you are anything like me, the enjoyment of the hobby is when one
of your kids finds a nice toy inside the cache!! DVD's would be
nice!!
The only rule of this cache is that I would like everyone to put
something into the cache that is better than you take out. If you
can affort $100.00 or more for a GPS, then you can afford to put
something into the cache worth value to a youngster.
Note on 9/3/07 we relocated cache to 39.24.855 105.09.280