Try Letterboxing for a Modern-day Treasure Hunt

Other posts by MountainMama

Janine Chance, sxc.huHave any of you ever gone on a letterboxing adventure with your kids? I haven’t but I keep thinking that on family vacations, or during the warm-weather months here in Colorado, I should try it. Namely because my children, ages 5 and 7, loved the GPS Mountain Treasure Hunt we went on with Santa Fe Mountain Adventures during a visit to the New Mexico capital last year. Letterboxing is a bit different, but the concept of puzzle solving in the great outdoors remains the same. Here’s how it works:

Letterboxing enthusiasts have hidden upwards of 10,000 waterproof boxes throughout the United States and Canada—in parks, remote picturesque places, even city streets and indoor tourist attractions. Inside these boxes are typically a logbook, rubber stamp and inkpad.

The letterbox owners write clues to the boxes’ locations at websites like Letterboxing North America. At LbNA’s site, you can search for boxes by geographic location—they can be found in every state in the U.S., plus Canada, Central America, Bermuda and some Caribbean Islands.

When you uncover a letterbox, you stamp the logbook with your own personal stamp, and you stamp your personal logbook with the box’s stamp to keep track of all your finds. Sometimes other small rewards or clues to another letterbox are included as well.

Some letterbox owners give straightforward directions with detailed instructions and virtual maps; others give more cryptic clues. The location descriptions typically explain how remote the hidden box is.

In anticipation of our March trip to Palm Desert, California, to visit Grammie, I checked out the Letterboxing North America website for the listing of boxes hidden in the area. There are about a dozen, including one that is hidden at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and one just outside the gates of the Living Desert. Cool! Now the kids and I just have to buy our own stamps (of course they won’t want to share one) and logbooks. I’ll keep you posted if we go treasure hunting next month!

  • Share/Bookmark

February 23, 2008 | Filed Under Family Travel, The Cookie Jar 

Comments

3 Responses to “Try Letterboxing for a Modern-day Treasure Hunt”

  1. Amy @ The Q Family says:
    February 23, 2008 at

    Thank you for this post. I can do this with my kids on our trip to the caribbean. Check out my post at http://the-q-family.blogspot.com

  2. Carnival of Travel Guide #11 | Travelhacker says:
    March 4, 2008 at

    [...] Williams presents Try Letterboxing for a Modern-day Treasure Hunt posted at Traveling Mamas. On your next family vacation, consider going on a modern-day treasure [...]

  3. The Rules of Punch Bug « Traveling Mamas says:
    March 31, 2008 at

    [...] you didn’t even catch a glimpse of the vehicle in question. There are many variations of this road game. I know, as my children make up their own rules. So here is a list of rules you can refer to when [...]

Leave a Reply