Annual Kansas geocaching competition begins today

At noon Friday an annual treasure hunt will begin in Kansas’ state parks and a few wildlife areas.

That’s when the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism website will post details on their annual geocaching competition.

Whoever finds all 31 caches will win a first prize of an annual camping permit for 2012 valued at up to about $250.

Kathy Pritchett, state parks trail coordinator, said a number of other prizes will be given away.

Geocaching is a sport where participants use GPS units to follow provided coordinates and clues to find hidden caches. Most caches contain a log book to be signed and trade one trinket they’ve brought for another in the cache.

“It’s one more fun thing they can do while they’re in a state park,” Pritchett said. “Evidently  it’s real habit-forming. People really like looking for the things.

This story was originally published May 26, 2011 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Annual Kansas geocaching competition begins today."