Scarecrowe

As a native Pennsylvanian geocacher, I can throw a complete wrench into your plans in regards to geotrails for GWS. Pennsylvania currently has 9 active geotrails, each rewarding coins or medallions, 7 of which are within striking distance of GWS. I can't speak for the Seaway Trail (though from everything I've read on other sites and talking with other people, it is an amazing trail, I just have no personal experience) but I can say the rest of these are top notch. Since you had expressed interest in the AGT, a geotrail that covers a region about the size of the state of New Jersey, I'm basing this list on that region of the state and the distance involved. #1. Allegheny Geotrail: http://www.alleghenygeotrail.com/ Find 6 caches in one of the 10 participating counties and recieve a coin; get all 10 county coins and receive the 11th master coin. Coins are all free. Plan on driving a lot of miles for this one, sometimes in very remote areas. As others in this thread have stated, expect this to get hit hard during GWS. Warren County, the location of GWS, is one of the 10 counties in the trail. This program has been running for three years now and has been a very popular one. This also represents the first year that the program was not extended, so basically whatever coins are left are whatever coins are left. If you're coming up ahead of time, you may not have any issues, but this is one that I see running short of coins in the near future. If you really hustle, you can probably complete this one in three days. Realistically, expect 4 or 5 days to complete it. #2. Legacy of Conservation Geotrail: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/geotrail.aspx Collect the conservation cards from 30 caches and receive a free geocoin. Consider this the Allegheny Geotrail on steroids. Geographically it falls in the same region more or less with the AGT, but all on state lands. The difference is that you have no choice on your caches. You need 30 caches and there are only 30 caches in the program. Some of these caches require 5 or 6 mile roundtrips on foot through rugged terrain. If you are an avid hiker, this one will be the geotrail of choice for you. As the AGT, expect to take 4 or 5 days for this one as the caches are spread out and require more than just driving to reach. #3. North County Geotrail: http://www.forestcounty.com/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=10&cntnt01returnid=59 Another hiking geotrail, this one through Allegheny National Forest (for reference, GWS is about 10 miles from the western boundary of this forest.) There are 100 caches placed along a 100 mile stretch of the hiking corridor. Collect 50 of them and receive a medallion. Less overall travel than the other geotrails, but a large amount of hiking. Allegheny Forest is some of the most pristine woodlands in the country, however, so the geotrail is very much worth it. Completion time will be based on how far you like to hike each day. #4. Allegheny River Wilderness Island Geotrail: http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com/geotrail.html This is going to be another popular one for the GWS for two reasons. First, it is very close by the site of GWS. And second, the geotrail can only be done by canoe as the caches are located on islands along the Allegheny River so its very unique. The company sponsoring this coin does have canoes for rental and suggest a two day time frame to complete the trail. It consists of 8 caches along a stretch of 26 miles of the Allegheny River. #5. Butler Freeport Historic Geotrail: http://www.butlerfreeporttrail.org/geocaching.html Located north of Pittsburgh, the trail is a paved section of the Rails to Trails program along the historic Butler Free port Railroad. Find 20 caches along the 20 mile stretch of the geotrail to recive your coin ($10 donation required for this one). The trail itself has several trailheads along the way for parking if ou feel like leapfrogging down the trail. By car, you can complete this in one day with ease. If you do it by bicycle, you can realistically complete it in about 4 or 5 hours. #6. Armstrong County Geotrail: http://www.armstrongcounty.com/geocaching.php Located northwest of Pittsburgh, this is a brand new trail less than one month old. Find 20 of 26 caches spread over historic sites of the county to recieve your free geocoin. More of an urban style of a geotrail than the previous four, it can easily be completed in a day. #7. Clearfield County Geotrail: http://www.visitclearfieldcounty.org/outdoors/geotrail0/ Another brand new geotrail to the area, collect 25 of 30 caches to recieve a geocoin (while free, they are asking a small $5 donation if you enjoyed the trail). The theme of the geotrail this year is cemeteries. All 30 caches are placed in historical cemeteries around the county. Very well put together geotrail, figure on 1 to 2 days to complete it.

