Geocaching
combines geo for geography and
caching for the process of hiding a cache, which
historically has referred to a hidden treasure or
concealed food/provisions/cash. If you're
wondering who would
be crazy enough to
spend their vacation
looking for trinkets
with a GPS you may be
surprised to learn
that more than 4 million people of all ages
and interests worldwide
are interested in
Geocaching.
Authentic used ammo can-caches
and Great Lakes Seaway
Trail GeoTrail logbooks are ready for geocaching
travelers exploring with hand-held GPS to find
soon-to-be-75 new caches on the 518-mile byway
that runs alongside the St. Lawrence River-Great
Lakes shoreline of New York and
Pennsylvania.
Sixty-four – count
‘em – 64 Great Lakes Seaway Trail geocaches are now in place, with
another 11 to follow soon, for those who enjoy
exploring with their GPS (Global Positioning
System) unit in hand.
What
is in a typical geocache? A logbook or logsheet
with information on who set the cache in place
and notes from those
finding the cache. The Great Lakes Seaway Trail
caches have a uniquely-shaped punch for marking
the logbooks that cachers carry with them from
cache to cache.
At least 10 ammo boxes emblazoned with the new
Great Lakes Seaway Trail logo have been placed in
each of five regions that include Lake Erie, Buffalo/Niagara
Falls, Rochester/Central Lake Ontario, Eastern
Lake Ontario, and 1000
Islands/St. Lawrence River. These locations are
within the
518-mile America’s Byway that parallels the
freshwater shoreline of New York
and Pennsylvania.
Each cache has a uniquely-shaped punch that
cachers will use to mark their Great Lakes Seaway
Trail GeoTrail logbooks. Once cachers find 10
caches in a region, they can have their logbook
validated to receive the distinctive Great Lakes
Seaway Trail GeoCoin for that region.
The series of five elegantly-designed
antique-metal finish coins features the Flagship
Niagara,
Niagara Falls and
the Maid of the Mist tour boat, Charlotte-Genesee
Lighthouse, historic Fort Ontario,
and an oceangoing ship on
the St. Lawrence River.
“This new Great Lakes Seaway Trail GeoTrail
provides a new recreational, historic, cultural
and outdoor adventure for
travelers to experience the full 518-mile length
of the byway,” says Seaway Trail, Inc. President
and CEO Teresa Mitchell.
Great Lakes Seaway Trail GeoTrail developer James
“Boots” Hooper says he believes this is the
longest linear geotrail in the U.S.
“The beautiful landscapes and
waterfront, historic sites and
natural found only along this unique byway await
Great Lakes Seaway Trail geocachers,” says Hooper,
a member of the National 4-H Geospatial Science
Taskforce, the New York State 4-H Geospatial
Leadership Team, and the
Rochester-based GeoRoc online community.
Logbooks and coins for all
five regions are available at the Seaway Trail
Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY. Logbooks
and coins for individual
regions are found at:
Lake Erie Region
• Tom Ridge Environmental Center, 301
Peninsula Drive, Suite 1, Erie, PA 16505
Buffalo/Niagara
Falls Region
• Niagara USA Official
Visitor Center, 10 Rainbow Blvd.,
Niagara Falls, NY 14303
Rochester/Central Lake Ontario Region
• VisitRochester, 45 East Avenue, Suite
400, Rochester, NY 14604
• Wayne County Tourism
Office, 9 Pearl Street, Suite 3, Lyons, NY 14489
Eastern Lake Ontario Region
• Cayuga County Office of
Tourism, 131 Genesee Street, Auburn, NY
13021
• Oswego County Tourism,
3rd Floor, County Office Building, 46 E. Bridge
St., Oswego, NY 13126
• Screwy Louie’s Sport Shop, 596 Main St., Fair
Haven, NY 13064
Thousand
Islands/St. Lawrence River Region
• Seaway Trail Discovery Center, Ray & West Main
Streets, Sackets Harbor, NY
13685
• St. Lawrence County Chamber, 101 Main St.,
Canton, NY 13617
• 1000 Islands International
Tourism Council, 3373 Collins Landing,
Alexandria Bay,
NY 13607.
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail GeoTrail sponsors
include VisitErie, the Niagara
Tourism
and Convention
Corporation,
VisitRochester, Wayne County
Tourism, the Fair Haven Area Chamber of
Commerce, the Cayuga County Office of
Tourism, Oswego County
Tourism, the 1000 Islands
International Tourism
Council, the St. Lawrence County Chamber of
Commerce, and the Great
Lakes Seaway Trail.
Where do you find the
GPS coordinates for locating the Great Lakes Seaway Trail geocaches?
www.geocaching.com lists the coordinates for
more than 4 million geocaches around the globe,
including those located along the 518 miles of the Great Lakes
Seaway Trail.
Once all are in
place, you will find the 75 official Great Lakes Seaway Trail geocaches listed at
www.geocaching.com as well as other caches
hidden in the byway’s 5 regions by individuals
and groups. Only the 75
placed by Seaway Trail, Inc. qualify for the Great
Lakes Seaway Trail GeoCoins.
Plan Your Trip
GPS coordinates for 100 easily-seen Great Lakes
Seaway Trail “outdoor storyteller” signage units
at significant points of historic, natural/birdwatching,
cultural, maritime, agricultural
and architectural note along the byway can
be found in the 2010 Great Lakes Seaway Trail
Travel Guide online at
www.seawaytrail.com.
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