Carlisle, PA (July 23, 2010) - The Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau is asking partners to nominate their favorite places and individual businesses to be a part of the outdoor treasure hunt offering visitors the opportunity to hide and seek.

The Capital Resource Conservation and Development (Capital RC&D) Area Council, in collaboration with the South Mountain Partnership and local tourism agencies, will inventory and connect these sites by creating the South Mountain GeoTrail: a collection of geocache sites that help both residents and visitors to explore the area and learn more about its unique attractions. The partnership will create 40+ geocaches for the trail and will be creating a "Passport to Geocache South Mountain" brochure. Completed passports that meet the criteria will receive a free South Mountain geocoin.

"We want to showcase the best agricultural, natural and heritage sites the region has to offer, and we need the help of our community to do it," said Capital RC&D Coordinator Susan Parry.  "No one knows the South Mountain region better than the people who live and work here, so we're asking the citizens to nominate potential geocache sites for the trail."

 Geocaching is an outdoor adventure sport in which the participants use a handheld GPS (starting at $100) to locate hidden containers, called "caches." A typical cache is a small waterproof container that holds a logbook and trinkets, including toys, personal objects and whimsical cards, for participants to trade.

Sites for consideration along the South Mountain GeoTrail should have a good spot to hide a cache, and should represent the South Mountain region. They can be easy or difficult to access and find the cache, since the chosen sites will represent a range of difficulty levels.

"We are really excited about the opportunity to showcase our agricultural, natural and heritage assets," said CVVB Marketing Manager Valerie Copenhaver. "The Trail will help bring new visitors due to the popularity of geocaching and wide appeal for friends, families, couples and individual to participate."  The goal of the project is to assist in marketing tourism opportunities in and around the South Mountain region and its communities in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties. Therefore, it is important that the Cumberland Valley area be represented in the new trail to benefit from these marketing and public relations opportunities.

"Cache locations should bring visitors to areas that show off something about the local community," Parry said.  "Good spots could include cultural sites, scenic vistas, parks, hiking trails, farm markets or other assets of the region that would interest visitors."

To nominate a site or to find more information on geocaching in the South Mountain region, visit www.capitalrcd.org/.  Nominations must be in by the July 30^th deadline. If you want to nominate your own site you must be at the August 10, 2010 meeting at Caledonia State Park from 9 - 10:30 a.m. Capital RC&D plans to choose up to 40 sites for the trail, with a kickoff event to launch the trail in October 2010. Funding for this project is provided by the South Mountain Partnership through a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.           

The Capital Resource Conservation and Development Area Council (Capital RC&D) is a regional non-profit organization that networks people, resources and projects to promote responsible use and conservation of our region's natural, community and economic resources.  Capital RC&D is an equal opportunity employer and provider.

The South Mountain Partnership is a unified group of private citizens, business, not-for-profit organizations and governmental officials working to protect, preserve and enhance the South Mountain Landscape in Central Pennsylvania.

The mission of the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau is to promote Cumberland Valley as a tourist destination, attract visitors to the area, enhance the visitor's experience, and to encourage and promote overnight stays.

The Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau is also part of Pennsylvania's Dutch Country Roads region, the number 1 visited region in PA, a true vacation destination where country meets city and the past lives side-by-side with the present.