🔥 Smokey the Bear — Virtual Cache
Hill City, South Dakota, has a one‑of‑a‑kind connection to Smokey the Bear. In 1939, 25 Hill City students helped fight a local wildfire, earning national recognition from the U.S. Forest Service. Because of their bravery:
• Hill City High School became the only school in the nation allowed to use Smokey Bear as its official mascot.
• The district was also granted the honor of holding Hill City's graduation at Mount Rushmore.
The wooden Smokey Bear carving at Dahl’s Chainsaw Art stands as a tribute to that history and a reminder of Smokey’s enduring message of wildfire prevention.
“Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
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📸 Logging Requirements
1. Photo with Smokey
Take a picture of yourself, your group or personal item with Smokey the Bear.
2. Observation Question
How many belt loops are on Smokey’s pants?
***Please send your answer directly to the cache owner. Do not include the answer to the observation question in your online log. Any log containing the answer will be deleted.
Virtual Rewards 5.0 - 2026-2027
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between February 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 5.0 on the Geocaching Blog.