MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Select counties in the northern part of the state are the site of Wild and Wonderful GeoWoodstock XXI through Saturday, May 24.
On WAJRs”Talk of the Town,” Visit Mountaineer Country CVB President and CEO Susan Riddle said there are several thousand items spread across Monongalia, Marion, and Preston Counties for digital scavenger event. Thousands of “geocachers” are traveling throughout the area looking for the digital treasures.
“There are several thousand of the here in Monongalia County and thousands more between Preston and Marion Counties,” Riddle said.
Geocaching is celebrating 25 years this year and has been held allover the world over the last quarter-century. Organizers have included local landmarks and aspects of Appalachian culture throughout the activities.
“They have an app that they log into when they find a geocache and they also have maps that they sometimes follow,” Riddle said.
Riddle said as many as 5,500 people are participating in this event. These people are staying in hotels, buying gas, food, and spending money at Visit Mountaineer Country businesses.
” One registration may actually bring more than one person, so I would certainly think we are well over 10,000 people here doing this,” Riddle said.
In addition to bragging rights, participants are competing for coveted “challenge coins” when a geocache is found.
“Once it’s completed they get a special GeoWoodStock XXI coin,” Riddle said.