A high-tech treasure hunt: Geocaching event is Saturday in Hancock

For this new geotrail, Chase-Hyman said 49 of the original 85 municipalities have again decided to participate. She calls them "the diehard geocache towns." She said they found that "some of the towns weren't really built for it." For instance, some towns were too small to meet the requirement that a cache has to be accessible 24 hours a day.

Chase-Hyman said geocachers already form a nationwide community and geocachers are already excited about new trails. But it's also a way to educate state residents about municipalities.


Merriam-Webster defines a municipality as "a primarily urban political unit having corporate status and usually powers of self-government."

"We want to make sure that municipalities are seen as viable, attractive places for (visitors) to visit," Chase-Hyman said. "Because there are plenty of people who don't necessarily understand the difference between municipalities and what is simply a population center like Towson or Columbia versus Hagerstown."



If you go ...

What: Discovering Maryland Maryland Municipal League Geotrail

When: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 5

Where: Hancock Performing Arts Center at Town Hall, 126 W. High St., Hancock

More: Event attendees will be given an advance listing of all the new geocache coordinates as the official Trail Passport



Geocachers can access the coordinates any time after 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, by registering at www.geocaching.com. The basic registration is free. A trackable collectible coin will be awarded to the first 200 geocachers who locate at least two caches within each of the participating MML districts:

District 1: Lower Eastern Shore

District 2: Upper Eastern Shore

District 3: Baltimore (not ready for launch)

District 4: Southern Maryland

District 5: Montgomery Country

District 6: Frederick County

District 7: Allegany/Garrett Counties

District 8: Washington County

District 9: Prince George's County

District 10: Cecil/Harford Counties

District 11: Carroll County

To be eligible for commemorative coin, geocachers must record the location, date and code of their find at the Official MML Geocache Trail Passport and paste a picture at each cache. Completed passports must then be mailed to MML offices for coin redemption. To download the official passport go to www.mdmunicipal.org/geocache.

To find out the basics of geocaching, go to www.geocaching.com.



File photo

A quarter illustrates the sizes of some of the smallest geocaches hidden in area parks and historic sites. A statewide geotrail called Discovering Maryland will launch Saturday in Hancock.