Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission adds geochaching GeoTour to peninsula’s offerings

Published 2:30 am Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission partners announce one more way to enjoy the Olympic Peninsula with the U.S. Highway 101 Scenic Byway Loop GeoTour.

Thirty geocaches will be placed around the Olympic Peninsula from Brinnon to Marrowstone Island, to Neah Bay, La Push and Quinault, with caches stashed all along the way in between. Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunt using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.

Caches on the Highway 101 Scenic Byway Loop GeoTour will be released during the kick-off event, held from 7:30-10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, in the kitchen building at the Clallam County Fairgrounds in Port Angeles. The event features passports, prizes and giveaways.

The GeoTour will have its own page on geocaching.com, which will list all the geocaches. Each hidden cache will contain a color stamp and a word that participants will record in a passport (downloadable on www.OlympicPeninsulaGeotour.com on Sept. 12).

When the passport contains all 30 code words and stamps, participants can redeem it for a trackable geocoin. Also, a grand prize winner will be announced on Jan. 4, 2017. To be eligible for the drawing participants will need to fill out the survey on the passport, attach a sales receipt to the passport of any Olympic Peninsula purchase of goods, gas, food, lodging or other expenditure, and turn it in for a chance to win. The grand prize will contain overnight lodging and other extras for a return trip to the Olympic Peninsula to do more geocaching, plus the trackable geocoin. Details of the grand prize will be announced at the kick-off event.

An informal, no-host gathering for geocachers will be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, in the banquet room at Fanaticus Sports Grill, 1016 E. First St., Port Angeles.

Local businesses or volunteers interested in helping support the Olympic Peninsula Highway 101 Scenic Byway Loop GeoTour, or for more information on the GeoTour, see www.OlympicPeninsulaGeotour.com or call Mary Brelsford at 452-8552 or Mary@OlympicPeninsula.org.

The Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission is a partnership of the chambers of commerce and tourism marketing entities from the North Hood Canal to Quinault including: Neah Bay Chamber of Commerce: City of Port Angeles; Lake Quinault Innkeepers Association; Forks Chamber of Commerce; Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau representing unincorporated Clallam County; Clallam Bay/Sekiu Chamber of Commerce; City of Port Townsend; City of Sequim; and Jefferson County Tourism Coordinating Council representing TCC/Brinnon Quilcene, TCC/Port Hadlock, TCC/Port Ludlow/Gateway Visitor Center, and West Jefferson County. OPTC continues to be a leader in destination marketing offering vital travel information to local, national and international visitors by promoting tourism to the Olympic Peninsula and the gateway communities surrounding it.