GraftonLakes LbNA #11260 (ARCHIVED)
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Sep 25, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Grafton |
| County: | Rensselaer |
| State: | New York |
| Boxes: | 4 |
| Found by: | Queen of Swords (2) |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Jul 21, 2007 |
| Status: | FFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Sep 25, 2004 |
Grafton Lakes State Park Letterbox Series
The Grafton Lakes State Park is an enormously popular state park located in rural Rensselaer County, New York. The main attraction of the park is its long sandy horseshoe shaped beach. The beach offers swimming and row boating as well as fishing and a whole gamut of activities. It can be very crowded on a warm sunny summer day and parking at the beach can be difficult. This letterbox journey enables you to park at an isolated area of the park and traverses Long Park Trail that will take you along the water and by the beach, but avoid the parking and the crowds. The entire Long Park Trail Loop is 2.5 miles. You can choose to search for only one or two letterboxes, double back and decrease the amount of the hike. You can also choose to park at the main beach and search for the letterboxes starting with letterbox number one which is the third in the series as listed here. However, we enjoy the trail in the order we have listed them. No matter how you choose to pursue these letterboxes, I am sure you will enjoy the park. Good Luck!
Clues:
Grafton Lakes State park is located about 15 miles east of Troy, N.Y. on State Route 2. To begin searching for this letterbox series, you will need to continue past the main entrance of the park and head into the center of the village of Grafton. In the village, a town square marks the center with the Grafton Town store on one side of the square and the Town Post Office on the opposite side. On the side of the square where the Town Store is located is the winter entrance road to the State Park. Travel up the winter entrance road, past the park manager’s office and past the entrance to the parking area for Mill Pond. There is an excellent trail around that pond that is not part of this series, but worth the hike. Your drive down the winter entrance road will end about 2.1 miles from when you turned in at the Town Store. There is a parking area at the end of the road, which comes to a T at a porta john. After parking, face the porta john, and the lake will be on your left, down a trail that weaves into the woods and ends at a dock on the lake about 75 yards or so from the parking area.
At the dock area, take a right onto the Long Pond Trail, which heads straight into the woods. (Note: this trail is somewhat challenging and can be easy to veer off slightly. However, the trail follows the lake for the entire loop and is never more than a hundred yards or so from the lake shore. So, if you find yourself off of the trail, follow your way to the lake shore and continue walking around the lake and you will catch the trail again.)
Head on Long Pond Trail as it stays relatively close to the lake for about ten minutes of steady hiking. At that point, the trail will veer slightly uphill and away from the lake and you won’t be able to see the lake at this point. As the trail climbs uphill, it will bend fairly sharply to the left and you will face a very large maple tree with a V-shaped trunk and a yellow sign on it that announces that you are on the state park boundary. It is at this spot where you can claim letterbox 3 of this series. Look at the V-shaped tree from the trail, looking towards the lake. On the left side of the tree, a group of loose rocks hide the letterbox which is partially hidden in the trunk at the base of the tree. After stamping in, replace the rocks carefully as this letterbox is right on the trail, and continue on for the remaining letterboxes.
Continue on the trail as it moves closer again to the lake. After two or three minutes, the trail will be very close to the lake and you will see a very large (ten foot or so) rock that lays right next the water and makes for a nice spot to relax and gives you a great view of the portion of the trail across the lake where you began your journey for letterbox number 4 above. Continue on as the trail stays close to the lake for a bit. After a while, the trail will again move uphill and away from the lake. On this portion of the trail you will see a stretch where fallen birch trees line both sides of the trail. Ahead of the fallen birches is a very large hemlock tree with a yellow state park boundary sign attached to it. Behind the tree, facing towards the lake, is a grouping of very large rocks forming a rock ledge. It is in this rock ledge where letterbox number 4 may be found. The box is in a crevice formed between the two largest rocks and is covered by a small section of birch tree. After stamping and re-hiding, walk back to the trail and continue your quest for the remaining letterboxes in this series. (If you have limited time, you may wish to retrace your steps back to the parking area and search for the remaining letterboxes at a later time. The next two boxes are located after the main beach area of the park and will make the total time to retrieve them about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half depending on how fast you hike and how much difficulty finding the boxes you encounter).
