Best Small Town in America for Geocaching – Peachtree City, Georgia

After hearing that Peachtree City, GA is the front runner for Best Small Town in America for Geocaching by Rand McNally, we had to check it out for ourselves.  The mayor of Peachtree City had announced that August would be declared Geocaching Month for the city.  Another goal that the Mayor of the city had in mind was launching a bid to become one of the most friendliest Geocaching city in America. 

**Check out Peachtree City GeoTour**

As soon as you arrive in Peachtree City you will see why they are a Finalist for best Small Town in America for Geocaching by Rand McNally (Best of The Road Series) for 2013.  Located 30 miles south of Atlanta, this small town of around 34,000 residents is full of geocaches.  More than enough to fill your day of exploring and searching out some of the best geocaches in the area.  The city is also home to many movie and TV series’ productions (you can even hop on one of the Hollywood tours to many of the sets).

We started our day off by going to the town’s visitors center to get the scoop.  On our way there we noticed a golf cart riding next to us on a golf cart trail.  Growing up a golfer I immediately think that there is a golf course close by.  Then we noticed that there was a golf cart with a canoe on the back!  Well you can’t take that on the course.  Perplexed at what we just saw, when we arrive at the visitor center this is the first thing we ask about.

Walking into the center we noticed another golf cart parked out front with a flag that says, “Peachtree City. Discover Life at 15 miles an hour.”  Now we are starting to get the vibe of the city.  Apparently, golf carts are a way of life here.  We walked into the center and met Sue, who was very helpful in explaining Peachtree City to us, including the golf carts.  She explained that there is nearly 100 miles of golf cart trails located throughout the city; connecting every part of town.

You can literally drive your cart from home to pick up your kids at school, take them to the park, and then make a stop at the grocery store — all in your golf cart along designated (and scenic) cart paths through the woods!  I was in HEAVEN!  “We have to move here” I told Liz.  So now we see why they are the front runner for the award of Best Geocaching Small Town.  Trails galore.

After talking with Sue and explaining to her that we came for the geocaches, she shared with us a brochure that explained Geocaching to newbies.  We loved that the city is promoting our passion in Geocaching.  Sue was kind enough to give us some maps and other ideas of things to do in the area.  Once we collected our materials and came up with a game plan, we were off to find one of the more than 300 geochaches that have been hidden around town.  Yes, 300!

We started off our journey by heading for one of the more popular and scenic geocaches in the area.  You may recognize this from a popular movie and one of Liz’s favorites, Sweet Home Alabama.  So of course we had to shoot for the cache there.  We first headed over to find an easy geochache just near the building.

Then I was feeling froggy enough to try for the 5/5 that was located there (5 for difficulty & 5 for terrain).  So I strapped on my boots and headed over to try for one of the most difficult geocaches in the area.  I knew where the geochache had to be hidden, but the only way to get around the water and to it was to climb up on a large rock wall, and then walk over toward the dam area of the falls.  Once there, I would need to jump down into the area where the geocache was hidden.

Unfortunately, when I was at the point of jumping down where the cache was, I noticed a large snake was in the way!  I honestly do not want to have anything to do with snakes.  I debated it for a moment to see if he would move, but he didn’t; so I let him win this battle.  I figure he must be the protector of the cache.  Anyone that braves going around him deserves to get the 5/5!

Next we decided to check out one of the lakes in the area, but first we wanted to make a stop by the grocery store to snag some snacks for a little picnic.  As we walked into the store we noticed several golf carts parked out front.  How neat, we thought.  You can ride your cart to the store.  You can literally ride your cart anywhere in the city (we even saw one cart with a baby seat strapped on it!).  This is sounds like a prefect living for me.  So we get our supplies and head out to relax by the lake.

Arriving at the lake, we found a picnic table with a great view of the docks and out toward the water.  We snacked on our baguette and brie, and drank a couple of craft brews while enjoying the scenery.   During the time that we were sitting there having our little picnic, there was a constant stream of golf carts going past us.  We see carts full of families with older kids, and even little ones, as well as a number of carts full of teenagers fly by us.  I couldn’t get over it.  The weather was beautiful (slightly overcast) and I would have loved to cruise around on a golf cart.  This is just awesome, I thought.

Once we were finished with our picnic and relaxing by the lake, we decided to see if there was a geocache close by.  Sure enough, they really are everywhere here!  No wonder this is the Best Small Town in America for Geocaching.  So we headed over to the other side of the parking lot to grab the cache.  We were a little thrown off at first, walking around to the end of the dock on the lake, but realized it was behind some trees on the land and not the dock.

Visiting this city you can easily see why it was a top finalist for the best small town in America for geochaching!  With the 100 plus miles of golf cart trails all over the city you can easily find your next cache around any corner, in a pretty cool mode of transportation.  You can actually rent golf carts in town if you would like to enjoy the trails yourself.  Or you can bring your bikes or rollerblades – the trails are quite scenic and well maintained.  We look forward to coming back and trying for that 5/5 again (if the snake is gone) and riding golf carts around the city.  Geocachers will have plenty to do in this small town.  There is a hidden treasure around every corner.

• For more information about Peachtree City, check out their visitors website:  http://visitpeachtreecity.com
• For specific information about their Geocaching series, click here:  http://www.peachtree-city.org/index.aspx?NID=829
• For more information on other finalist in many other categories for Rand McNally, click here: http://blog.randmcnally.com/2013/09/12/americas-best-small-towns-announcing-the-finalists