Here's a list that another geocacher and I have been working on for the community as a whole. If there's anything you see that we've missed, please let us know so we can update it. http://www.corfmania.com/geocoinchallenges

Bumping this so people can see the addtion of several new summer geotrails in a few states. Hats off to Corfmania for putting together a much more user friendly site than what I had going here! Also wanted to change one of the requirments for the Armstrong County Geotrail in Pennsylvania. It is now required to complete 20 caches out of 26, not 25 of 30 as it was originally. I'm working on this geotrail currently and the passport has a small insert of paper that lists this change.

If the battlefield is part of the National Parks Service lands, no physical cache can be placed on that property. I've done plenty of virtual caches and multi-caches that required information from a battlefield, but they will not allow the placement of an actual cache within the battlefield itself on land it owns. Edit: Forgot to mention some earth caches as well.

This is one I expect to see returning. They've done it the past two years, but I haven't heard anything for 2011 yet.

Sorry for the delay on this one, real life and all that. I finally have the new 2011 list of geotrails all together. Four websites have changed, eight geotrails have been removed as no longer active (sorry Oregon, you took a big hit), and three new ones have been added (DE, PA, and TX each got one). I suspect that many of the inactive geotrails will be replaced with a 2011 equivalent. Also, with geocaching becoming a lucrative activity to promote tourism, I predict more and more of them will be cropping up. For those just tuning in, this is a list of geotrails that provide a geocoin as a reward for completing it. I have made a couple exceptions to this "rule", but the reward should be substantial and of some quality. Though the list is currently an all US list (the lone Canada trail I was watching is no more), I will be glad to add any and all geotrails with rewards. I also add upcoming or proposed geotrails as well. Also, due to the mechanics of the forums, I cannot edit this post after 24 hours. As before, I'll be updating the list through smaller posts and when there has been a sizable change in the list make a new master list. So please post any geotrails you are aware of not included in this list. Also, if any that are posted have ended or end at some point after this post, please let me know. 2011 GEOTRAILS Arkansas The State Parks of Arkansas Parkcache: http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/things-to-do/geocaching/ Chesapeake Bay Region Star-Spangled Banner Geotrail: http://friendsofchesapeakegateways.org/projects/ssb_geotrail/ Delaware Delaware Geocaching Trail: http://www.visitdelaware.com/geo/ Georgia Georgia State Parks Geo-Challenge: http://www.gastateparks.org/Geocaching Louisiana Louisiana State Park Geo Project: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=eb40f4aa-97de-4c06-8187-5745b97b19a4 Maryland Maryland Municipal League Geocache Trai: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/programs/geocache.cfm Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission Park Ranger Geo-Challenge: http://www.pgparks.com/page2313.aspx Minnesota Minnesota State Parks Geocaching Wildlife Safari: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/geocaching/safari/index.html New York Bridges & Arches of Central Park: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC17MX1 ***This is a 32 part multi cache. Finding the final cache awards the geocoin pictured with this cache listing. Great Lakes Seaway Trail: http://www.seawaytrail.com/geotrail.html Enchanted Mountains Geotrail: http://enchantedmountains.com/trails/geotrail-western-new-york Oregon The Dalles-Dash: http://thedalleschamber.com/blog/the-dalles-dash-12-official-geocaching-sites/ Pennsylvania Allegheny Geotrail: http://www.alleghenygeotrail.com/ Allegheny River Wilderness Island Geotrail: http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com/geotrail.html Butler Freeport Historic Geotrail: http://www.butlerfreeporttrail.org/geocaching.html ***$10 donation required for the geocoin Legacy of Conservation Geocaching Trail: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/geotrail.aspx Main Line Canal Greenway Geotrail: http://www.mainlinecanalgreenway.org/geotrail South Mountain Geotrail: http://smgeotrail.blogspot.com/ South Carolina York County History Series: http://www.yogosc.org/historyseries-1 Texas Texas State Parks Geocache Challenge: http://beta-www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/parks/things-to-do/geocaching/tx-geocache-challenge/ ***Starts June 4th, 2011 Virginia Gems of Rockbridge Geocaching Trail: http://lexingtonvirginia.com/geocache/ Petersburg National Battlefield VirtualCache Program: http://www.nps.gov/pete/planyourvisit/outdooractivities.htm Virginia State Parks Wildlife Adventure: http://www.virginiaoutdoors.com/getoutside/geocaching West Virginia Black Walnut Geotrail: http://sites.google.com/site/blackwalnutgeotrail/home Coal Heritage Geotrail: http://www.paintcreekscenictrail.com/geo.html ***Awards a patch, not a coin ExploreWV GeoChallenge: http://www.wvcommerce.org/travel/thingstodo/outdoorrecreation/geocaching/geocachewv/geocoin-challenge/default.aspx

Updated trails for 2011 coming up in the next couple weeks. A few projects got nixed but a couple are set up for spring. If anyone knows of any active, upcoming, or proposed geotrails with geocoin rewards, post in this thread.

