BACKGROUND:
The Very Old Forest
From Memphis Magazine, February 2000
Overton Park may no longer be known as the crown jewel of the
local park system - it may soon get due credit as a gem among all
urban parks nationwide.
Reserved as parkland around the turn of the last century,
Overton Park currently consists of about 342 acres, some 175 of
which are made up of forest. It's this forest, much of which is old
growth, that has begun to attract national attention.
For example, in this month's issue of American Forest
Magazine, a publication of the approximately 100,000-member
American Forest Association, a Shumard Oak located in the park is
again ranked as the biggest, aka "national champ,” for its species.
The 147-foot-tall tree, which was first declared champ in 1992, was
recently remeasured, and as a result, will be one of some 876 trees
featured in the magazine.
Perhaps more remarkable is a soon-to-be-released botanical
report on the forest section of the park. The report, conducted by
Appalachian Ecological Consultants (a private land analysis
company), is expected to present strong evidence that the forest is
250 years old. That would make it one of, if not the, oldest urban
forests in the country, according to local urban naturalist Don
Richardson. Such a finding would also dispel a long-held belief
that none of the trees in the area survived the catastrophic New
Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12.
"This is indeed a very old forest, and we're not aware of any
other urban setting that contains anything like it,” says
Richardson, a member of the Sierra Club and Audubon Society, the
two conservationist organizations that paid for the study. "This is
a vindication of decades of people not even considering the old
forest” - perhaps even those who, in a 1971 case decided by the
U.S. Supreme Court, saved the park from the proposed route of
I-40.
Incidentally, the national champ Shumard Oak sits right in the
path of what would have been I-40's concrete thruway. For those
wanting to visit the tree — which, in addition to being nearly 12
stories tall, is more than 18 feet in circumference at shoulder
height — proceed due west from the park's East Parkway entrance
until you reach the trailhead to the old forest. Take the trail's
first left turn and proceed about 25 yards until you see a tree on
the left with a large, pink "3” written on it - you're then in the
presence of the champ.
THE CACHE:
This two-stage multicache will introduce you to various sections
of the Old Forest. At the listed coordinates you'll be looking for
a camouflaged pill fob holding the coordinates to the cache
container, a camouflaged Lock&Lock with a nice selection of
trade items. The lucky FTF cacher will also find a
customized certificate to mark the occasion.
If you start from the East Parkway parking lot, you'll be
looking at a roundtrip hike of approximately three-quarters of a
mile. Along the way you'll see plenty of evidence that "Hurricane
Elvis" passed this way in July 2003. Watch your step!
 Use caution!
 Climbing?
 Scenic View
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