I just took a peek at the picnic location. Wow – over 200 caches within the boundaries of the park. It looks like the Castle Mound Shelter where we’ll meet for the event is actually in the Castle Mound Pine Forest State Natural Area, which itself appears to be part of the Black River State Forest. Not sure if Kim and I will be able to get all 200+ in just one day…
There is no park. The event is being held in a unit of the Black River State Forest. Very few of those 200 or so caches are located near the event, and most will take some driving and then hiking to get to. They are not quick park and grabs. Many are 15-20 miles away as the crow flies, but accessed via indirect forest roads. If anyone is into numbers, the caches in Black River Falls itself would be more conducive to that. And don’t even think of completing the Jackson County Smiley (geoart that predates geoart) and having any time left to attend the picnic… rugged terrain, no trails.
As for camping, this is the picnic event, so camping is not emphasized, but it would be a less expensive way for people to stay overnight, and there might be some informal opportunities to extend the socializing from the picnic. Other than the improved campground at Castle Mound near the event, the camping locations are basically rustic and spread out. For the picnic events that we have attended in the past, we have either driven there and back all on the same day (some 2-3 hours from us) or we have secured lodging at locations that we wanted to explore further before or after the event date.
