Explore Arlington Heights Through Geocaching

It’s National EarthCache Day.

What’s that you say?

It’s a day that will help you get out there to explore your Arlington Heights community this weekend, or any other community you pick throughout the world.

An EarthCache is a type of geocache, which is a kind of treasure people try to locate using coordinates entered into a GPS or a cell phone.

Sometimes finding a geocache means finding a container. In some of those containers, you’ll find little trinkets that you can trade with others. In others, there is just a teeny, tiny piece of paper where you mark that you’ve found it, and revel in the thrill of the hunt.

According to geocaching.com, there are nearly 2 million geocaches around the world, and 5 million people out there seeking the caches. Right here, in and around our Arlington Heights community, there are thousands of the caches placed there by residents just like you.

There also are Earthcaches, which don’t actually have containers.

According to geocaching.com, EarthCaches teach geocachers about “the playground all geocachers enjoy – the Earth.”

They will take visitors to “A unique site showcasing geological features,” it says.

In some, you can discover why there is a large rock in the middle of an otherwise flat farm field. Or why the ground is so wet and soggy in your nearby forest preserve.

In Earthcaches you don’t discover the container.

But you do log your find, and hopefully you learn something new about the area you're in.

The closest Earthcache is in Wright Woods, just to the northeast of Arlington Heights.

We can't tell you the location. The exact locations of geocaches are to be kept secret, so they stay safe for others to enjoy.

But it's easy to get started, and it should be fun to find it.

Around the world there are more than 14,000 Earthcaches.

See if you can find one near Arlington Heights today. Let us know how it goes!