The Quabbin Reservoir was created in 1939 in the evacuated Swift River Valley, in order to provide a supply of water for the city of Boston. The construction of the
Quabbin required the building of two dams and the destruction of the towns of Prescott, Dana, Enfield, and Greenwich. By 1946, the reservoir was filled, creating one of the largest bodies of untreated drinking water in the world.  The reservation also serves as a wildlife sanctuary and offers numerous hiking trails on the nearly 40,000 acres that are open to the public. 

CLUE DIFFICULTY:  Easy
TERRAIN:  Easy--A walk on paved roads and an uphill (but not strenuous) hike on broad, well-marked trails. The entire walk, from car to letterbox and back again, takes about an hour.
ESTABLISHED: August 27, 2002
STATUS: Was in place and in good condition as of September 2004

DIRECTIONS:  From Route 9, whether coming from the east or the west, enter the Quabbin at the entrance located directly across the road from the Quabbin Park Cemetery.  If you are coming from Amherst, Northampton, or other points west, this is the third entrance to the Quabbin, immediately following the Monson Turnpike in Ware.  Enter the park and drive about a quarter mile until you see the small green signs for the Goodnough Dike.  Park along this triangular driveway. 

CLUE: Walk around the yellow gate and follow the paved road.  Just up ahead, at a 25-mile-an-hour sign, this paved road forks.  Go left.  It will lead you to the water and the Goodnough Dike.  Cross the dike and locate Quabbin Gate 50, on the eastern end of the dike. 

Take the trail at Gate 50 into the woods.  This wide and somewhat rocky trail climbs gently uphill; the reservoir is on your left.  In about five minutes you will pass the remains of an old stone wall, which is visible on both sides of the trail.

In another 5-10 minutes you will enter a cool hemlock woods and will see a stone wall about 100 yards off the trail to your right.  Some trees in this vicinity are marked with yellow blazes.  Soon you’ll exit the hemlock woods and enter a sunnier mixed-growth forest with some very tall pine trees.  The trail becomes quite sandy.  Then, it curves to the right and becomes rockier.  Once again, there’s a stone wall on each side of the trail.

Then the trail curves to the left.  In a few more minutes you’ll come to a T intersection.  Go left (north).  As before, there’s a stone wall on each side of the trail.  In a couple of minutes, you will see a third stone wall farther off, on the right.  Remaining on the trail, walk to the spot where the two stone walls on the right converge, forming a triangle.  A young maple tree grows at that spot.  Stand next to the maple and do an about face.  Walk approximately 14 paces back in the direction you came from and look to your right (west).  About 8 paces off the trail, there’s a cluster of boulders next to a small maple tree.  One of these boulders juts up into the air at an angle, pointing east (toward the trail).  Beyond the cluster of boulders is another stone wall.

Walk off the trail to these boulders, stand at the maple tree, and look down into the crevice at the base of the boulders.  Voila!

Please rehide the letterbox well.  It does not contain a stamp pad, so be sure to bring your own. 

There are souvenir photographs of the view from Goodnough Dike for the first three people who find this letterbox.  They are small enough to paste into your logbook.  Good luck!

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