Blue Marsh Letterboxes

Little Stinker
Difficulty: Easy
Date Planted: November 6, 2005
Length of Walk: 1/2 mile

Planted with permission of the US Army Corps of Engineers

Enter the State Hill Boat Ramp area at Blue Marsh. There is a $3 fee to use this section of the park from May 1 through September 30 but you pay the fee once to enter any of the fee areas of the park. I have attempted to make it worth the money also by planting several boxes in this area.

Go to the kiosk at the beginning of the Squirrel Run Nature Trail. Instead of turning left onto the trail, turn right and take the trail up the hill, following a branch of the Blue Marsh Lake.

Stay on this trail until you cross over a tree in the path. A few feet after the tree, you will see a four trunked tree on the left. Two of the branches are stripped of bark. Look in the center of this tree for the Little Stinker.

To return to your car, continue along the path in the same direction that you were going, along a path with many surface roots. You will shortly reach the State Hill Boat Ramp parking area.

For more info on the Blue Marsh Lake Park, go to The Army Corps of Engineers, Blue Marsh. And, no, this is not a picture of the Little Stinker but it is another sight that I saw when I was hiding this box.

Sciurus on the Squirrel Run Nature TrailDifficulty: Easy
Date Planted: November 6, 2005
Length of Walk: 1/2 mile
Planted with permission of the US Army Corps of Engineers
Enter the State Hill Boat Ramp area at Blue Marsh. There is a $3 fee to use this section of the park from May 1 through September 30 but you pay the fee once to enter any of the fee areas of the park. I have attempted to make it worth the money also by planting several boxes in this area.

Follow the path from the parking lot to the kiosk which introduces the Squirrel Run Nature Trail. You can get a brochure describing the different sites along the trail here. Follow the trail till you can see marker #5. About 12 steps before the marker, you will see a faint trail to the left. Take this trail about 25 steps back to a small clearing. When you reach the clearing, you will see a three trunked tree up a little hill on the left. Sciurus is in this tree.

Laura's Childhood Luvs - Poky Little Puppy
Difficulty: Easy
Date Planted: October 23, 2005
Length of Walk: Driveby
Planted with permission of the US Army Corps of Engineers at Blue Marsh Lake.

This is one of a series of boxes based on my daughter’s childhood luvs. Laura is the mother of my beloved grandson, Nicholas, and when she was pregnant with him, we did some shopping in the toy departments to see what toys were the latest rage for today’s infants. We were totally surprised to find that many of the toys that Laura played with as a child are still available and popular today. These boxes began as a series of postal letterboxes and as they returned home, I planted them permanently. While reminiscing, we remembered several other favorites and created new boxes to memorialize them. Because Laura has a physical challenge (she is blind) and also enjoys letterboxing, I am placing these boxes in areas that are mainly handicapped accessible.

Enter the Dry Brooks Day Use area at Blue Marsh. There is a $3 fee to use this section of the park from May 1 through September 30 but you pay the fee once to enter any of the fee areas of the park. I have attempted to make it worth the money also by planting several boxes in this area.

Go to the first parking circle after the fee booth and park near what could be one of the largest trees in the park. You will see a #3 orienteering marker behind the tree. Behind the marker, you will see a hollow stump. Poky Little Puppy is hiding in there. Please stamp in from your car if there are others around.

Quercus Robur on the Great Oak Trail
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Date Planted: October 23, 2005
Length of Hike: 1 mile

Planted with permission of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Enter the Dry Brooks Day Use area at Blue Marsh. There is a $3 fee to use this section of the park from May 1 through September 30 but you pay the fee once to enter any of the fee areas of the park. I have attempted to make it worth the money also by planting several boxes in this area.

Go to parking lot C and park at the far end of the lot. Cross the field along the lake to reach the Great Oak Nature Trail. You can obtain a brochure describing what is on the trail from the kiosk at the beginning of the trail or from the park office. You should be aware that parts of this trail are very hilly. Follow the trail till you reach the point where you have to choose between the long or short route. Choose the long route. After marker #7, you will cross a boardwalk. After you do this, go 50 more steps and look to your left.

You will notice several downed rotted stumps on the hillside, the first set is about ten feet up and the next is about fifteen feet after the first. Go to the second set and look inside the horizontal rotted log for the Quercus Robur.

If you get to marker #8 without finding this box, you have gone to far. There are no bikes allowed on this trail.


Vulpes Vulpes on the Foxtrot TrailDifficulty: Easy
Date Planted: October 23, 2005
Length of Hike: 1 mile
Planted with permission of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Enter the Dry Brooks Day Use area at Blue Marsh. There is a $3 fee to use this section of the park from May 1 through September 30 but you pay the fee once to enter any of the fee areas of the park. I have attempted to make it worth the money also by planting several boxes in this area.

To find Vulpes Vulpes, go to the first parking circle on the right, shortly after the fee booth. Take the path which is behind the huge tree. When you reach the Y, turn left and follow the red diamond markers on the Foxtrot Trail. Head downhill towards the lake. As the path begins to turn right, you will see a small trail leading to the lake behind one of the red diamond trail markers. Then you will see a huge tree to the left with wire fencing along one side of it. The box is located about 4 feet up the tree in the V.