Geocaching in Roztoczański National Park

Abstract

Geocaching is a type of a field game, which consists in finding caches (Eng. cache) placed earlier in the area. Participants of the game find the approximate location of a hidden “treasure, basing on geographic coordinates and descriptions contained on the website and using GPS.

Perceptiveness, creativity and unconventional thinking should be demonstrated to find a cache. There is a so-called logbook in a hidden container in which its finding should be recorded, and then this fact must be confirmed on a special website (http://www.geocaching.com, http://www.geocaching.pl). Geocaching is not a threat to the environment, the rules of the game forbid the devastation of the environment near the cache. Many of the caches are located in the areas of national parks. Enthusiasts of a new form of tourism, which is geocaching, are rarely encountered near Roztoczański National Park, even though the area has a great potential for using in this game (play). Currently, there is only one cache in the Park at the Conservative Breeding Centre in Florianka. Numerous natural and cultural values, as well as developed tourism infrastructure create favorable conditions for the creation (establishment) of new caches in the RNP (Roztoczański National Park) and its surroundings. The authors present a proposal for the inclusion of new caches along the bicycle route Zwierzyniec – Florianka – Górecko Stare. General use of this kind of activity can be helpful in tourist traffic dispersal and directing tourists to places rarely visited.