I'm not adverse to non US geotrails being included in the geotrail list so I'll add this one in easily enough (even found a nice link for it). On the same note, if anyone has any geotrails outside of the US, please list them here and I'll add them. With the merging of the threads, it looks like a little bit of data got lost. Combined with a couple more geotrails going down for the season and a few more that people emailed me or mentioned in this thread, I'm going to have a better more accurate list done tomorrow.

Found a link for it (sort of). I interpret the details one of two ways, so I'm not sure if this is a two day only event or not, depends on if this is going to be a true event or an actual geotrail. Having done the AGT caches in this county, I suspect that there will be a lot of coins left yet even with two days due to mountain roads and mud. Cameron County is beautiful and home to the majority of our PA elk herd. But October weather in this area of PA can make traveling through the mountains difficult for all but four wheel drives as a lot of it is not paved. Pennsylvania Cameron County Sesquicentennial Event: http://www.cameroncountychamber.org/ ***Available only October 16 and 17

Reading the listing you linked, I think you may be stuck. First, technically a brand new unused undamaged item in its original packaging could be an activated coin. I have several coins in my personal collection that are activated but fit that description since I haven't sent them out. Though if that was all the seller had said, I would agree with you that it is misleading. HOWEVER, below the ebay listing description where the font is in multi colors, he talks about the 30 coins in the auction. He describes one coin (the tree) that is not in the photo and goes on to describe this coin as "This coin is trackable on gc.com and is UNACTIVATED." The next sentence of that description is "Others Unknown". He clearly states that 29 of the coins may or may not be activated, he doesn't know. The best way to handle this would have been to ask the seller to check each coin for you. The only mention I see anywhere on that listing of an unactivated coin is in regards to that one coin. If the tree coin he talks about is activated, then you have a case. If that one is not active, I think you're out of luck as far as getting a refund or filing a complaint since it says in the auction that 29 of them are an unknown status. As others said, however, if they are in mint/near mint condition, depending on the coin it may not affect the value in the least.

I know the 2010 version of this program just concluded in the past couple weeks. With the success of the geotrail for two years running, I think it's safe to say there will be a 2011 Challenge starting next February that runs through September, as the first two challenges did. Usually coins that are rewards for geotrails or challenges are only awarded to those completing the trail and not for sale. It is possible to find someone that has been awarded the coin to have it for sale or trade however.

Spoke with the director of tourism for Armstrong County and she said the trail is in place but not active just yet due to some timing setbacks. She assured me it will be launched soon. Also, can anyone verify the Petersburg National Battlefield VirtualCache program is still in place? It was launched the summer of 2009 but all the links, including the contact information, are no longer active. Finally, the Legacy of Conservation geotrail in Pa has a new and slightly different web address they just updated in the past couple days: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/geotrail.aspx

Have a new one to add to PA, the Armstrong County Geotrail. There's a chance that the trail is not active yet, I'll be able to confirm tomorrow if it is or not. It is definitely funded, passports printed, coins minted, etc. Pennsylvania Armstrong County Geotrail: http://www.armstrongcounty.com/geocaching.php Also, the South Mountain Geotrail in PA officially starts on October 16.

