"I've heard about geocaching, and it sounds like fun, but I'm not sure I want to invest in all that fancy equipment." Now, lucky individuals who live in the Sterling, Virgina area won't have to spend a penny to find out if this newfangled treasure hunt is their cup of tea.
Hidden in Sterling's Claude Moore Park is a cache that seekers can find, sans GPSr, using the clues below (or by searching for the park's zip code, 20164, at gc.com).
- Find the broken tree near Vestal’s Gap Road
- Go past the mailbox with no mail
- When you come to the "Y" go east
- Go around the bend
- Stay on the trail
- The cache is near, under another fallen tree and some brambles
While hunting for the cache, look for other treasures of the non-cache variety, such as an 1870 schoolhouse, a log cabin constructed in 1860, and century-old barns. Eleven miles of trails wind around 357 acres of forests, wetlands, and meadows. Vestal's Gap Road, a trail originally used by Native Americans, and later traversed by George Washington and Daniel Boone, runs across the park.
The park is comprised of two main features; a modern sports complex with athletic fields, a concession stand, and meeting space, and a nature area, which inludes the park's trails, the Lanesville Heritage Area, education center, Loudon Farm Heritage Area, amphitheater, and the Frogshackle Nature Center. Picnic tables and charcoal grills can be found throughout the park. Fishing is also allowed, with a license, in two ponds stocked primarily with bluegill, bass, and channel catfish.
There are approximately 80 caches hidden in a ten-mile radius of the park, for those individuals who decide that geocaching is, indeed, their cup of tea. For more information about Claude Moore Park, visit their web site, or call 703-444-1275.