DEVIL'S LAKE STATE PARK

RED OAK SHELTER

Devil's Lake State Park will be the home of the Wisconsin Geocaching Association 2018 Fall Geo-Picnic. There is plenty of trails to hike and much to see. Founded in 1911, Devil's Lake is the third oldest state park in Wisconsin, the largest and the most visited. Devil's Lake offers magnificent views from 500-foot quartzite bluffs overlooking a 360-acre lake. Enjoy lakeshore picnic areas, sandy swimming beaches, 29 miles of hiking trails or ease into the backcountry solitude. Devil's Lake is a beautiful year-round park with an intriguing natural history along the 1,000-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail.

The Red Oak Shelter is reserved for the picnic. It offers electricity, a large outside grill, public restrooms, and a fireplace.  

***Devil's Lake State Park requires a state park admission sticker or daily pass to enter the park.

For area lodging information contact the Baraboo Chamber of Commerce

For information about Devil's Lake State Park click here.

Coming to the Picnic and need a WGA name tag? They are free for all WGA members but to get one, you must be a member. Good news, it's free. Head to www.wi-geocaching.com to sign up. Already a member but need a nametag? Click here.

• We will have one of our Wisconsin Reviewers doing a 15 minute presentation on what a volunteer reviewer does followed by a 15 minute Q&A session. Let's make certain to thank our reviewers for the time they take to volunteer for us so we can keep enjoying this hobby. See event schedule below for time.

Dolly McNulty, a volunteer with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, who developed the Cold Cache program will be on hand at the shelter during the day to explain the Cold Cache program. What is a Coldcache? A Coldcache is simply an earthcache located along the Ice Age Trail. Just like other earthcaches they are logged on Geocaching.com. There will be information available for those who may be interested in creating a ColdCache site.

Thanks to a partnership with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, two Trail volunteers have agreed to lead a hike to visit 2 earthcaches and discover a possible site for a 3rd new earthcache. Participants will earn the IAT ColdCache program 1st level “Snowflake” patch free of charge by completing this hike and filling out the IATA ColdCache form.

Details of the hike….

This will be a great opportunity to learn more about this Ice Age Trail that is “uniquely Wisconsin”. If you’re interested, meet up at 9:30 AM at N 43° 24.745’ W 089° 44.385’. This will be the beginning of the hike. It should be about a 3-mile round trip hike, alternatively you may want to discuss carpooling to put a car at the northern parking lot. This can be arranged that morning. The hike will start at the southern parking lot on the west bluff. The hike will follow the Ice Age Trail north past 2 earthcaches (GC2MR9Y - IATCC - Devil's Lake and GC57Q98 - IATCC - Nature's Cement) and 3 traditional caches. If you’re planning to make the return hike back to the starting point, your hike will follow the Tumbled Rocks Trail at the base of the bluff. There are 2 more traditional caches along this trail.

EVENT SCHEDULE

• Check In/Registration . . . . 8:30 - 11:30 AM

• Event caches download by (WGA Member). . . . 8:30 - 10:30 AM

• Nametag Pickup . . . . 8:30 - Noon

• Meet at Shelter to find a Group to go out and Cache With . . . . 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 AM . . . .

• WGA Merchandise Sales . . . . 9:00 - 5:00 PM

The WGA will be offering large discounts on select apparel.

Game entries will be sold at the merchandise table.Game chances sold all day. Game rules will be available at the merchandise table. Announcements may be made concerning the games.

• Lunch /Grills Ready . . . . Noon

• Reviewer Talk . . . . 3:30 PM

• Group Picture . . . . 4:00 PM

• WGA member meeting OPEN FORUM . . . . 4:30 PM

• Attendance Prize Drawings and Contest Winners (Must be present to win!) . . . . 4:45 PM

• 7th Annual 2017 Travel Bug Race Awards. . . . 5:00 PM

• 8th Annual 2018 Travel Bug Race Start . . . . 5:15 PM

• Supper/Grills Ready . . . . 5:30 - 6:30 PM

• PICK UP INFO AT REGISTRATION FOR ALL THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES . . . . 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

****** CREATIVE CACHE CONTEST - Bring a Creative Cache and Vote for your Favorite. Top Caches win a Prize.

****** BUY A BISON - FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PRIZE! 50 Bison Tubes will be sold at $2 each, with a prize in 5 of the Tubes for a chance to be a WINNER.

• TB/Geocoin Exchange Table . . . . All Day

• Lawn Games - BYO Games to have available for the Group. . . . . . . . All Day

The WGA has come across some authentic Pathtags LCR dice. This means that if you are feeling lucky with those tags and want to try a shake at a fast-paced, high-stakes, pathtag swapping dice game, just look around for the crazies in the corner "throwing the bones" wagering their Pathtags. Who knows, some lucky cacher may even find themselves taking home their very own set of dice.

WHAT TO BRING TO THE PICNIC

• Your own meat to grill

• Table setting for you and your family

• Lawn chairs if you want them

• Beverages for your group

• A FOOD ITEM TO SHARE.

To ensure variety, please bring an item to share based on your Last name:

Last name A-H: salad, vegetable or fruit

Last name I-P:chips or snacks

Last name Q-Z: cookies or dessert

If you would like to contribute a prize for the drawing please contact a WGA Board of Director.