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Vaughan Woods LbNA #5511 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 31, 2003
Location:
City:South Berwick
County:York
State:Maine
Boxes:1
Planted by:Nautilus and Culex
Found by: Jjjac
Last found:Aug 28, 2011
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFar
Last edited:Aug 31, 2003
NOTE 8/24/11: Sounds like after many years the stamp has gone missing from the box. We'll try to get out to check on it in the next week or two. If it's missing we will probably retire the box rather than recarve.

UPDATE- A boxer notified us that the statue with the missing hand is no longer at 160 degrees. It sounds like the garden caretakers may have moved the statues around again. You should still be able to find the trail going into the woods though.

TERRAIN: Easy, some slight uphill (no strollers)
LENGTH: Less than 3/4 mile round trip

DIRECTIONS: From Route 236 in Kittery, turn onto Brattle Street (look for the brown sign for Vaughan Woods State Park). Go straight through the stop sign onto Vaughan's Lane and follow until you come to a chained off driveway. Park in the field on your left near the red barn.

BACKGROUND: The historic Hamilton House, owned by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, is an impressive restored mansion built circa 1787. The grounds of the Hamilton House and Vaughan Woods are open dawn to dusk year round and there is no charge for parking in the parking lot we gave you directions to. The Hamilton House itself is open June 1 to October 15 from Friday through Sunday and tours are given on a regular basis- admission to the building is $5 for adults and $2.50 for children.

CLUES: From the parking lot, walk up the driveway to the Hamilton House. Just past the house, turn right before the hedge and follow it until you come to a circular stone. Turn left and follow the pathway into the garden to the sundial. Once at the sundial, go to the birdbath on your left. At 160 degrees you should see a statue with a missing hand. Proceed to the statue, taking time to stop and smell the flowers on your way. From there, go to the stone wall and look out over the Salmon Falls River. Once you've had a chance to drink in all the beautiful scenery, follow the gaze of the saint to the triple-trunked tree. From the tree, turn to 200 degrees and walk to the edge of the embankment. Turn left and follow the grassy path down into Vaughan Woods. After crossing the boards over the marshy area, follow the trail to the right. Keep walking until you come to the edge of a small wooden bridge. Turn back around the way you came and go 11 steps. Notice the fallen log on your left full of holes. The perfectly round holes were made by wood-boring beetles, and the irregular-edged, square-shaped ones by woodpeckers hunting for insects. Follow the log down to the old bridge abutment. The letterbox is hidden in the crevices between rocks on the north side of the abutment.

NOTE: In the spring and fall, the beginning of this trail can be a bit mucky, so wear proper footwear.

(carved by Nautilus)