Small trinkets and treasures can be found just about anywhere in Baton Rouge thanks to geocaching, an outdoor activity where participants use GPS coordinates to find hidden containers placed throughout the city.
Geocaching essentially is a treasure hunt. Participants use an iPhone or Android app to pick a geocache and navigate its location.
As 225 details in a feature from its current issue, caches are small containers in which participants who find them either leave a trinket for the next person who finds the cache or sign a logbook rolled up inside.
In urban locations, items as small as film canisters might be taped to the underside of benches or the backs of street signs. In wooded areas, the caches might be in larger containers.
“You’ll even find them in the Walmart parking lot,” says Prairieville geocaching enthusiast Riann Weishaupt, who’s been caching almost five years. There were 1,935 caches located in or near Baton Rouge as of 12:30 p.m. today.
Weishaupt has more than 1,000 finds under her belt from dozens of states, as well as Canada. Finds inside the containers can be anything, from fake gold coins to flashlights.
Weishaupt also suggests would-be cachers join the Louisiana Geocaching Organization on Facebook to get acquainted with members who can show you the ropes.
Baton Rouge’s community parks are hotspots for geocaching, including Forest Community Park and Hartley/Vey Park, says BREC Outdoor Adventure program coordinator Amanda Bradley. Those looking for more of an adventure can try the more densely wooded Frenchtown and Blackwater conservation areas, as well as Bluebonnet Swamp.
Read the full feature, which include tips for beginner geocachers.
