Schell Brewery Letterbox
 
Terrain: Easy
Difficulty: Easy
Placed: July 29, 2005
By: The Dragon
Location: Brown County, MN
Nearest town: New Ulm, MN

Dragon's Home Page
 
CAMOUFLAGED BOX

Part of the New Ulm Series - Click here for more information
 
Yet another attraction of New Ulm which you don't want to miss is the Schell Brewery along with the Schell mansion and beer gardens. If you enter the town on the east end, you can not miss the signs directing you there. You can read about the history of America's second oldest family-owned brewery at their website, and learn more about the mansion and gardens.

You might also want to note the times that there are brewery tours, which will also afford you the opportunity to sample some of their beers (you may have to email them for the current info). Although they do not sell their product on site, any number of liquor stores in New Ulm carry whatever is in season. (Note: If you intend to take some home, and you have a long trip back home, you might wish to bring a cooler and ice. Some of their beer is un-pasteurized and needs to be kept cold. Also, you can bottle your own 1919 Root Beer for the kids right from the tap at the liquor stores, but that is best kept cold too.)

The Schell Brewery property lies right up against Flandrau State Park. At one point during my college life, I hiked from the college, through Flandrau, and found myself in the Schell beer garden. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how I did it while I was in the area when I hid the box. (This is due to age, not the consumption of Schells! :-) ) My original plan was to hide the box in Flandrau and give you two ways to get to the box - one from Flandrau and one from Schells. Although I did receive confirmation from the park staff that there is an un-maintained trail connecting the two, I first tried to find it from Flandrau without success. When I tried to find it from Schells, I was thwarted by new construction at the brewery in 2005. When I returned in 2013, I was able to park at Schells and find a route to the box from Shells. (I was also very happy to find the box in good condition!) You now have the choice to use either of the clues below to find the box.
Clues starting in Flandrau:

Go to Flandrau State Park. You will need to pay for a daily pass (which you should be able to use at the other state park you need to go to for the falls and mill boxes) and park down by the pool. You may download useful maps at this site, or pick up a trail map on your way in.

Once you are parked, pick up the Woodland Trail heading along the river. (Note: This trail can get washed out if the area floods so it may not be maintained when you get there.) When the Woodland Trail turns left away from the river, continue along the river on the River Trail. Don't worry - the "difficult" part of the trail comes right away and the rest of the trails are relatively flat. At the "trail intersection that doesn't exist", continue along the river - don't go up to the country club. At the next intersection, you can continue on either trail as they'll both end up at the same spot. (You might take one way there and one way back!) Shortly after the trails reunite, go downhill, head across the bridge, and you'll come to a bench which is the observational spot for the area.

From the bench continue just 33 steps further on the trail. (There once was a trail sign here indicating that you were at the beginning/end of the River Loop.) Turn left and look up the hill for a sawn off stump. The box is three feet to the left of that stump against the backside of the sawn off trunk. You might want to walk up the hill alongside the other fallen trunks to minimize damage to the environment and avoid leaving a trail. Once you are in the right spot, look under loose forest debris for the box. Please replace accordingly.

If you have time, you might want to follow the "From Schells" clues backwards to go to Schells.
 Clues Starting at Schells:

Face the gift shop and turn left. Walk forward passing the handicap parking. Go down the asphalt driveway (not the road). Continue past the sewer manhole and take the gravel road downhill to the bottom. Continue straight on the grassy path passing the skeeter source (swamp) on the right. At the split in the trail, you can go left to view the river if you would like, but to find the box continue on the path to the right. You will hike on this trail for quite a while.

At the next fork, follow the pink arrow to the left. As you continue on the trail, you will need to duck under the arch of bent over tree. Next you will pass through a ditch and then later use a step in the trail formed by downed tree. Continuing on the trail, you will go up a hill to a bench, then head down to the riverside. You will then pass through a small washout and eventually arrive at a three-way split in the trail.

Take the trail at 22 degrees (the one with the blue diamond marker). Stay on this main trail, arcing to the left as you go. Ignore the path the goes up the hill to right. Soon there will be a ravine off to your right. Later you will come to (another?) ravine on your right. Here you will find boards along your path. Continuing on you will go over a fallen tree lying across the path. This tree is very bleach-bare. As you get closer to the box location you will see a large fallen tree on left, then a set of washed up parallel trees on your left, then a group of 7-8 trees in a group to right. (If you reach another bench, you have gone 33 steps too far.)

Just past this grouping, look uphill to the right for a sawn off stump. The box is three feet to the left of that stump against the backside of the sawn off trunk. You might want to walk up the hill alongside the other fallen trunks to minimize damage to the environment and avoid leaving a trail. Once you are in the right spot, look under loose forest debris for the box. Please replace accordingly.

If you have time, you might want to follow the "From Flandrau" clues backwards to go to Flandrau State Park.

Before you set out read the waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.

LbNA Home