A couple share a Geocaching Adventure on the Rock River Trail
Avid geocachers Lucy and Dale Kallenbach from Rockford, Illinois used their favorite outdoor activity to explore the Rock River Trail this past Fall. Geocaching!
What is Geocaching?
A sample geocache | Photo by Michalowic
Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor adventure that is happening all the time, all around the world. To play, participants use the Geocaching app and/or a GPS device to navigate to cleverly hidden containers called geocaches. People create geocaches by hiding a waterproof container (the size varies) on public land. They place interesting items in it and it also sometimes add a visitor log book. They tuck it away, out of sight – not buried, but hidden by a log or rock or tucked into a crevice. They then upload the GPS coordinates to the official Geocache website along with some clues and hope someone will soon come hunting for their cache! When someone finds a cache they check out the contents, sign the logbook or leave a small token behind. Then they log onto their Geocaching account and register their find.
Geocaches are hid all along the Rock River and in the Rock River communities. It’s fun to search for caches, as they are often hidden in unique spots. Below you’ll find a few that are located along the river.
About Dale and Lucy’s Rock River Geocaching Adventure
They started their adventure September 30 and ended it on October 10, 2017. They earned their 320-Mile Award by exploring all 320 miles of the Rock River.
Dale said about his Rock River Trail geocache adventure “As an avid geocacher, I enjoy exploring. The Rock River Trail gave me the signposts to look for while driving through the countryside to new destinations along the Rock River which I had not seen. Since the inception of the trail, I’ve wanted to travel to the headwaters and then make my way to the confluence at the mighty Mississippi River. Having visited the confluence to log a geocache and then many others along the trail as well, it was only a matter of time before making the auto route one of the adventures along the Rock River. The many small towns were a delight as were the rolling hills and the corn harvests which were ongoing. To see the river grow from a small stream (next to a country club) until it disappears into the Mississippi was a trip I hope to not soon forget. I have placed many geocaches around the Rock River Trail and Stateline area as well as finding many hides, and look forward to exploring more of the Rock River Trail possibilities via hiking, biking, canoe/watercraft … and chocolate of course.”
Lucy said “It was a great adventure following the river. Enjoyed lovely places and scenery along the way. A bonus was learning some history and geology about the Rock!”
Here’s some sample geocaches that can be found along the Rock River and it’s communities. There are hundreds to choose from! Visit the Geocaching map to find them!
- Horicon Marsh, Horicon, WI
- The Confluence – South Beloit, IL
- Rockford, IL
- Lowden Park, Oregon, IL
- Rock Island, IL
View Lucy and Dale’s photos below
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