The Town of Three Hills is beginning to cash in on the largest geocaching event ever in Western Canada.
Hotels and restaurants are packed and visitors are exploring the town in anticipation of this weekend’s geocaching Best of the Bad Mega Event.
The treasure hunting also happens to fall on the town’s summer celebration weekend.
Geocaching is a high-tech outdoor sporting activity where the participants use Global Positioning Systems and other navigational techniques to hide and find containers, or “geocaches”.
Mayor Tim Shearlaw said there will be all sorts of events including a baseball tournament, carnival and grand parade that will help entertain the more than 1,200 expected visitors from around the world.
“We are very excited about it,” said Shearlaw. “Geocaching is a growing game . . . We hope people will find Three Hills to be a destination they come back to many, many times.”
A geocaching event is considered “mega” when there are more than 500 geocachers at a gathering. This weekend’s event is expected to draw close to 1,200 treasure seekers from Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
Three Hills is hosting several hunts and other fun throughout the weekend. The community will also host the travelling GPS Adventures Maze in July and August.
In 2010, Three Hills received a $271,000 cash infusion through the province’s Rural Community Adaptation Grant to go towards a geocaching tourism initiative including the mega event. The plan is to draw more visitors to the smaller communities by capitalizing on one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com