Here's the link I have for the particular trail you are working on: http://www.spartanburgparks.org/geocaching.htm Looks like you have the option of stopping by the Parks Comission office or mailing in your form. Seems you have at least 12 of them done, so you're almost done. Nice job! If you're interested in other geotrails around the country with coin rewards, here's the thread I have going with all the current trails: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=255568

Use the trails listed here in this post as the current active list with as current a link as I have found. Some links have changed and some geotrails have ended for the year. I've also added in the new geotrails in the above posts. In short, if you don't see it here it is no longer active. As always, keep posting additional trails or updated info and I'll keep this going. Arkansas The State Parks of Arkansas Parkcache: http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/things-to-do/geocaching/ Chesapeake Bay Region Star-Spangled Banner Geotrail: http://friendsofchesapeakegateways.org/pro...s/ssb_geotrail/ Georgia Georgia State Parks Geo-Challenge: http://www.gastateparks.org/Geocaching Louisiana Louisiana State Park Geo Project: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...87-5745b97b19a4 Maryland Maryland Municipal League Geocache Trail: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/programs/geocache.cfm Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission Park Ranger Geo-Challenge: http://www.pgparks.com/page2313.aspx Minnesota Minnesota State Parks Geocaching Wildlife Safari: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/geo...fari/index.html New York Bridges & Arches of Central Park: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC17MX1 ***This is a 32 part multi cache. Finding the final cache awards the geocoin pictured with this cache listing. Great Lakes Seaway Trail: http://www.seawaytrail.com/geotrail.html Hudson River Geotrail: http://www.expedition101.com/geotrail.html ***Proposed Enchanted Mountains Geotrail: http://enchantedmountains.com/trails/geotr...estern-new-york Oregon Canby Area Chamber of Commerce Geo Challenge: http://www.canbyareachamber.org/index.php?...id=7&id=226 Lincoln City Geocaching: http://www.lincolncity.org/ParksRecreation...US/Default.aspx North Clackamas Geo Challenge: http://www.sunrisecommunities.org/geocaching.cfm Estacada Challenge: http://www.mthoodterritory.com/geocache/ The Dalles-Dash: http://thedalleschamber.com/blog/the-dalle...ocaching-sites/ Pennsylvania Allegheny Geotrail: http://www.alleghenygeotrail.com/ Allegheny River Wilderness Island Geotrail: http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com/geotrail.html Butler Freeport Historic Geotrail: http://www.butlerfreeporttrail.org/ ***$10 donation required for the geocoin Legacy of Conservation Geocaching Trail: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/geolegacy.aspx South Western Area Geotrail: http://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Wester...il/175008261650 ***Proposed, but delayed due to budgetary reasons South Mountain Geotrail: http://www.visitcumberlandvalley.com/partn...n-geotrail.html ***Starts October 2010 South Carolina Spartanburg County Geotrail: http://www.spartanburgparks.org/geocaching.htm York County History Series: http://www.yogosc.org/historyseries-1 ***Few coins available, suggested you call ahead to confirm Virginia Virginia State Parks Wildlife Adventure: http://www.virginiaoutdoors.com/getoutside/geocaching Civil War in Virginia Geotrail: http://www.novago.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1899#p20879 ***Proposed West Virginia Black Walnut Geotrail: http://sites.google.com/site/blackwalnutgeotrail/home Coal Heritage Geotrail: http://www.paintcreekscenictrail.com/geo.html ***awards a patch, not a coin ExploreWV GeoChallenge: http://www.wvcommerce.org/travel/thingstod...ge/default.aspx

Everything I found about this trail shows it is no longer in place. Even the link I had for it is no longer active. Can you or anyone else provide a link to a cache or official page so I can add it in please? Thanks.

Thanks for the updates. I'll have it all collated and posted this evening.

This geotrail has officially gone "live". DCNR - Legacy of Conservation Website Thanks for the update, been waiting on this one.

Thanks for the tip, it's working now. Also added the above New York multi cache.

