Will 'Treasure Hunts' Draw New Tourists?
Geocaching Sport May Be Marketed in Area
By Ryan Schlehuber

A cache is hidden under a fallen tree. Participants of the outdoor sport hide and hunt for caches all over Michigan. One stipulation, however, is that a cache should not be buried, only covered with items like leaves, rocks, or some light material.

Madelyn LePage never knew about Sunset Rock on Mackinac Island until she and her family discovered it while geocaching. The relatively new treasure hunting game incorporates satellite technology to locate hidden objects, and Mrs. LePage and her family are among a world-wide network of players who scour the countryside looking for clues or catches of souvenirs.

The trendy sport could be marketed in this area to draw a new group of tourists in an otherwise slow tourist economy.

Mrs. LePage describes her husband, Tom, their son, Richard, and about 500 other people involved in the Michigan Geocaching Association, as "high-tech treasure hunters," players who use handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to pinpoint caches, or containers, that are hidden around public-accessible areas such as parks or cemeteries. The international sport can be found in more than 200 countries. GPS technology uses satellites to pinpoint a spot using longitude and latitude coordinates called "waypoints." In this case, players are pinpointing a cache hidden by leaves or rocks or light material, but not buried. GPS devices can be as accurate as 30 feet from the target, said Mr. LePage. Tree cover and weather can affect the GPS accuracy, he added.

Tom LePage of Warren, with his hand-held Global Positioning System device, during one of his many geocaching adventures on Mackinac Island. He has found more than 2,200 caches in Michigan. His son, Richard, has located more than 800. Geocaching could be a marketing tool for local businesses to draw in a new group of tourists. (Photographs courtesy of Madelyn LePage)

The players first must register online, where they pick out a team name. Then they pick out waypoints they want to explore on geocaching's international Web site, www.geocaching.com. The Web site acts as a center for players to find or add waypoints, schedule events, and add information about specific caches they found or about the area where they were located.

Michigan geocaching players interact on www.migeocaching. org, which gives them an opportunity to discuss geocaching and share information.

The only expense to participate in geocaching is purchasing a GPS hand-held device, which costs $75 to $200 and up. Geocaching can be played anywhere, however, players must respect the area where they hide and search for caches, said Mrs. LePage.

She said geocaching is a great outdoor activity that can be played any time of the year. It also allows players to enjoy time with their family or friends and it gives visitors a new way of exercising and exploring any area, including tourist attraction sites such as Mackinac Island.

"After hearing about the sagging tourism on the Island during the past few years, we feel that our sport may bring additional tourists to the Island," said Mrs. LePage, whose family has been involved with geocaching since 2004. "Mackinac is a perfect spot for geocaching, since the Island has so many beautiful and interesting geological formations.

"In addition, it would encourage tourists to get off Main Street and explore the interior of the Island," she continued. "Most tourists aren't even aware of the amazing sites that the Island has to offer."

Another treasure-hunting sport called letterboxing has been around since the Victorian era and is becoming popular again. It is similar to geocaching, however, participants are directed from letterbox to letterbox by clues from the previously found box.

Each letterbox contains at least a logbook, trinkets, and a carved rubber stamp to stamp the participant's own journal. Clues often involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks. The sport also has its own Web site, www.letterboxing.org.

According to the Web site, letterboxing started in Dartmoor, England, in the middle of the 19th century. In 1854, James Perrott of Chagford set up a small cairn at Cranmere Pool on north Dartmoor; in it he put a glass jar where visitors could leave their visiting cards.

The sport of geocaching has been a growing trend since 2000, however, owing to a decline in tourism and a bleak state economy, local businesses and tourism groups are starting to look at it as a marketing tool to draw more tourists to the area.

"It has been a popular trend here, especially through the [Boy] Scouts," said Mary Slevin, executive director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau, where geocaching is a hot discussion topic. "We've seen a lot of [geocaching] people who come to our booth to get maps of the Island.

"Geocaching may bring in clientele that may not have ever thought about going to Mackinac Island," she continued. "It opens the ability to attract new tourists."

The Tourism Bureau is already working on creating a virtual activities page on its Web site, which should attract the geocaching players of the world, said Mrs. Slevin.

"It's a great way to get students to hone their mapping skills and be introduced to new technology," said Mrs. Slevin. "It also gets the kids away from video games into the outdoors."

Mrs. LePage said her son, Richard, introduced the sport to his science teacher and she was so interested that she presented it to the school board. The board was so impressed that it allowed her to include geocaching into the middle school's curriculum.

Caches are water-proof containers, like plastic dishware, pill bottles, or ammunition cans, that are usually filled with a log book for visitors to sign and include small trinkets like small toys, stamps, or small memorabilia depicting the area that players can take (as long as they replace it with another trinket of equal or greater value).

Players can hide caches themselves if they like, as long as they receive permission from property owners, said Mrs. LePage. The LePage family has 28 hidden caches on the Island.

"We don't put any on school property because we don't want anyone being mistaken as a prowler," she said. "Places like the Mackinac Island State Park, you need an activity permit before you hide any caches on their property."

The LePage family, known as "Team Cyclops" for the geocaching game, has one cache hidden in the Lakeside Cemetery in St. Ignace, however, they placed it far away from any grave sites, which they suggest everyone should do.

Mrs. LePage said the family's team is named after Mr. LePage, who is blind in one eye.

The LePage family will be hosting an informal gathering for Michigan Geocaching Association members at Grand Hotel April 28, which includes dinner, followed by a geocaching safari around the Island.

Anyone interested in joining or wanting to learn more about it is welcome to attend, said Mrs. LePage. The event will also be posted at www.geocaching.com by February.

"We are always interested in getting new people involved in this sport," said Mrs. LePage.