Taking Flight GeoTour

About the Program

Category: Parks and Recreation (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

The "Taking Flight GeoTour" is a high tech treasure hunt designed to teach participants about Manatee County’s wild spaces and the amazing birds that live within them. The tour is the first official Geocaching.com GeoTour in Florida and includes 15 different "geocaches," hidden items that can be found through the use of a GPS unit. Each cache has an educational focus and includes an additional environmental education activity designed to teach about birds. The caches are located in the County at birding “hot spots,” providing a new way to attract visitors to these sites. Participants who discover at least 12 of the 15 caches can earn a free custom “travel tag” which they can use to further their caching experience. County staff also developed three classes for different age ranges to teach basic caching concepts and Leave No Trace principles. The tour was sponsored by the County in partnership with all three of the local National Estuary Programs and has secondary educational components that support each NEP’s environmental plan. In less than six months, 100 individuals claimed a tag with some traveling from Canada just to participate in this program that brings together recreational activity with environmental education.