54 Nebraskaland • July 2022
MIXED BAG
Summer is in full swing, and if
you're looking for something fun to do
outdoors, the Venture Park Adventure
makes for an engaging afternoon or
weekend.
This nontraditional geocaching
game will take you to four metro-
area state parks: Platte River State
Park, Eugene T. Mahoney State Park,
Schramm Park State Recreation Area
and Louisville State Recreation Area.
Using an app, you'll navigate to special
points of interest in the park, where
instead of searching for caches, you'll
answer questions about what you see.
Program manager Kelly Ekue says
it's perfect for anyone who enjoys the
Great Park Pursuit or the Nebraska
Passport program. "I have completed
it in two hours, but I would plan for
four hours if someone wanted to go
fi shing, hiking, or plan a picnic or other
activities in the parks as they go," she
said.
The program makes it easy to do so,
showcasing a variety of landmarks
or park features that invite further
exploration. One of the sites is near
Crawdad Creek, a relatively new
feature at Platte River State Park
where kids can get muddy and interact
with minnows, tadpoles, crawdads
and frogs.
Questions are relatively simple to
answer and involve some aspect of
the surroundings at each site, such as
the color of a bench or the wording
on a sign. To answer each question,
you need to get fairly close to the park
feature in question, and then the app
"unlocks" the question.
Since its start in 2020, over 100
participants have taken part in
the Venture Park Adventure, with
66 participants completing all six
questions between the four parks.
"What a great way to see these
wonderful parks!" one participant
commented. "Take your time and
do some hiking. The start of this
adventure lab is based off your location
so you can start at any of the parks
listed. So much fun."
For those looking to take their
time, overnight lodging options are
available at Louisville, Platte River
and Mahoney.
To start, download
the Geocaching
Adventure Lab mobile
app. Use your phone's
QR code scanner to open
this adventure in the app, or use the
following URL: Labs.geocaching.com/
goto/NGPCVentureAdventure.
A low to moderate amount of
walking is required to complete the
course. A valid Nebraska state park
entry permit is required for all vehicles.
GEOCACHING GAME SHOWCASES STATE PARKS
By Renae Blum
Geocaching at Platte River State Park. RENAE BLUM, NEBRASKALAND