Sorry for the delay, but here is an updated list of geotrails awarding geocoins. Thanks to several fellow cachers and their e-mails and conversations, I've added a few more to the list, including the long awaited Great Lakes Seaway Trail. As always, please keep telling me about any I've missed (current or proposed) and I'll update this list regularly. Arkansas The State Parks of Arkansas Parkcache: http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/things-to-do/geocaching/ Chesapeake Bay Region Star-Spangled Banner Geotrail: http://friendsofchesapeakegateways.org/pro...s/ssb_geotrail/ Delaware Delaware Geocaching Trail: http://www.visitdelaware.com/geo/ ***Currently out of coins, the trail is still in place Georgia Georgia State Parks Geo-Challenge: http://www.gastateparks.org/Geocaching Louisiana Louisiana State Park Geo Project: http://www.nelageo.net/index.php?topic=543.0 ***To be activiated Late July or Early August Maryland Maryland Municipal League Geocache Trail: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/programs/geocache.cfm Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission Park Ranger Geo-Challenge: http://www.pgparks.com/page2313.aspx Minnesota Minnesota State Parks Geocaching Wildlife Safari: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/geo...fari/index.html New York Bridges & Arches of Central Park: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC17MX1 ***This is a 32 part multi cache. Finding the final cache awards the geocoin pictured with this cache listing. Great Lakes Seaway Trail: http://www.seawaytrail.com/geotrail.html Hudson River Geotrail: http://www.expedition101.com/geotrail.html ***Proposed Enchanted Mountains Geotrail: http://enchantedmountains.com/trails/geotr...estern-new-york Ohio 2010 Northeast Ohio State Park Challenge: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.asp...&submit4=Go ***This is only a bookmark list. If someone can direct me to an actual page, please let me know. Oregon Canby Area Chamber of Commerce Geo Challenge: http://www.canbyareachamber.org/index.php?...id=7&id=226 North Clackamas Geo Challenge: http://www.sunrisecommunities.org/geocaching.cfm Estacada Challenge: http://www.mthoodterritory.com/geocache/ ***Can't find direct link to this one The Dalles-Dash: http://thedalleschamber.com/blog/the-dalle...ocaching-sites/ Pennsylvania Allegheny Geotrail: http://www.alleghenygeotrail.com/ Allegheny River Wilderness Island Geotrail: http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com/geotrail.html Butler Freeport Historic Geotrail: http://www.butlerfreeporttrail.org/ ***$10 donation required for the geocoin DCNR - A "Legacy of Conservation" Geocaching Trail: Info is in this thread ***Status unknown, but coins are minted South Western Area Geotrail: http://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Wester...il/175008261650 ***Proposed South Mountain Geotrail: http://www.capitalrcd.org/press_article.php?a=7 ***Proposed Armstrong County Geotrail: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?stor...;id=84610818547 ***Proposed South Carolina York County History Series: http://www.yogosc.org/historyseries-1 Texas 2010 TX Geocache Challenge: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/geocaching/ Virginia Virginia State Parks Wildlife Adventure: http://www.virginiaoutdoors.com/getoutside/geocaching Civil War in Virginia Geotrail: http://www.novago.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1899#p20879 ***Proposed West Virginia Coal Heritage Geotrail: http://www.paintcreekscenictrail.com/geo.html ***awards a patch, not a coin ExploreWV Geocoin Challenge: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=255270 ***Proposed

Thanks to a helpful admin, we got a workaround for the editing thing. Give me a little bit to consolidate everything, then I'll post the complete updated list here.

Thanks for all the info everyone! Seems you can only edit a post within 24 hours, but I'm trying to get that changed so I can put everything at the top. For now, I'm just going to add the new ones from everyone into this post. If I have to, I'll consolidate everything in another post here, just waiting to hear back from a moderator. Arkansas The State Parks of Arkansas Parkcache: http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/things-to-do/geocaching/ Louisiana Louisiana State Park Geo Project: http://www.nelageo.net/index.php?topic=543.0 ***To be activiated Late July or Early August Pennsylvania DCNR - A "Legacy of Conservation" Geocaching Trail: Info is in this thread ***Status unknown, but coins are minted

I'm adding in the Ohio geotrail now. I cannot find an "official" page for it so if someone has it, please let me know. @forthferalz: 1. The Butler Freeport Historic Geotrail is very much alive and ongoing The event you are referring to (I think) was a kick off event in May when the trail came out. Also, I know representatives go to area events from time to time and allow people to turn in their passports and receive coins at the events rather than having to go through the mail. 2. Looking through that thread, there are quite a few geotrails listed that are now inactive. If I'm overlooking one listed there I don't have that is active, please let me know so I can add it to the list. 3. What are you referring to when you say add photographs? The coins? Update: At the moment it is not letting me edit the original post so I'm just going to add the Ohio posting here until I get it straightened out. Ohio 2010 Northeast Ohio State Park Challenge: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.asp...&submit4=Go ***This is only a bookmark list. If someone can direct me to an actual page, please let me know.

Found them, thank you. Adding them in now.

The only NM one I've come across ended in 2008, but someone else may be able to find another one.