A 21st Century Treasure Hunt

Geocaching is a sport rising in popularity with all nature lovers.  What could make a hike into wilderness even better?  A treasure box of course!  Just as pirates scanned the world in search of loot, you too can explore.

Technology has graced us with GPS and geocaching apps, so throw out the tattered old maps and break out of the norm.  Now you can be plugged in while roaming the great outdoors!  What could be better for our young generation of gadget hounds?

Throughout our woods and campground property there are hidden caches.  Use your GPS unit or borrow one from our camp office and take the family out geocaching.  Coordinates tell you the vicinity to find a cache but you still have to get down and dirty to actually locate them.  They are camouflage boxes which can be hidden in trees or behind rocks.  Look, it’s right there under your nose!  Once you’ve been successful, gather around and open the box to see what treasures await.

Each box holds two items.  The trinkets and souvenirs will jump right out.  You never know what you will find because they are always changing.  Geocachers are supposed to ‘take one, leave one’.  Remember Christmas?  It does feel good to give!  Items found in a cache box can be anything that will hold up outdoors: bouncy balls, coins, rocks, rubber snakes, pins and gadgets of all sorts work well.  Get creative, that is part of the fun of geocaching.  Leave a treasure someone will love to find!  The second item found in a cache is a log book.  This is where you can sign in and leave some wisdom or just share what you’ve seen around you and how the weather is treating you.  Write as much or as little as you like, be sure to flip through and read what others have shared.

When it is time to move on a good geocacher seals everything up and replaces the box right where it was found.  Look around and make sure no one was watching you – we don’t want any cheaters!  Now click on the next coordinates in your GPS unit and venture on!  Our property holds several caches so if you can’t find one just keep going and your reward will be sweet!  Remember your camera so you can share your success story on our camp Facebook page.

Please remember whenever you are going into the woods you want to wear appropriate shoes and clothing.  Bug spray and water bottles are a must!  Trail maps and coordinates can be gathered in the camp office.

Good luck to all new Geocachers!  Visit geocaching.com for more information.