Photo provided to the Times Observer An Allegheny National Forest token.

Visitors are scouring the ANF looking for a new batch of geocaches.

In celebration of the Allegheny National Forest’s Centennial, numerous ANF Centennial Geocaches were placed as part of the ANF Centennial GeoTrail.

The GeoTrail officially launched on Wednesday, June 21 — the first day of summer.

“In the first week since the geocaches were published, all 28 new geocaches have been found at least once and interest level is high based on the fact that over 150 ANF Centennial GeoTrail Passport documents have already been downloaded from Penn Soil’s website,” Penn Soil RC&D Executive Director Wes Ramsey said.

“The ANF Centennial Geotrail Rules are pretty straight-forward,” Ramsey said. “All eligible ANF Centennial geocaches were officially published on www.geocaching.com. Participants will need to be registered on geocaching.com to retrieve the coordinates and other location information. Registration on geocaching.com is free. Before setting out to find the ANF Centennial GeoTrail caches, you will need an official passport document. Passports are free and can be obtained by downloading and printing the passport document from the Penn Soil RC&D website www.pennsoil.org.

Cachers don’t have to find every cache. Those who find at least five ANF Centennial Geocaches in each of the four counties — Warren, Forest, McKean, and Elk — that include the ANF, will have completed the GeoTrail.

“Each cache will contain a unique, laminated code word to be found in the logbook, to be written in your passport as proof of finding the cache,” Ramsey said. “Please remember to write the code word on your passport before or after signing the logbook, and return it to the cache container when finished. The next person who finds the cache is also going to need it.”

Visitors are asked to log their successes at geocaching.com. “Tell us about your adventure or anything that you found interesting during your visit,” Ramsey said. “Please post pictures of your visit to the Allegheny National Forest as well with your log or on social media sites.”

Those who complete the GeoTrail and provide the code words in their passports are eligible to receive a free ANF Centennial Souvenir Token trackable on geocaching.com or a commemorative wooden coaster.

Passports with validated caches must be presented at one of the three ANF offices — in Marienville, Bradford, and Warren. “The passport will be stamped and the trackable souvenir tag or coaster will be awarded,” Ramsey said. “The passport is the property of the geocacher, to retain as a keepsake after the redemption process. Only one passport may be redeemed per registered geocacher identity on www.geocaching.com.”

“The ANF Centennial Geocache trail has been established to provide an opportunity to connect the American public to the outdoors, encourage families to explore the national forest, and provide educational and recreational opportunities for users of the trail,” he said. “The project is co-sponsored by the Allegheny National Forest, Warren County Visitors Bureau, Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau, and Penn Soil Resource Conservation and Development Council.”