22 April 2025
Families can enjoy a new geocache treasure hunt trail that celebrates the rich art heritage of the coastal village of Staithes in the North York Moors.
The trail, which has been created by the North York Moors National Park, chimes with how geocaching has become a worldwide phenomenon since it first began 25 years ago* when treasure hunt enthusiasts started using the internet and GPS coordinates to find hidden caches.
In the National Park, there are now hundreds of these digital treasure hunt trails, including this one in Staithes, where people can use the geocache app to navigate to each point before solving clues to discover the location of the caches. These can be small boxes or canisters which are discreetly hidden from view, and contain a logbook and a stamp for proving that someone has discovered them.
The clues for the Staithes geocache arts trail, which can also be followed without the app by simply picking up a booklet from Staithes Museum, bring to life the artistic heritage, including links with one of the most influential female impressionist painters in the 20th century, Dame Laura Knight, who joined an artists’ colony in the village. Many of the caches are hidden close to the three dimensional wall murals that form part of the existing Staithes Illusion Trail, created by famous trompe l’oeil artist and resident Paul Czainski.
Further down the coast, in Sandsend, another popular geocache trail has also been updated this spring, after it was first introduced in 2018, with five lino cut illustrations created by local artists used to create the stamps at each of the caches.
Georgia Tiffany, Community Engagement Officer for the North York Moors National Park explains:
“People love a treasure hunt and geocaching is a fantastic way of engaging people, particularly youngsters, in a fun way that guides them round the National Park and helps them learn more about its heritage, as well as wildlife and the natural world around them.
“It also helps them learn important skills for venturing out into the countryside, particularly using coordinates and map reading to navigate to a certain point. Geocaches have become so popular that we also hold geocaching events, the modern equivalent of orienteering, where people can pick up one of our handheld GPS units if they don’t have the app on their phone, and step out on a sociable treasure hunt adventure.”
For further information on the North York Moors National Park as a geocache destination go to www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/geocacheartstrail
ENDS
Media contacts
Amanda Brown on M: 07876 452580 or email: amanda@a2bpr.co.uk
Or
Nina Beadle, Communications Office, North York Moors National Park Authority
press@northyorkmoors.org.uk
01439 772700
*Read more about the history of geocaching
The North York Moors National Park
The North York Moors is a beautiful landscape of stunning moorland, ancient woodland and historic sites. Created on 28 November 1952, it became Britain’s sixth national park. Covering an area of 554 square miles (1,436 square kilometres) the National Park has 26 miles of coastline, two national nature reserves, 840 Scheduled Monuments and over 3,000 listed buildings, attracting an estimated 8.4 million visitors a year.
The National Park has two visitor centres, Danby Lodge National Park Centre and Sutton Bank National Park Centre, providing opportunities for cycling, walking, eating, picnicking, shopping, crafts and wildlife-watching. The centre in Danby also houses the Inspired by… gallery, which features regularly changing exhibitions by artists who draw their inspiration from the North York Moors.
The North York Moors National Park Authority works with a wide variety of people to care for this beautiful corner of Yorkshire, providing apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities with nearly 14% of staff being apprentices from local families.
To view other press releases and for further information about the North York Moors National Park, visit www.northyorkmoors.org.uk