Feature Profiles

Geocaching: Discovering Nature - - One Treasure at a Time

Beginning last year, with the support of a 2011 Rockfall grant, Camp Hazen (Chester) helped turn up to 3,000 young people into outdoor exploration treasure hunters through its Geocaching program.

 Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use GPS receivers, maps and compasses to find pre-hidden 'caches.' It is a worldwide activity and widely practiced here, with over 900 registered cache- sites in Middlesex County alone. 

Participants included school and community groups who attend the camp's year-round Leadership and Team building programs. Geocaching was also an important part of the 2011 summer camp Outdoor Pursuits adventure program. Young adventurers explored Camp Hazen's 150 acres of woods and fields to find caches, locate and identify natural landmarks and become comfortable reading maps.

"Geocaching opened up a new outdoor activity for summer and group campers," explains Denise Learned, Executive Director and CEO of Camp Hazen. "Campers learned map reading skills, how to use a compass and how to use a GPS unit to locate a waypoint. These are life skills.           

            "Geocaching is also a great outdoor activity that the whole family can do together," she adds. "Campers have told us their families have started Geocaching. It was definitely one of the summer's top rated activities."

            For teachers, parents and other leaders youth groups, Camp Hazen also has developed a Geocaching booklet with detailed lesson plans.

To learn more about Camp Hazen please visit its website at http://camphazenymca.org.

Above, with GPS equipment in hand, Camp Hazen explorers open a cache box to log in and see what treasure may have been left to discover. At right, the dilemma--who gets to open it first ?