Name: Carriage Hill Letterbox
Near Huber Heights, Montgomery County, Ohio
Difficulty 2, 1 mile round trip
Placed 24 November 2001

Long days in the fields behind horse drawn plows and harvesting
equipment were the essence of farm life in rural Ohio in the 1880's.
If I had been a teenage son or a hired hand, my daydreams would have
gone to fishing the ponds and lakes of the farm. This letterbox
gives you the chance to experience just that same daydream.

On the north side of Dayton, north of I 70 and east of SR 201 is the
Carriage Hill MetroPark. 900 acres of rolling farmland surround a
working 1880 farm with draft animals, a blacksmith, and a well
appointed farm house with volunteers in period costume. It is a
great afternoon outing for a family, open year round.

The visitor's center is worth a look, as are the farm buildings. A
map of the park showing the trails is available (free) in the
visitor's center. It may also be available in the picnic areas at
the head of trails but these boxes were empty in November of 2001.

For the letterbox, walk across the road from the Farm/Visitors center
or park in the small lot at the Red Wing Picnic Shelter. Take the
boardwalk across the wetland area while looking for redwing
blackbirds. At the far end of the boardwalk take the path along the
lake (heading 140 deg) for 85 paces where it branches. (1 pace = 2
steps) Take the left path and continue across a number of cross
paths in the woods and grass prairie following a course near enough
to 60 deg until you arrive at the south end of the dam for North
Woods Pond. Cross the dam (34 paces) and then take the path at 60
degrees for 17 paces. Several paces to your right you will see a
standing stump on the lakeshore about 10 feet tall.

The Carriage Hill letterbox is in the heart of that stump, under a
couple pieces of wood and bark, and reached from the side facing the
lake.

Flyfisher P10F4