There are other geocaches nearby. Check them out.
To go to this geocache from Franktown: Go west a little less than a half mile and go south on Castlewood Canyon Rd. There will be a large sign indicating the Falls Trailhead. Park there. For a nice hike, take the Creek Bottom trail past the falls and continue toward the dam.
This is a State Park so there is a fee.
The Falls: 39.34743, 104.76154
Castlewood Dam, built in 1890, was a rock filled structure 600 feet long, 70 feet tall and 8 feet thick at the top. It held 5,300 acre feet of water, drained from 200 square miles upstream of the dam. For several days, torrential rains pounded the area and on August 3, 1933, the dam burst.
There was no phone at the dam so the watchman, Hugh Paine, went to Castle Rock and from there notified Denver and Parker that the dam was starting to burst. The emergency system of the day was the switchboard operator sending out one very long ring and everyone would pick up the phone to see what the emergency was. The switchboard operator in Parker was Nettie Driskill who called subscribers to tell them to get to higher ground. Each telephone had a distinctive ring. One might be two longs and a short and the next might be one short and one long so you just listened for your ring. Almost all telephones were on a party line meaning that any one could pick up the phone and "listen in." Nettie married a month later and moved to Castle Rock.
Although the dam was nearly 40 miles from Denver, the flood waters reached there.
To claim this geocache email the main thing that you see at the upper left corner of the dam looking at it from the downstream side.
Also, mention one item of information that you find interesting.
Photos are fine. JimReeb@ecentral.com
Thanks Geocaching Colorado for the Geocache of the Month Award, as the second series to win!
