a.k.a
Maribel Caves (Manitowoc Cty)
*Sidebar:
I duly promise to post my adventures while the memories are buzzing fresh in my mind. I began this post a few days week ago, and honestly it's a struggle to recall the experiences.
My first visit to this park was in March 2009. That day I was scanning the gazetteer looking for my next destination. If living in Oshkosh has done anything for me, it's driven the desire to go elsewhere. It's a fine town and it suits our purposes but does nothing to satisfy my need to explore. Maribel Caves had interested me for a time and finally made that my plan on that March morning. The snow was cold, the colors crisp, the shadows sharp. Hastily my freezing feet retreated and a resolution to return was born.
Fast forward to May, a fine spring day for a Road Trip. From Oshkosh, the Town of Maribel is 1 hour 12 minutes of rural highway driving, 2 full hours when slowing down to look at cows. Seriously, I saw one Brown Swiss Cow whose udders was painfully weighed down by milk that she could not walk normally. I remember those days, and shudder from the mammary (ha-ha, I could not resist).
Before my arrival at Maribel, I saw a sign on the corner of
Park Rd and Blake and took a quick detour. "
Southern Brown Wildlife Refuge" This park does not appear on any Google Map or Brown County Website, so therefore it must've been a fantastic hallucination. Following the sign for about 1/2 mile (little over that I believe), I found the entrance to the park. It has your typical nature trail with your typical flora and fauna. Nice place to take your dog (note: dogs must be leased at Maribel Caves). Sadly, only a small number of pictures turned out.
My jaunt into this newly developed park was a successful venture if only to publish it's existence before the new maps come out. The
coolest find - a bees nest in a live tree.
The Park
The
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park was open this time, and the park was relatively busy. I found a quiet trail and commenced my exploration. To be honest, Devoted Reader, I had no idea on the size of this park. It's larger than I expected. According to the park website, it occupies 75 acres, though the DNR sites 13.5 acres. I know nothing of calculating land sizes, but 13.5 seems to make logical sense.
This park is very much like Horicon Ledge (Dodge County Ledge), with the large glacial rock formations, the mossy boulders, the slippery crags, the spiders, the bats - need I go on? Alright, I was a bit overboard on the bats, but the environment is very similar (The main differences are that Horicon Ledge has Ledges, and not Caves).
The Caves
Of the caves: there are several:
Tartarus, Coopers, Pancake, Spring, and New Hope. On this day the was working in the
New Hope Cave. The entrance to this cave is closed to the public unless one of the volunteer groups are on working on site and will give tours. I did not explore the entire cave, as you move deeper in there is water present and my shoes were open heeled clogs, so I stayed and listened to one of the Spelunkers (to be named Savvy Spelunker) who talked about the excavations of the caves. It was really quite interesting, but I'm afraid that I don't remember all of it, other than when he discussed the Tartarus, he believed there was more another part of the cave yet to be revealed. The cave on this day was reletively dry.
Wisconsin Speleological Society
One of the characteristics in New Hope Cave is called
Moon Milk - a white creamy deposit that is created by the water seepage from the cracks (life lines) in the cave ceiling. There is some question whether it is a chemical or bacterial reaction. Either way, it doesn't drip on your head, if you are worried about that kind of thing. The formation of caves themselves is fascinating, and it all has to do with the way water wears away rock, leaving crevasses for moss and other lifeforms to exist. This is over millions of years
Wheretofind: Travel time approximately one hour from Oshkosh, 20 minutes from either Ashwaubenon or from Two Rivers: From the junction of I-43 and State Highway 147 one mile east of Maribel, go east on 147 0.3 mile, then north on County Highway R 0.6 mile to the entrance of Cherney Maribel Caves County Park, proceed 0.25 mile to the parking area.
What to Expect: Please call ahead to see if there are cave tours: 920-682-0356. Dogs are allowed (leashed). Trails are mild-medium difficulty. Wear appropriate shoes, especially if you plan to investigate New Hope Cave. Cave season is open from April 1st - October 31st. Check maribelcaves.org for dates when New Hope Cave is open to the public. Park is open daily from 6am-8pm.
One Last Reason To Visit **
Trespasser Alert **
Maribel Caves Hotel, "Hotel Hell"
You'll just have to visit. Trust me, plenty of others have been there before you. Check your principles at the door, because you are trespassing and you might get a ticket for your troubles.
UPDATE 04/05/2015 - read that a portion of this structure
was brought down from a storm with high winds back in August 2013.
Maribel Caves County Park was worth the Road Trip, and I will place this as my
#2 Wheretogo Winner. A declaration was made when I arrived home, travel worn and sunburned.
I have never heard of this before, but in reading up on it I realized that something of this nature had to exist before geocaching. The history of letterboxing begins in Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England approx 150 years ago, and it's only been since 1998 that America has been involved. The main supplies you need is a compass, logbook, pencil, and your own personal stamp and inkpad.
This small patch of oak trees is part of Asylum Point Park, leading the adventurer to what in 1871 became Northern Asylum for the Insane. Today it is Winnebago County Mental Health Institute though the area continued to be recognized as Asylum Point/Asylum Bay which is also a county park. I realized that I have not given this a proper Wheretogo post and am amending this today. 
Standing at this point, if you turn around to face the south there will be the restored Asylum Point Lighthouse, which I am sharing from my Fine Art America page. This relatively small park has been a great source for many of my favorite photos. 
Where to find: See the location link included in the post. If you are in Oshkosh, this is E.Snell Rd, on the east side of Bowen Street (Cty Rd A south from Neenah on Commercial St). If you follow E. Snell all the way East, turning right on Sherman Rd which is the entrance road to Asylum Point County Park. Continue on to the patch of woods and on to Asylum Bay Lighthouse.
While working on this upload, I discovered that there is some history surrounding this unique barn originally part of a community known as Perryville which existed from the 1850's and was a ghost town by the Civil War after the passing of widow Ruth Swift The property was then passed around the local farmers until purchased by Homer and Ezra Fahrney who developed a tonic remedy Alpen Kraüter, who owned the land and planted thousands of trees. By 1910 it became known as Fahrney's Woods and would eventually become what we now call The Jesuit Retreat House.
(Keweenaw Cty,MI).
move so that I can relive my most recent excursion into reliving this particular time in my life. I am returning again, hopefully later after the Chicagoans have all gone home. While the shore hike was pleasant and relatively bug free (if you don't count the humans, of course), it was too humid and it the clinging haze really effected some of the shots.
Manitowoc (Manitowoc Cty)
I belong to a minority of people who see cemeteries as parks for the living as well as the dead. Funny, my criteria for cemeteries and parks share one condition: a marked lack of people. Most of my excursions are indeed solo, and the less people I come across, the better.
