Sevierville (TN) – Vacationing geocachers from all across the country have followed the coordinates on websites such as  geocaching.com to find the hidden cache at the Sevierville Visitors Center on Hwy 66 for over a year now. The growing trend of geocaching has been described as a “high tech treasure hunt” using personal GPS devices to find a hidden cache, often a small box filled with goodies that finders can take (the one located at the Sevierville Visitor Center includes Sevierville lapel pins, a disposable camera and items that other geocachers have left behind).

Until recently, the Sevierville Visitor Center cache was located on the ground beneath trees outside the Visitor Center. However, a need to relocate the cache so that it would be at least 528 feet from another nearby cache, prompted the Sevierville Chamber to reach out to a master craftsman for help with a new look and new location. 

 ”A lot of sites hide their caches in custom made containers,” says Sevierville Chamber special projects facilitator Carroll McMahan. “We decided to have a birdhouse custom built that would promote Sevierville and be a beautiful surprise for geocachers who find it.” McMahan asked Walt Rollison who is part of Senior Citizen’s Woodworkers, which is adjacent to Fort Sanders Sevier Senior Center, to build a special birdhouse that could be used to hide the cache.

Walt Rollison

Rollison constructed the custom birdhouse from cedar harvested locally on Sugar Loaf Mountain and handcrafted the lettering “Sevierville, Tennessee Where Smoky Mountain Fun Begins” which is displayed across the top.

The Birdhouse

The Sevierville Visitor Centers new geocache coordinates are:

North 35° 57.834

West 83° 35.846

The birdhouse cache was installed earlier this fall and has been a hit with geocachers who have found it. So far, several hundred people, most of them visitors, have stopped at the Sevierville Visitor Center to find the cache and spend a little time learning more about the area.

“So many people have helped us with this project,” says Sevierville Chamber special projects facilitator Carroll McMahan. “From Lynn McClurg, who first suggested the idea of a geocache at the Visitor Center, to Jan Walker, who helped us get everything implemented when we first began, and of course Mr. Rollison who made our birdhouse. We really appreciate everyone who has contributed to this project.”

Geocaching has been described as a “high tech treasure hunt” carried out by treasure seekers armed with GPS devices. This growing trend began in May of 2000 after selective availability was disabled on personal GPS devices and it became possible to more accurately pinpoint the location of small objects. Now there are over 800,000 caches worldwide and active communities of individuals and families who enjoy seeking them out.