Accelerated Geocache Traditional Cache

This is a family-friendly and handicap-accessible cache located in a public area at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. As far as we know, this is the only geocache located at a national lab in the United States.

This cache is only accessible during the lab's open hours: 8am to 6pm November to March, and 8am to 8pm the rest of the year. To enter the site, one member of your party will need to show ID, such as a driver's license.

Many people have heard of Fermilab, a facility dedicated to particle physics research. But most people don't realize that this national lab is open to the public every day of the year. Visitors can spend time outdoors, hiking the interpretive trails, riding the bike trail, taking a dog to the off-leash dog training area, or visiting the herd of American bison. There are also indoor activities, such as browsing the art gallery, taking science tours, or visiting the hands-on science education center - located near this geocache! This cache has been placed with the permission of Fermilab's safety and security teams and the Lederman Science Center building manager.

The Accelerated Geocache is near a scale model of the lab's accelerator complex that children (young and old) can run around on. There are also native plants and an interactive sundial to check out. Scientists at Fermilab use accelerators to study incredibly tiny particles such as neutrinos and muons. Other research at the lab includes particle astrophysics, the hunt for dark matter and dark energy, theoretical research, high-power computing, and development of both accelerator and detector technology used around the world (including CERN, the world's largest accelerator, where the Higgs boson was discovered). Fermilab was founded in 1967 and has made dozens of discoveries and innovations over its lifespan, including the discovery of three fundamental particles: the top quark, the bottom quark, and the tau neutrino.