Most people talk about an area's hidden treasures metaphorically. But in Clayton County, adventurers are discovering concealed boxes holding unusual facts about local history as well as the county's emerging destinations.
Back in March, a group from the Clayton County Convention and Visitors Bureau decided to jump on the geocaching trend to make learning about the area an interactive activity.
Geocaching is a popular outdoor game that draws on older hide-and-seek, scavenger-hunt traditions such as letterboxing and orienteering. Participants plug exact coordinates into a handheld GPS device or smartphone, which leads them to a waterproof container whose contents remain largely a mystery until they are found.
According to geocaching.com, nearly 1.5 million containers, or caches, are hidden around the world, with approximately 5 million cachers, or searchers, actively reviewing and rating their experiences online.
People who cache operate under some ethical guidelines that include logging their names in the log book (the only required item in every cache), picking up litter on the way to and around the caches and leaving something of equal or higher value if items are permitted to be taken.
At last year’s Georgia Governor’s Conference on Tourism, CVB staff learned that some communities have taken to using caches to draw a fresh demographic to local attractions.
“When you think of there being over a million caches in the world, our little nine doesn’t seem like much,” said Beth Bailey, the CVB's VP of sales and promotions. “But it’s been drawing a lot of people who travel through the area as well attracting people who’ve lived here all their lives.”
Nine containers are hidden around the county, and according to Bailey, they’re not at all the obvious places.
Giving away location and content spoilers is frowned upon among cachers, but comments the CVB shared include "who would've known you'd find something like this in such an urban and busy area?”
Some are in or near parks or historic sites, and each container has a trading card to take, without having to leave something in exchange. The cards include facts about the area around the container. Six training cards can be shown at the CVB for a prize, with an additional bonus prize for all nine.
"There are some pretty strange and exciting caches out there," Bailey said. "Ours are not too challenging because we wanted them to be simple enough for a 3-year-old to find. It's an outside activity with a Clayton County learning takeaway. It's a great way to get kids away from the TV."
GPS Coordinates are found at www.claytoncountycaches.com.
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