Louisiana State Park Series of Geocaches

Posted: Sep 3, 2010 3:43 PM by Melissa Canone
Updated: Sep 3, 2010 3:52 PM

BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Office of State Parks and the Department of Culture Recreation & Tourism announces the September 3 release of their State Park Series of Geocaches. This joint venture between Louisiana State Parks and Geocachers of Louisiana is based around visiting all of this state's facilities.

"We are pleased to enter this partnership with geocachers around the state, and in the region." said Dr. Stuart Johnson, Assistant Secretary for the Office of State Parks. "Louisiana's State Parks have always been a great place to get out and enjoy nature, and this activity will provide yet another opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts."

Each of Louisiana's State Parks and Historic Sites has their own story to tell, and its own Geocache Adventure to solve by finding and solving clues found at the site. These clues collectively will assist in finding the Final Cache, located somewhere in the state of Louisiana. Participants are encouraged to upload photos of your travels on the Geocaching.com web pages.

For a limited time, geocachers can earn a Louisiana State Park Geocoin for visiting all of the parks and finding all the geocaches placed there. This coin incorporates an original drawing of Louisiana produced by Jason McPhearson, a part-time artist some of whose works can be seen around the New Orleans area, which will adorn the front of the coin, and the official Louisiana State Parks Logo in its original colors for the reverse. All of the coins are epoxy coated and come in a protective clear sleeve. These coins are all tracable on www.Geocaching.com; participants are reminded to read all the rules on the website prior to beginning their hunt.

There will be three styles minted of this coin all using the same designs but on different materials. The original Limited Edition Trackable Coin will be Silver, and will be available in limited numbers. The Limited Edition Coin can only be earned by finding and logging the caches placed at every park and historic site in the state. The two other coins are antique bronze and a black alloy.

Prizes for participants who find all 41 of the hidden caches around the state include Limited Edition trackable geocoin, a set of 3 trackable geocoins, a weekend stay at a LouisianaState Park, hiking staffs with a Louisiana State Parks hiking medallion, certificate for "First to Find," and individual Louisiana State Parks hiking medallions.

Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache's existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS device can then try to locate the geocache.

For more information on geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com; for more information on Louisiana's State Parks and Historic Sites, visit www.lastateparks.com.