KANSAS STATE PARKS MOBILE APP AVAILABLE

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ree Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger® is ideal phone app for enjoying Kansas outdoors
PRATT — Just in time for summer travel season, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) has launched the Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger® app — a free, interactive mobile guide to Kansas state parks. The Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger® app is designed to provide information and technology to guide and enhance the state park experience and to provide added safety and enjoyment for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts at all of Kansas’ 26 state parks.
The Pocket Ranger® app offers interactive GPS and mapping technology for tracking trails, marking waypoints, and locating landmarks in state parks. Users are also able to locate friends within parks using the Friend Finder feature. The Alert feature supplies GPS coordinates to designated contacts in case of an emergency. Guests can also cache (store) park maps in advance, so they can still navigate if they lose mobile reception. The GeoChallenge feature offers the novice explorer or more adventurous geocacher various geoquest activities and games throughout the year to guide them on their quests.
In addition to its state-of-the-art GPS technology, the Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger® app has other tools that make exploring state parks a breeze. Visitors can decide which park to visit using a comprehensive list of activities or search for a park within a particular region. A Calendar of Events helps visitors find upcoming events for each park. Park rules and regulations are a click away, which is especially helpful to anglers and sportsmen. Users can even reserve a campsite or cabin using the Pocket Ranger® to navigate to KDWPT’s new online cabin and campsite reservation site.
The free Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger® app is available on the KDWPT home page at ksoutdoors.com, on iTunes, in the iPhone Apps Store, and online at PocketRanger.com and will soon be available for Android phones. Blackberry and feature phone users can use the mobile website version of the Kansas State Parks Pocket Ranger®.
The Pocket Ranger Mobile Tour Guide tutorial is available at www.youtube.com/user/PocketRangerApp. For more about Pocket Ranger®, go online to www.pocketranger.com.

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FLOODING FORCES CHANGE IN GLEN ELDER GEOCACHE COORDINATES

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Park manager snags, relocates floating geocache boxes

GLEN ELDER — Due to flooding at Glen Elder Reservoir, locations for Glen Elder State Park’s caches in the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) geocache contest have changed. The original sites are now under water, and may be for quite some time.

The park manager was able to retrieve floating geocache boxes and reset them, so geocachers can still participate in the contest. New coordinates for the first cache box are N 98° 30.065 W 98° 19.359. Geocachers with questions should phone the park office at 785-545-3345 or KDWP’s Pratt Operations Office at620-672-5911.

Now in its fourth year, the KDWP geocaching contest began May 27. From then until Nov. 1, the game is to find two hidden caches at each Kansas state park, as well as a few other locations. The coordinates of one cache at each site and the official statewide KDWP Geocaching Entry Form is posted on the KDWP website,www.kdwp.state.ks.us. (Click “Other Services/Outdoor Activities/Geocaching.”)

Participants use hand-held global positioning systems (GPS) to locate and open the first cache, where they will find the coordinates of the second. Upon finding the second cache, the participant signs a log sheet and takes a certificate. Participants who show the certificate to that park office will receive a park-specific location ink pen. Cachers must retain each certificate to turn in with the downloadable entry form for point verification toward prizes.

KDWP GEOCACHE NEWS CORRECTION

In the KDWP news story dated 5/26/11 and entitled STATE PARK TREASURE HUNTERS ON THE LOOSE, there were a few errors that are worth noting. First, the contest does not begin until noon, May 27. Therefore, coordinates won't be posted until then. Cachers will then be able to download the entry form and won't have to go to the state park office to get one. They can still get the pens at the park office, but they won't have to have anything validated there. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The release has been corrected on the KDWP website and now reads as follows:

STATE PARK TREASURE HUNTERS ON THE LOOSE
Geocache contest in fourth year; prizes include annual camping permit, 14-day camping permit, and annual vehicle permits; contest runs through Nov. 1
PRATT — Now in its fourth year, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) geocaching contest will begin May 27 in Kansas state parks. From then until Nov. 1, the game is to find two hidden caches at each Kansas state park, as well as a few other locations. The coordinates of the one cache at each site and the official statewide KDWP Geocaching Entry Form will be posted on the KDWP website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us. (Click “Other Services/Outdoor Activities/Geocaching.”) at noon, May 27.

Participants use hand-held global positioning systems (GPS) to locate and open the first cache, where they will find the coordinates of the second. Upon finding the second cache, the participant signs a log sheet and takes a certificate. If they show the certificate to that park office, they receive a park-specific location ink pen. Cachers must retain each certificate to turn in with the downloadable entry form for point verification toward prizes.

Prizes will be awarded based first on how many points are earned. Every second geocache found at each participating location will be worth one point. Prizes will be awarded on a point and time system after the contest ends Nov. 1, though cachers may turn in their entry form whenever it is completed. One first place prize of an annual camping permit for 2012 will be awarded to the first participant to turn in all 31 second-cache certificates. The next two geocachers to earn all 31 points and submit their forms win 14-day camping permits for 2012. Other geocachers who earn all of the 31 points and who turn in their forms, including each second cache certificate, to the Pratt Operations Office by Nov. 1 will receive a 2012 annual vehicle permit.

This activity is a great way to introduce new patrons to state parks and other KDWP areas, as well as provide new activities for regular customers. Youngsters are usually adept at using electronic hand-held devices and find this activity doubly interesting when it gets them outdoors.

STATE PARK TREASURE HUNTERS ON THE LOOSE

Geocache contest in fourth year; prizes include annual camping permit, 14-day camping permit, and annual vehicle permits; contest runs through Nov. 1
PRATT — Now in its fourth year, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) geocaching contest began May 17 in Kansas state parks. From then until Nov. 1, the game is to find two hidden caches at each Kansas state park, as well as a few other locations. The coordinates of the one cache at each site are posted on the KDWP website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us. (Click “Other Services/Outdoor Activities/Geocaching.”)
Participants use hand-held global positioning systems (GPS) to locate and open the first cache, where they will find the coordinates of the second. Upon finding the second cache, the participant signs a log sheet and takes a certificate to that park office. Then they receive a park-specific location ink pen and the official statewide KDWP Geocaching Entry Form. Cachers must retain each certificate to turn in with the downloadable entry form for point verification toward prizes.
Prizes will be awarded based first on how many points are earned. Every second geocache found at each participating location will be worth one point. Prizes will be awarded on a point and time system after the contest ends Nov. 1. One first place prize of an annual camping permit for 2012 will be awarded to the first participant to turn in all 31 second-cache certificates. The next two geocachers to earn all 31 points and submit their forms win 14-day camping permits for 2012. Other geocachers who earn all of the 31 points and who turn in their forms, including each second cache certificate, to the Pratt Operations Office by Nov. 1 will receive a 2012 annual vehicle permit. This activity is a great way to introduce new patrons to state parks and other KDWP areas, as well as provide new activities for regular customers. Youngsters are usually adept at using electronic hand-held devices and find this activity doubly interesting when it gets them outdoors.