I was searching online for a new trail, and came across one I hadn’t tried in Brewster off of rte 6A. Spruce Hill is located behind The Brewster Historical Museum not far from Nickerson State Park. The trail is wide and is only about a ½ mile to the water. Of course any trail that ends at a beach can be as long a walk as you want. Normally I wouldn’t have gone to such a short trail but I discovered a clue for a hidden letterbox that was on the trail. I had no idea that letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places and distribute clues on websites. The boxes contain a notebook and a rubber stamp. Finders make an imprint of the stamp on a personal notebook and leave their own personal stamp on the notebook in the box as proof of finding the letterbox and letting others know who has visited.
Cool ! First I start walking to lose weight. Next I decide to hike trails so it doesn’t seem like a chore. Then I try other trails so I don’t get bored doing the same ones again and again. Now I find a treasure hunting game. Awesome !
I went down the trail to the boardwalk and followed the directions to where the letterbox was supposed to be. The clues were easy to follow, but I couldn’t find it. The clue was dated 2003 so maybe its not there anymore or I’m an idiot. Could be either. Lol . I walked the beach, it was high tide so I walked east about 1 ½ miles, turned around and walked past the broken stairs to the trail as far as I could about another mile. On the way back I looked for the letterbox again. Still no luck. I might not have found the letterbox but I did find letterboxing. So I’m a happy guy.
Ratings 1- the cellar 2- shoddy 3- tolerable 4- worthy 5- wicked good
Accessibility - 4 Behind museum that looks like a house.
Parking - 4 - Small but serviceable
Length- 3 - Only because it leads to beach
Degree of Difficulty- 5 - very easy
Extras- 3 - small museum, not far from Nickerson State Park
Trail Markings- 5 - Can’t mess this one up
Trail Maintenance- 2 - Broken stairway to beach , you can walk down hill in sand.
Variation - 2 - There are 2 side trails but they don’t go anywhere
Scenic - 4 - Great view of Wellfleet across the Bay
Worth Returning - 3 - On a nice beach day
Beach - yes
Facilities - not sure if museum has them
What I like - If not for this trail I might not have found out about letterboxing, The beach
What I don’t like- No variation, too short
Overall Rating- 35 out of 50
Thanks for your post and great summary!
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