Enjoy a short hike, and the historic ruins of the Vinton Iron
Furnace and the Belgium Coke Ovens. The cache is located within the
Elk Fork Public Hunting Area, owned by Mead Westvaco. Area is open
to Hiking (marked and maintained trails), ATV use, Hunting, and
Hiking. During Hunting Season, I suggest wearing "safety
orange".
New cache placed on 5/27/06 which is an ammo box. The original
cache, a clear plastic container with screw top lid, is possibly
"lost" or muggled. If the original cache is found, consolidate the
contents with the ammo box.
According
to the website:
*Quote Begin* The Vinton Furnace is extremely interesting
from a historical perspective, as well as the wealth of artifacts
present at this site. While the furnace itself is in very poor
condition, the remains of the boiler house, hot blast house, coke
piles, and iron slag remain. The most interesting portion of the
Vinton site is the presence of Belgium Coke Ovens. Originally built
to produce coke from coal, they did not work and were partially
responsible for the demise of the operation. The ovens were
originally built in Belgium (hence the name), and used in
Connellsville, PA. All other constructions are believed to have
been destroyed - to the best of our knowledge, the structures
remaining at the Vinton site are the only remaining ones left in
the world. At the Vinton site, they did not work, due to the high
sulfur content in the local hill coal. The higher sulfur content in
the coke produced a brittle grade of iron. While several of the
ovens were demolished years ago, seventeen of the ovens remain
standing. Six were probably destroyed on the south end when the
coal hoppers were pulled down for salvage. The first oven on the
north end was destroyed, but the reason is unclear. In all, the
original structure included twenty-four ovens. *Quote End*
I suggest parking at N39-13.243 W82-24.593 which is a camping
area along the road. Alternate Parking can be found near
N39-013.092 W082-24.492. There were several buildings in this area
related to the furnace operation. Very little remains, but you can
find part of a well, as well as some of the foundation stones among
the weeds, if you look around some. (A short distance away, one can
find where the railroad tracks from the mid 1800's were located.
These were gone by the 1900s.)
From the parking area, follow the road, then the hiking trail
(note the blue 3" round hiker symbol signs). There are a number of
interesting sites to visit on your way to the cache.
You'll pass an abandonded bridge (literally in the middle of the
woods), the Belgian Coke ovens (N39-12.926 82-24.444) and finally,
the cache.
If you look carefully, you can find pieces of Iron Slag, and
Coke, around the area. If you feel something "crunchy" under your
feet as you walk, it is likely pieces of this material you are
crushing.
A second abandonded bridge (and alternate parking) can be found
further down the road from the parking area at N39-12-57.6
W82-24-16.6
Cache is a regular sized container with a screw-top lid. Most
trade items should easily fit. Re-hide well, muggles visit here
also.
Note: If you visit the web-site I have referenced, do NOT follow
the directions given there. I made that mistake, and you will end
up nowhere near the cache or the furnaces. The road is described as
slightly past McArthur, which is incorrect. Take Rock Quarry Road
which is about that same distance from a Railroad overpass east of
McArthur on US 50 & SR 677(several miles down the road) and
inbetween SR677 and SR278 (both leading to Zaleski State Forest). I
finally located this area using historical (~1908) topo maps. Look
for the "MeadWestvaco" signs, and follow the road to the cache
parking area.
Be sure to visit the waymarking pages:
Belgian Coke Ovens
Vinton Furnace
And the Olde Forester has
a good page on this place.