NOTE: THE WSGA20 GEOTOUR WILL OFFICIALLY END AT 11:59PM ON DECEMBER 31, 2024.
You will only have until this date and time to find the geocaches, post all
of your logs for the digital souvenirs (if qualified), and submit all of
your passports of unique codes for the geocoins (if qualified.)
There will be no exceptions. With all that said, cache on! 😃
Welcome to Wilkeson, Washington! Wilkeson, a small town located near Mount Rainier National Park, is rich with history in the coal mining industry as well as logging and sandstone quarrying. An historic Welcome Arch, made of sandstone and logs, spans Highway 165 as you enter town. There are a couple other caches nearby which highlight that history, GC5WADF Rainier100 1:Wilkeson Coke Ovens and GC6HZVV Rainier100 3: Wilkeson.
Wilkeson is also the Gateway to Carbon Glacier, a glacier located on the north face of Mt. Rainier and the source of the Carbon River. Highway 165, which you just traveled on to get to town, continues south to the town of Carbonado, crosses the Fairfax Bridge, and then eventually ends at Mowich Lake. Before heading uphill to Mowich Lake is the junction of Hwy 165 and Carbon River Road. Take a left at Carbon River Road and drive 7.5 miles to the end where you will find the Northwest Entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park. This entrance is strictly hiking trails with no auto access within the park. Here you would begin the 8+mile hike to the Carbon Glacier. Both Mowich Lake and the Carbon River Entrance require a park entrance fee. Should you decide to explore these areas, passes can be purchased during business hours at the Carbon River Ranger Station (located on Carbon River Road approx. 5 miles,) or they also can be purchased online at https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/fees.htm. (A pass is only required if you are going into the national park. One is not needed to find this cache.)
TO FIND THIS CACHE: The town of Wilkeson has a small retail/restaurant core with plenty of parking at the recommended coordinates. Follow the paved sidewalk back toward the Welcome Arch and take the paved path uphill to the left. The walk from parking to GZ is about ½ mile on a shaded trail in the woods. Please use the recommended parking. Refrain from parking at the Skate Park or using the private gravel road which parallels the walking trail. Strollers and wheelchairs can use the trail but know that the first part of the trail is a bit steep, so please use discretion. The cache is about 10-12’ off the pavement. Please recover with camo to keep muggles away.
In September 2002, a group of 19 concerned geocachers scheduled a meeting after hearing that the Washington State Parks was considering banning geocaches in the state park system. Out of this meeting, the Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA) was "born" with its core values of promoting geocaching as a fun, family-oriented outdoor activity that increases awareness and appreciation of the environment and our parks and trails, provide opportunities for participants to enjoy geocaching and to socialize with other geocaches, educate park systems and land managers about geocaching and its benefits, increase awareness and support of the geocaching through interaction with other outdoor groups and the public, encourage low-impact geocaching and promote stewardship of our natural resources, and support "Cache In Trash Out" activities to help maintain parks and trail systems.
In 2022, the WSGA turns 20 years young. To celebrate this milestone, the WSGA is hosting a 20th-anniversary GeoTour. This GeoTour will give you the opportunity to travel to all corners of the Evergreen State while you search for 140 GeoTour caches. To make it easier to tackle such a large GeoTour, each of our 7 regional chapters will host a bite-sized GeoTour consisting of 20 GeoTour caches with the entire GeoTour consisting of 140 caches. To learn more about our GeoTour, please visit the GeoTour page on our website which you can find HERE. We hope that you enjoy getting back out on the road while touring around Washington State. If you have any questions about our GeoTour, you can reach out to us via the contact tab on our website.
