Geocaching Comes to Lane County

Oct. 16, 2012
For Immediate Release
Contact: Lisa Lawton, Director of Community Relations
(541) 743-8762; (800) 547-5445; www.EugeneCascadesCoast.org
Lisa@EugeneCascadesCoast.org

Travel Lane County to Launch First Geocaching Tour on the West Coast - Kickoff Event - Saturday, Oct. 20, 9 to 11 a.m.
Eugene, Ore. – Travel Lane County will launch Oregon's first official geocaching tour this Saturday--one of only ten worldwide.

While geocaching has been around since 2000, GeoTours, featured on geocaching.com, are now being created as a way to guide sightseers to special scenic landscapes, attractions, historic sites and other points of interest located within a specific destination or territory.

Stretching from Springfield to the crest of the Cascades, Travel Lane County’s first GeoTour, focused on the McKenzie River region, will officially launch on Saturday, Oct. 20, between 9 and 11 a.m at the Eugene, Cascades & Coast Adventure Center in Springfield. More than 30 geocaching sites have been selected and prepped for the new tour, officially named the Eugene, Cascades & Coast GeoTour – McKenzie River Edition. The tour will lead cachers to everything from trailheads to waterfalls.

Armed with smartphones, or dedicated GPS (Global Positioning System) devices, both expert and novice geocachers can hunt for the hidden caches. The caches, which are typically small, waterproof containers or canisters, are filled with treasures and trinkets, along with an official logbook that cachers sign and date.

Travel Lane County is challenging people to complete the tour’s accompanying passport, which will require treasure hunters to find a minimum number of hidden caches in order to earn one of the 200 limited-edition trackable geocaching coins. Coins, as they are called among cachers, serve as trophies, collectibles, souvenirs or trading objects. Travel Lane County’s locally designed and produced wooden geocoin will be one of a two-part series. Those cachers who complete the passport will be entered to win a free McKenzie River getaway.

During the kickoff, the trackable geocoin will be displayed and interested geocachers can pick up an official Eugene, Cascades & Coast GeoTour-McKenzie Edition passport. The passport may also be accessed online. For more information, contact Travel Lane County at (541) 484-5307 or visit http://www.eugenecascadescoast.org/geocaching.

Travel Lane County is a private, nonprofit association dedicated to economic development through visitor spending. In 2011 visitors to Lane County generated more than $543 million in spending for Lane County’s economy. Travel Lane County is funded by room tax paid by visitors using area lodging facilities and campgrounds.