Continue on Long Pond Trail and you will come to some rocky areas of the trail in a short while. If it has been raining in the days preceding your hike, you will have a muddy and slippery stretch of about fifty to one hundred yards. It is easily walked but care should be taken. Follow the trail as it takes you to the sandy beach area that makes this park a very popular swimming spot in the summer months. Keep the lake to your left as you walk this portion of the trail. Shortly before you near the beach, you will come to a wooden deck with a picnic table that makes a nice place to stop and relax or enjoy a picnic lunch while taking in the view. After passing the deck, the trail will improve to a very flat grade and packed gravel that will take you all the way to the beach and the cement walkway that surrounds it.
Follow that walkway all the way around the beach. Just after the beach you will find a group of docks where row boats may be rented for fishing or boating. Beyond the rowboats, cross a wooden bridge and continue up the grassy trail that leads into the woods and back onto Long Pond Trail again. Both blue and Red trail markers point your way onto the path.
On the path you will notice a very large tree, fallen so that the bottom of the roots point at you from the left hand side of the trail. You will also notice several evenly sawed logs nearby. Continue on the trail. The trail will continue uphill and away from the lake where you will find a blank white sign on a tall tree. About thirty-five paces will lead you to a group of seven foot logs on the left. At this point you will be entering an area of the trail that is primarily evergreen. Look for a very long (40 foot or so) tree that has fallen long ago and is covered with moss on your left. It is here that you will find letterbox number 1. It is located in a hollow spot on the side of the tree away from the trail, near to the base of the tree. It is covered with a piece of bark. After stamping and recovering the letterbox, continue on the trail to find letterbox number 2 and complete the series.
The next portion of the trail is quite rocky and meandering. After about five minutes of hiking, the trail will lead you quite near the water for a short stretch. Then the trail will meander uphill and away from the lake only to return to the water again. Weave your way on the trail for about five more minutes until you see two very slender and long downed trees on the left hand side of the trail. A red trail marker is attached to the top tree. Another fifteen feet along the trail you will find a tall and broad white pine with a V-trunk that commences from its single trunk at about four feet from the ground. Fifty feet farther down the trail there will be several large mossy logs on the right hand side of the trail. On the opposite, or left hand side of the trail, you will see a large (six feet wide or so) rock. Look in a crevice on the lake side of the rock, covered by leaves, to find letterbox number 2. After stamping and covering the letterbox back up, continue up to Long Pond Trail and follow it for about ten minutes where you will find yourself back at the dock and trail leading to the parking area where this journey began.
The Grafton Lakes State Park is an enormously popular state park located in rural Rensselaer County, New York. The main attraction of the park is its long sandy horseshoe shaped beach. The beach offers swimming and row boating as well as fishing and a whole gamut of activities. It can be very crowded on a warm sunny summer day and parking at the beach can be difficult. This letterbox journey enables you to park at an isolated area of the park and traverses Long Park Trail that will take you along the water and by the beach, but avoid the parking and the crowds. The entire Long Park Trail Loop is 2.5 miles. You can choose to search for only one or two letterboxes, double back and decrease the amount of the hike. You can also choose to park at the main beach and search for the letterboxes starting with letterbox number one which is the third in the series as listed here. However, we enjoy the trail in the order we have listed them. No matter how you choose to pursue these letterboxes, I am sure you will enjoy the park. Good Luck!
Clues:
Grafton Lakes State park is located about 15 miles east of Troy, N.Y. on State Route 2. To begin searching for this letterbox series, you will need to continue past the main entrance of the park and head into the center of the village of Grafton. In the village, a town square marks the center with the Grafton Town store on one side of the square and the Town Post Office on the opposite side. On the side of the square where the Town Store is located is the winter entrance road to the State Park. Travel up the winter entrance road, past the park manager’s office and past the entrance to the parking area for Mill Pond. There is an excellent trail around that pond that is not part of this series, but worth the hike. Your drive down the winter entrance road will end about 2.1 miles from when you turned in at the Town Store. There is a parking area at the end of the road, which comes to a T at a porta john. After parking, face the porta john, and the lake will be on your left, down a trail that weaves into the woods and ends at a dock on the lake about 75 yards or so from the parking area.
At the dock area, take a right onto the Long Pond Trail, which heads straight into the woods. (Note: this trail is somewhat challenging and can be easy to veer off slightly. However, the trail follows the lake for the entire loop and is never more than a hundred yards or so from the lake shore. So, if you find yourself off of the trail, follow your way to the lake shore and continue walking around the lake and you will catch the trail again.)
