Brook Woodland Preserve Traditional Cache
Nomad64: Making roon for other caches.
Nomad64
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache was released for “The Great Northern Tier Geocaching Tournament 2006 – North Quabbin Event it is now available for any Geocachers who wishes to visit the cache after the event.
Property Description 558 acres | Established 1975
Once home to Nipmuc, then cleared by settlers for open farmland, the Brooks Woodland Preserve is today an undisturbed forest of towering red oaks, hemlocks, and white pine that is being managed to re-create a forest typical of Central Massachusetts at the time of its settlement. Visitors may hike or cross-country ski along many miles of woodland trails and former woods roads.
Old stone walls, reminders of former agricultural use, cross the forest floor, passing through patches of maidenhair ferns, winterberry, and partridgeberry. Some of the original farmland has been kept as open fields within the forest. Along parts of the Swift River, Moccasin Brook, and Roaring Brook, beavers have dammed the stream, creating swamps. A cascade of glacial boulders near outcrops of granite ledge provides dens for porcupines.
Six early-nineteenth-century farmsteads can be rediscovered in the Preserve. Fieldstone cellar walls, porch steps, and a chimney support are all that remain of the former Dudley Farm.
The Preserve is named for Aaron Brooks, Jr's son, James Wilson Brooks, lawyer, diplomat, and co-founder of the United Shoe Machinery Company, who set aside more than 2,000 acres of Petersham's forest for conservation purposes, including Harvard Forest with its renowned research center. Adjacent to the Preserve is the 1,500+ acre Rutland Brook Sanctuary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Trails
13.5 miles of trails and woods roads. Moderate hiking
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Bss bs ybbc genvy 40 srrg n ybat gur fgbar jnyy.