Geocaching, the high-tech scavenger hunt that uses handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) units, has become so popular that one of the nation’s most well known parks is catering to followers of the relatively new craze.
Whether you consider geocaching a hobby or an addiction, a hotel just outside Yosemite National Park has a package deal that is hard to resist. Tenaya Lodge is currently offering a geocaching program along with its nature hikes and horseback riding outings. The 244-room hotel consistently receives four diamonds from the AAA and is considered, “the grandest of Yosemite’s perimeter gateway hotels catering to the park’s overflow and visitors who prefer to put a little distance between themselves and Yosemite Valley’s bustle.”
The hotel is located about 40-minutes away from Yosemite Falls, but it is still surrounded by the national forest and its trails, towering sequoias, granite groves, creeks and vast meadows. Some say the park offers the ideal hunting grounds for the caches. If you are looking for a little something more than a typical nature hike you may want to consider signing up for the hotel’s geocaching packages.
Tenaya Lodge offers two geocaching packages. The first is the Mountain Bike Geocaching Challenge. It runs from April 1st through September 4th and for about $400 per night (which includes hotel and accommodations) you will receive two logo backpacks, a picnic lunch for two, bottled waters, cache treasures and the use of two mountain bikes and a hand-held GPS unit. Tenaya’s Hiking Geocaching Challenge includes everything the Mountain Bike Challenge does except for the bikes. The exclusion of the bikes drops the price to about $300 per night.
If you want to learn more about the sport of geocaching take a look at the following blogs:
Geocaching Part One: Intro to Geocaching: An Overview
Geocaching Part Two: Understanding Your Search Results
Geocaching Part Three: The Clue
Geocaching Part Four: Preparing for the Hunt
Geocaching Part Five: The Hunt