Naturalist at Itasca State Park

Geocaching: A High-Tech Hunt for Minnesota History

Geocaching, a kind of high-tech treasure hunt, is at the center of a new program that Minnesota State Parks is rolling out for the summer of 2008 in celebration of the state’s 150th birthday. Geocaching, which has become very popular in the past few years, is a modern hide-and-seek game using GPS (global positioning system) devices to track down a stash hidden at a location that has been posted on a website by latitude and longitude. The GPS is a hand-held, computerized navigational tool used to track these global coordinates via satellite technology.

Minnesota State Parks has asked local geocachers across the state to help hide caches in all 72 state parks. The cache, or hidden treasure, is a weatherproof, camouflage container holding a logbook and collectable history cards, similar to baseball trading cards, which will have a photo and historical information about the park where the cache is located.

When geocachers find the container, they can write comments in the logbook and take one of the cards. If they collect all the park history cards for a particular region of the state, they can earn a Regional Challenge Geocoin. Find all 72 park geocaches and receive a special medallion.

In addition, each cache will hold “travel bugs,” small trinkets that represent the park. Visitors who find the cache are invited to carry the travel bug to a cache in another state park. The travels of the travel bugs will be tracked, to see how many parks each bug can get to.

The caches will be hidden but easily accessible, just off a trail or near something historic in the park. Some will be relatively easy to find, and others, more difficult.

Intrigued, but not familiar with geocaching? Sixteen major state parks around the state are designated as demonstration parks, which will hold periodic “how-to” geocache programs. In addition, they will have GPS units and instruction cards that can be checked out free of charge. Coordinates of the cache location are already entered into the GPS unit.

Why the buzz about geocaching? Cindy and Allen Habedank of Bemidji, who are helping State Parks with this program, just discovered the sport in the past year but are already avid geocachers. “We like the outdoors, exploring, learning, technology, using your imagination, meeting new friends and being creative,” explains Allan. “The State Parks geocaching program has all of this and much more.”

“The beauty of this program is that it gives a reason to visit parks that people might not have visited in the past,” adds Scott Engstrom of Duluth, who is also working with State Parks on this project. “This will give me the perfect excuse to enjoy some magnificent hikes and breathtaking views.” It’s also great family fun. “My kids have a blast on these treasure hunts,” adds Scott.

People travel cross-country in search of caches. “They (State Parks) are encouraging people from all over the country to come to Minnesota and experience the best we have,” says Allan Habedank.

The Minnesota State Parks Geocaching History Challenge kicks off on May 11, the date Minnesota became a state 150 years ago. For more information on the program, go to: www.mnstateparks.info. For more information on the sport, go to www.geocaching.com

Birding Kits

Minnesota’s varied habitats-prairies, wetlands, hardwood and coniferous forests-make it a great place for bird watching, and the State Parks offer some of the best birding opportunities. A bird list has been compiled for each state park, and several parks have birding kits available for visitors to use free of charge. The kits include good-quality binoculars, a beginner’s bird book, a more advance bird book, and the park’s birding checklist, all packaged in a shoulder bag to take on walks.

“These have been very popular,” says Bryce Anderson of Minnesota State Parks. The kits “have introduced a lot of new people to bird watching.” The plan is to have birding kits in place at all state parks by this summer.

Learn to Camp

Does the idea of camping appeal to you, but you didn’t grow up camping and don’t know the ins and outs of it? Getting started in the world of tents and campfires can be intimidating to some parents who don’t have any camping experience. Minnesota State Parks have teamed up with sports retailer REI on an “I Can Camp” program to help families learn basic camping skills.

REI staff will show participants how to put up a tent and cook a camp meal. Park naturalists will provide nature programs and evening activities.

There will be a daytime program at Fort Snelling State Park on June 14, and overnight weekend programs at William O’Brien State Park June 28-29 and Lake Maria State Park Aug. 16-17. These parks are all in the Twin Cities area, where the REI stores are located.

Tents and sleeping bags are available on request. Participation is limited and registration is required by calling an REI store (different store for each park program; ask for Customer Service): 952-884-4315 for the Fort Snelling program, 651-635-0211 for William O’Brien, 763-493-7861 for Lake Maria. If these programs are popular, more may be added.

Whitewater State Park Update

Whitewater State Park, heavily damaged by rampaging flood waters in August 2007, is reopening in spring 2008. Reconstruction projects will continue throughout the spring and summer. Last year’s flood damaged roads, trails, campgrounds, buildings, the picnic area, and a dam, and wiped out several bridges. A major clean-up of debris and some building repairs were accomplished last fall; ongoing reconstruction in 2008 will include bridge replacements.

Tucked among forested bluffs between Rochester and Winona, this popular park is known for its beautiful setting. Trout streams wind through serene, wooded valleys, and hiking paths lead to hilltop overlooks.

The park reopens for the catch-and-release trout fishing season April 1. Interpretive programs are again being offered, and the Nature Store reopens April 12.

Camping will be available, with two campgrounds opening April 11, and the third opening May 23. However, a few campsites were lost entirely in the flooding, so total camping capacity will be lower this year. Most of the park’s extensive hiking trails will be available, though a couple trails will be closed for safety reasons. However, the swimming beach will probably be closed for the entire season.

For updates on park reconstruction, go to www.mnstateparks.info.

Program Guide

Looking for fun things to do at Minnesota State Parks? The State Parks folks have published a new catalog called the “Fun Activities and Program Guide,” which describes 275 things to do, organized by park and by date to make it easy to plan a trip. They include 150 Sesquicentennial-related programs.

Take a glacial pothole history walk at Interstate State Park. Learn about turtles at Lake Maria State Park. Watch a blacksmithing demonstration at Wild River State Park. Discover fun things about bugs at Itasca State Park. Take part in a bike festival at Camden State Park. These are just some of the many nature and history programs and outdoor recreation activities state parks are offering this summer.

You can pick up a copy of the guide at any state park, or call for a copy: 888-646-6367 or 651-296-6157.

Tags: birding, geocaching, nature, state parks

No Comments »

Link to RSS Feed for comments on this post