ATTENTION  GEOCACHERS  WITH  BICYCLES
                           Geocached
The Allegheny Highlands /\ Trail celebrates National Trails Day
on June 7, by staging a geocaching treasure hunt for
19 cache-sites from Elkins to Hendricks*, West Virginia.*

Responding to the world-wide enthusiasm for geocaching events, Allegheny Highlands Trail has placed 19 caches in some very unlikely places along the 22 miles of trail from the trail stations in Highland Park, in Elkins, to Hendricks, near Parsons in West Virginia. 

We will officially open the hunt on Saturday morning, June 7, at 9am with a gathering which will include a briefing session and distribution of puzzle booklets at the base of the clock at the historic Elkins Railroad Depot (N38.55.523 - W079.51.062)

This puzzle-cache hunt is recommended for bicyclists/geocachers - almost all the cache sites are more than a mile from a trail entry-point.  You will need a gpsr and a pocket calculator - a compass will come in handy too.

The clues, printed in a booklet, will be in the form of numerical puzzles based on historical, musical and general knowledge.  "Things you would have learned in school, had you been paying attention."  The clues are designed to take cache hunters in a North to North/West direction:

*you can start looking from any of the trail stations except Hendricks (clues are designed to lead from Bretz to Hendricks, not the other way around.) 

After the opening day festivities, geocaching.com will carry all the data for the puzzles and other instructions for finding the caches.  The trail sections will be listed in this manner:

Highland Park to Gilman    GC1C9YW Gilman to Kerens GC1CA1R
Kerens to Montrose   GC1CA57 Montrose to Porterwood GC1CA7E
Porterwood to Parsons   GC1CA8W Bretz to Hendricks GC1CACT

A map of the trail identifying these sections appears below.

TREASURE HUNT: Inside each cache on opening day is an Olympic style medal with this engraved message: "I was the first to find Allegheny Highlands Trail Cache #---" on their Geocache Trail opening treasure hunt" - June 7, 2008."  At the end of the Treasure Hunt - 6pm, June 7, holders of these medals are invited to join the Highlands Trail staff for a no-host party with pizza and liquids at the Pizza Hut in Elkins(N38.55.974 - W079.52.126) where the treasure seeker with the most number of medals will receive a special prize and all medal holders will receive geocaching stuff.

The Allegheny Highlands Trail covers 22 miles of rolling meadows and forest.  The roadbed is mostly gravel with some sections of asphalt, and is level, with the exception of a moderate climb and exhilarating descent between Montrose and Porterwood,

Any questions - email us at info@highlandstrail.org