GeoTour: Columbus (GA) RiverWalk
Location: Columbus, Georgia
Number of Favorite Points: 125

Why RiverWalk is a great place to visit:
Columbus is the second largest city in the state and was the last planned city in the 13 Original Colonies. Since its founding in 1828, the city has grown as a family-friendly destination with over 46 attractions, all within an hour’s drive of the heart of the city. Columbus is home to two national museums, one of the largest art & history museums in the southeast, the largest urban whitewater course in the world, a vibrant arts & entertainment district and more.

Best time of year to visit:
That’s the best part. Columbus is a year-round destination whether you’re visting for geocaching or for the sites.

Must-see attraction:
With 46 attractions, the bucket list can be overwhelming. But because the RiverWalk GeoTour is located along the 15-mile Chattahoochee RiverWalk, there are many great activities to choose from. Some of the activities include whitewater rafting, a zip line, Space Science Center, National Civil War Naval Museum and the arts & entertainment district.

Hidden gems only locals know about:
When it comes to food, you have to experience a scrambled dog and Cherry Coke from Dinglewood Pharmacy. It’s not uncommon to see bankers, families, and blue-collar workers sitting around the counter enjoying this typical Columbus and southern tradition. A scrambled dog is basically a hot dog served in an open bun, smothered with chili, onions, pickles and oyster crackers. You can get it done almost any way – double wiener, extra pickles, mustard, ketchup, etc.

Prizes:
The RiverWalk GeoTour provides a number of prizes including three coins and unique playing card.  If you find 10 geocaches, you’ll receive a bronze coin. If you find 20 geocaches, you’ll receive a silver coin. If you complete the entire challenge, you’ll receive a gold coin. All three coins are earned as the geocacher advances in the GeoTour. Plus, there are six playing cards that you can win for finding a specific group of geocaches.

What geocachers are saying about RiverWalk GeoTour:
“Found while on a week long spring break camping hiking and geocaching trip with Mom and Dad (Jerdawg and LilyGA) and my brother Agent J. We got to go to 5 different state parks and also do the Columbus geotrail and get our gold coins! The whole week was a blast. Thanks for placing the cache out for us to find!” -SwimDawg

“One of the many amazing geocaches found with my family as we worked our way toward the gold coin level status on the Columbus RiverWalk Geotrail. This was a really well-done trail, and much harder (though not impossible) than any other geotrail I have done before up to this point. It didn’t help that it started to pour down raining on us the last day. Thanks for a great time and for placing all of these caches out here.” -Jerdawg

“Came down with PlagueRider from Atlanta for a geocaching weekend in Columbus and after grabbing on the way to Columbus some Georgia counties I was missing we attended the “WWFM Flash Mob over the Border” event and started to hunt down the geocaches on our list. It took a couple of minutes to spot this hide but we did so we wrote down the information for our RiverWalk GeoTour Grid Sheet and placed everything back as we found it after we signed the log.” -Solokrieger

Additional information:
The 6.5 mile Challenge can be completed in a long day. It’s best to rent a bike from the nearby bike shop, pack a lunch and have a blast exploring.

A word from the host:
“It’s about the hunt. The numbers. About going places and seeing new things. That’s why we spend our time geocaching – using multimillion dollar satellites to find tupperware hidden in some of the strangest places.

This summer marks my 60th birthday. It’s also the 10th year that Cibachrome and I have been geocaching, and it’s the 15th anniversary of geocaching. A lot of milestones to keep up with. So what to do? We decided to strike out and create our own “geocache challenge.” We left late May 2015 to geocache the lower 48 states.

After 21-days (or so) and 9100 miles later, the final goal was to arrive back in Columbus on my birthday mid-June — hopefully surviving the task of the caching and traveling those miles and hours with one another. At any rate, we reported our trip with words and photos that can be seen on my blog. In addition, we dropped a travel bug into each container to mark the find. That TB’s goal, return to Columbus.

So why did we do it? Adventure. Numbers. Maybe it’s was about looking for something else that’s just hard to describe. To pick a favorite cache from the trip is almost impossible. There was the Terrestrial Highway, the rails to trail walk on a crisp morning in Vermont, or the conversation over pizza and beer in Corning, NY, or coming out of the rain in Orangeville, Ill after a hike, soaking wet and a small dine and town decked out from Memorial Day. All those miles have a cache and a story and amazing people.”

Milwaukee is the big city of little neighborhoods, and the best way to discover them all is on this GeoTour: “Explore Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods.”

GeoTour: Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Number of Favorite Points: 92

Why Milwaukee is a great place to visit:
Milwaukee offers a variety of fun attractions to explore. Take a stroll along the lakefront, visit one of 17 museums, indulge in delicacies at a downtown dining spot or relax at one of Milwaukee’s famous breweries.

Best time of year to visit:
Visit Milwaukee during the summer! Plan a trip June through September to enjoy the city’s live performances, brewery tours, museum exhibits and countless cultural festivals. Milwaukee is the proud home of Summerfest, the world’s largest outdoor music festival along the shores of Lake Michigan in late June and early July.

Must-see attractions:
Don’t miss the Milwaukee Art Museum, a must-see tourist destination. Designed by famous architect Santiago Calatrava, the museum graces the city’s skyline with large wings that welcome tourists into the beautiful, vibrant metropolis. The museum holds more than 30,000 permanent pieces of art and features traveling exhibits year-round. Perfect for art fans, adults and children alike, the Milwaukee Art Museum is perhaps the most iconic architectural site in the historic city of Milwaukee.

Hidden Gems:
Check out Safe House, a spy-themed restaurant complete with secret passageways, spy games and mysterious twists and turns. The catch? Guests must uncover the password to be allowed into the restaurant!

What geocachers are saying about about Milwaukee Neighborhoods GeoTour:
“Hello from Chicago! We took a day trip up to the Third Ward and River walk. We enjoyed the art festival and the public market. Beautiful day to explore your city. Thank you for including this neighborhood on the geo tour.” –Les Is More

“My birthday trip to Milwaukee was an epic day with 20 caches. We got all the info we needed for the Milwaukee GeoTour series and grabbed a few other caches along the way. The weather could not have been any nicer and the scenery and company were awesome. I didn’t want the day to come to an end. What a great city! What a great day!” –Mike*E

“We had heard great things about the Milwaukee Neighborhoods GeoTour, and the series did not disappoint. Thanks VISIT Milwaukee for great hides and for really informative cache pages. Can’t wait to come back to finish the series. This is a beautiful city!” –R.C.Tells

Additional Information:
Interested in exploring Milwaukee during your stay? Check out visitmilwaukee.org/itineraries for suggestions.

Note: All the above information was provided by the GeoTour host. Copy has been edited by Geocaching HQ.