Head on Long Pond Trail as it stays relatively close to the lake for about ten minutes of steady hiking. At that point, the trail will veer slightly uphill and away from the lake and you won’t be able to see the lake at this point. As the trail climbs uphill, it will bend fairly sharply to the left and you will face a very large maple tree with a V-shaped trunk and a yellow sign on it that announces that you are on the state park boundary. It is at this spot where you can claim letterbox 3 of this series. Look at the V-shaped tree from the trail, looking towards the lake. On the left side of the tree, a group of loose rocks hide the letterbox which is partially hidden in the trunk at the base of the tree. After stamping in, replace the rocks carefully as this letterbox is right on the trail, and continue on for the remaining letterboxes.
Continue on the trail as it moves closer again to the lake. After two or three minutes, the trail will be very close to the lake and you will see a very large (ten foot or so) rock that lays right next the water and makes for a nice spot to relax and gives you a great view of the portion of the trail across the lake where you began your journey for letterbox number 4 above. Continue on as the trail stays close to the lake for a bit. After a while, the trail will again move uphill and away from the lake. On this portion of the trail you will see a stretch where fallen birch trees line both sides of the trail. Ahead of the fallen birches is a very large hemlock tree with a yellow state park boundary sign attached to it. Behind the tree, facing towards the lake, is a grouping of very large rocks forming a rock ledge. It is in this rock ledge where letterbox number 4 may be found. The box is in a crevice formed between the two largest rocks and is covered by a small section of birch tree. After stamping and re-hiding, walk back to the trail and continue your quest for the remaining letterboxes in this series. (If you have limited time, you may wish to retrace your steps back to the parking area and search for the remaining letterboxes at a later time. The next two boxes are located after the main beach area of the park and will make the total time to retrieve them about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half depending on how fast you hike and how much difficulty finding the boxes you encounter).
Continue on Long Pond Trail and you will come to some rocky areas of the trail in a short while. If it has been raining in the days preceding your hike, you will have a muddy and slippery stretch of about fifty to one hundred yards. It is easily walked but care should be taken. Follow the trail as it takes you to the sandy beach area that makes this park a very popular swimming spot in the summer months. Keep the lake to your left as you walk this portion of the trail. Shortly before you near the beach, you will come to a wooden deck with a picnic table that makes a nice place to stop and relax or enjoy a picnic lunch while taking in the view. After passing the deck, the trail will improve to a very flat grade and packed gravel that will take you all the way to the beach and the cement walkway that surrounds it.
Follow that walkway all the way around the beach. Just after the beach you will find a group of docks where row boats may be rented for fishing or boating. Beyond the rowboats, cross a wooden bridge and continue up the grassy trail that leads into the woods and back onto Long Pond Trail again. Both blue and Red trail markers point your way onto the path.
On the path you will notice a very large tree, fallen so that the bottom of the roots point at you from the left hand side of the trail. You will also notice several evenly sawed logs nearby. Continue on the trail. The trail will continue uphill and away from the lake where you will find a blank white sign on a tall tree. About thirty-five paces will lead you to a group of seven foot logs on the left. At this point you will be entering an area of the trail that is primarily evergreen. Look for a very long (40 foot or so) tree that has fallen long ago and is covered with moss on your left. It is here that you will find letterbox number 1. It is located in a hollow spot on the side of the tree away from the trail, near to the base of the tree. It is covered with a piece of bark. After stamping and recovering the letterbox, continue on the trail to find letterbox number 2 and complete the series.
The next portion of the trail is quite rocky and meandering. After about five minutes of hiking, the trail will lead you quite near the water for a short stretch. Then the trail will meander uphill and away from the lake only to return to the water again. Weave your way on the trail for about five more minutes until you see two very slender and long downed trees on the left hand side of the trail. A red trail marker is attached to the top tree. Another fifteen feet along the trail you will find a tall and broad white pine with a V-trunk that commences from its single trunk at about four feet from the ground. Fifty feet farther down the trail there will be several large mossy logs on the right hand side of the trail. On the opposite, or left hand side of the trail, you will see a large (six feet wide or so) rock. Look in a crevice on the lake side of the rock, covered by leaves, to find letterbox number 2. After stamping and covering the letterbox back up, continue up to Long Pond Trail and follow it for about ten minutes where you will find yourself back at the dock and trail leading to the parking area where this journey began.