The Vestavia Hills Elementary - Central Nature Trail was the
creation of many groups, but the idea came from a fifth grader at
the school in 1989, Barney Wilborn. "The nature trail is dedicated
to our Vestavia Hills students in the hopes that they will always
pursue their ideas to see them become a reality." - VHEC PTA
1997-1998.
This trail is adjacent to the rear entrance of the school, and
is best reached by the following route: From U.S. Highway #31 turn
Southeast onto Vestridge Drive, then left onto Badham Drive,
another left onto Willoughby Road, then left onto Merry Fox Lane.
There is parking aplenty at the entrance to the trail. (Please do
not try to access the cache from the highway. It would require
quite a great deal of bushwhacking, crossing a creek and
negotiating a steep, thickly wooded downhill slope/bluff and would
increase the terrain rating to at least a 4.)
It is a nice mini-trail system around the headwaters of Patton
Creek. There are a couple of streams with small waterfalls, lots of
rocks, a nice bridge and a pretty nice trail with steps in the
steeper areas. It links with Boulder Canyon Nature Trail, which is
the result of some Eagle Scout projects.
The container is a camouflaged plastic container (approx.
6"x6"x3") with log book and trade items. The cache is about a tenth
of a mile from the trailhead. It is located less than 25 feet from
the trail. There are several small trails here, so when in doubt,
increase your elevation.
This cache was placed by thejustusleague at 100% strength:
uabjeff, uabsgirl, monkeyboy and the princess.
The coordinates were averaged from three different visits at
differing times. Since the canopy is pretty thick, the hint is a
spoiler. (Well, as much of a spoiler as a woodsy cache can
have.)
