The North Dartmoor GeoPath incorporates 5 existing opencaches which are still part of the Dartmoor Challenge. This is the 4th of those caches and takes you to one of the best known locations on Dartmoor, Cranmere Pool - the site of the first ever letterbox. Originally a glass jar was placed at this spot in 1854 and visitors left their calling cards. This was later replaced by a tin for self addressed postcards and later a logbook and stamp were included and so the modern letterboxing hobby was born.
It is fairly easy to get from Black Ridge to Cranmere Pool as thousands of hikers have walked this way so it is not difficult to follow the route, although depending on the weather the approach to Cranmere Pool can be very wet. Turn north on to the Black Ridge Pass and follow this to its northern end. Turn east at the end and follow one of the numerous paths until you reach Cranmere Pool. Follow the arrow to the cache itself.
The Dartmoor Challenge is a series of 42 caches which have been placed in some of the most remote places on either Dartmoor's North Moor or South Moor. Each cache has been placed to bring you to a special place on Dartmoor, often a beautiful stream, a striking tor or another of Dartmoor's endearing features.
21 of the caches are listed on opencaching.org.uk and 21 on geocaching.com. None of the caches are cross-listed and the series could be considered to be 2 separate series.
35 of the caches are traditional caches, 3 are puzzle caches, 2 are moving caches and 2 are 5/5 bonus caches. In order to locate both bonus caches you will need to collect coordinate information which is available in ALL of the 38 feeder caches. Please DO NOT share this bonus information with anybody.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All of the caches on the North Moor are located in or near to one of the Military Ranges where live firing occurs. You must check out the Firing Notices before entering any of the ranges. DO NOT ENTER THE RANGE WHEN THE RED FLAGS ARE FLYING. Never pick up any objects, they may be unexploded devices.
The weather on Dartmoor can change suddenly and unexpectedly and ALL types of weather conditions can be experienced. Please ensure that you have the correct clothing and map & compass (and know how to use them). Please do NOT rely solely on your GPS.
I would like to thank the Dartmoor National Park Authority for their kind permission to place this cache, which has been placed according to the geocaching guidelines.