Geocaching in
Parks Department to offer GPS treasure hunts
By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer
CLINTON TOWNSHIP — As technology improves, so do recreational opportunities.
Outdoorsy folks, particularly hunters and fishermen, already use Global Positioning Satellite receivers for their activities, but for about five years now, people around the world have found a new use for the cell-phone-size navigational devices: geocaching.
Pronounced “geocashing,” the activity amounts to high-tech treasure hunting. But instead of x-marks-the-spot, satellites miles above the Earth mark the spot. And instead of doubloons, the geocaches people find include a logbook to leave a note and trinkets not valuable in dollars, but big in fun.
The way it works: a person visits geocaching.com on the Web and puts in a ZIP code. The Web site then provides a list of the caches hidden in that area. Each individual cache has a map of the general area and coordinates to put into the GPS receiver.
GPS receivers are accurate to a range of 30 feet or better, meaning they point participants right to the geocache. The caches can’t be buried, but they are hidden.
Frank Pizzo, Clinton Township’s assistant parks and recreation director, discovered geocaching at a state parks conference. He loves the activity because it appeals to a wide variety of people and allows the department to expose some of its lesser-used parks.
Come the next parks and recreation brochure, interested people can find a May online release date for the township’s first geocache. Pizzo promises an easy one to begin — geocaches are rated one to five stars for difficulty and terrain, five being the most difficult.
As new as it sounds, plenty of people already know about and enjoy finding geocaches. The Web site shows numerous caches already hidden in Clinton Township and Fraser.
A trial run located a geocache hidden in the usually empty Tomlinson Park. The logbook contained a number of notes from people who had been there, some complimenting the park. The small, watertight, plastic box also contained a number of pins and other trinkets. A treasure hunter can feel free to take one as long as he or she leaves something of equal value in return.
The geocache also yielded calling cards. The cards gave a glimpse of the range of geocachers.
Kevin Bruinsma and Heather McCord are boyfriend and girlfriend and enjoy finding geocaches together. They found their first caches a few months apart in 2003 after one of Bruinsma’s friends told him about it.
Gary and Donna Scramling found geocaching while researching GPS receivers.
“Geocaching is a terrific way to spend the day with family and friends. The most fun we’ve had while geocaching is with our 10-year-old granddaughter, Kalli; it’s great to see the look of surprise and excitement on her face when she finds the cache,” said Donna.
It keeps people’s interest, too.
“Exercise, nature, and exploring new places is what kept our interest,” said McCord.
“As a matter of fact, I just found my 301st (cache) yesterday,” said Bruinsma April 4.
“What keeps our interest is the health benefits we receive from the long walks, the amazing places that we’ve gone in search of geocaches, and the terrific folks we’ve met. We had no idea there were so many beautiful parks in Michigan until we began visiting them in search of geocaches,” said Gary.
That gets to the heart of the matter for the Parks and Recreation Department.
“That’s our goal, to get people in parks they haven’t been in,” said Pizzo. “It’s different programming that we’re providing. It’s different, new, creative, doesn’t cost much and it’s family and it’s geared toward our residents — including other residents that maybe live in the area and say, hey, Clinton Township’s a cool place.”
“It is beneficial to the parks in many, many ways,” said Sharron Fromius, treasurer of the Michigan Geocaching Organization, which facilitates cooperation beween the public, land management officials and geocachers.
The only cost to the township is Pizzo’s time to place the caches and the cost of Tupperware containers and notebooks for people to sign.
The one hurdle to participation is the GPS receiver, which participants provide themselves. The lowest-priced ones still retail for about $100. The township hopes that like most technology, the receivers get cheaper. Pizzo recommends people borrow one from a friend for their first geocache. Fromius noted that people might be able to find used ones for less.
Sites placed on geocaching.com are approved before they are posted.