Geocachers from across North America and around the world will soon be visiting Lennox & Addington County, Ontario for the Discover L&A MEGA Geocaching Event. The event takes place on Saturday, August 17th. This event is hosted in partnership with the L&A County Geocachers and the Lennox & Addington Economic Development Office.

What is geocaching? It is a high-tech treasure hunting game played by adventure seekers using GPS devices or smartphones. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, and share the experience online. Geocaches can be found anywhere. They can be as small as your fingernail or as big as a toolbox. It’s an amazing way to discover places you’ve never been before.

This year’s annual event is once again classified as a MEGA geocaching event by Geocaching Headquarters in Seattle, Washington, meaning that it is expected to draw more than 500 participants. MEGA events typically garner the attention of geocachers from further distances that wish to take part in the festivities. Many geocachers visiting the area stay for multiple days, searching for caches and taking in local attractions.

This is Lennox & Addington’s 7 annual MEGA Event, which is a Canadian record for consecutive MEGA events hosted in our country. It is also Canada’s only MEGA event in 2019.

To date, geocachers have logged their ‘will-attends’ on the L&A County event website from locations across Canada – from Newfoundland to British Columbia – as well as from several U.S. states and from as far away as Germany and the United Kingdom. In addition to hundreds of local and regional participants, large groups of cachers from Ottawa, Brockville, Toronto, Barrie, Windsor are also expected to attend. This year’s attendance is expected to be about 1,000 participants.

Two pre-event activities are available to attendees. The first is the 3rd annual Water Cache Canoe & Kayak Cruise, happening on Friday, August 16th from 10am – 2pm. The event takes place on the Salmon River beginning at the Roblin Boat Launch. A dozen geocaches were placed along the shoreline of the river, spanning 5 kilometres toward Croydon. An assortment of canoes and kayaks were available for rent, courtesy the Township of Stone Mills (now sold out). Those with their own canoes and kayaks are welcome to participate. Last year more than 60 watercraft joined in the fun, making for a very memorable afternoon.

For the first time, a representative from Geocaching HQ will be attending the L&A event. Kelli Taylor will be travelling from Seattle to join the MEGA festivities. She will be participating in the event and will be hosting a special ‘meet & greet’ event on Friday, August 16th at 7:30pm at the L&A County Museum & Archives.

The main event is on Saturday, August 17th beginning at 8am, and is where the real ‘hunting’ begins for geocachers. The grounds of the L&A County Museum & Archives (97 Thomas Street East) in Napanee will be home base for a day of geocaching fun. Throughout the day there will be geocaching and non-geocaching games available with a number of prizes up for grabs. The main attractions, however, are hidden in containers throughout L&A County. Dozens of new ‘finds’ will be released for the event. The new caches include adventure caches, night caches, water caches, and a brand new “virtual” cache will take participants on a tour of several locations in Lennox & Addington.

Many prizes from several L&A County businesses will also be given away during the awards ceremony taking place at 4pm. At the conclusion of the event, pre-purchased dinners will be served to geocachers at The Royal Coachman Restaurant in Napanee.

Please note that you don’t need to be a geocacher to attend any of the above-mentioned events.

One of the main goals of the “Discover L&A County MEGA Geocaching Event” is to take both residents and visitors on a tour of our County using geocaches as reference points. Since teaming up in 2011, the Lennox & Addington County Economic Development Office and the L&A Geocachers have hosted eight successful events and continue to make L&A County a year-round destination for geocaching enthusiasts. In total, there are more than 1,500 geocaches found within the borders of Lennox & Addington, making the county one of the premiere locations for geocaching in Canada.

For more information about the event please visit www.LandAGeocaching.com.