DuPage forest district offers geocache program

The DuPage County Forest Preserve District is inviting all geocachers - outdoor explorers who use GPS units to navigate to hidden caches - to join its free 2014 Geocaching Challenge Passport program.

In celebration of the agency's 100th anniversary next year, the passport program will lead geocachers to eight caches hidden in forest preserves that relate to the district's history between 1966 and 1990. Each cache contains a passport sticker, and anyone who collects five or more different stickers will earn a custom, traceable geocoin for 2014.

"Three of the caches were created new for this year's program, and we hope that geocachers will be excited to discover those new spots," said Dave Andrusyk, a naturalist at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center and the district's geocaching coordinator.

"Through the complete series, visitors will gain a new perspective on our area's history and get ready for the centennial in 2015."

Passport booklets are available at four district locations: Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center, 3609 Spring Road, Oak Brook; Kline Creek Farm, 1N600 County Farm Road, West Chicago; Willowbrook Wildlife Center, 525 S. Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn; and the forest district headquarters, 3S580 Naperville Road, Wheaton.

Booklets also are available at the William F. Sherman, Jr. Interpretive Center, 901 31st St., Downers Grove, and Lyman Woods Forest Preserve, which is jointly owned by the Forest Preserve District, the Downers Grove Park District and the village of Downers Grove.

Traceable geocoins from the 2012 and 2013 passport challenges are still available, while supplies last. For more information, contact Dave Andrusyk at geocache@dupageforest.org or (630) 850-8113.