ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County Tourism Council is launching a new Geocaching Tour at 9 a.m. June 12.

The Explore More GeoTour will open with representatives from the tourism office welcoming geocachers at the Walnut Grove Cemetery in Martins Ferry from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first 100 participants at this site will receive Belmont County swag. This geocache journey will take participants across the beautiful and scenic landscapes of Belmont County, where a total of 35 geocaches wait to be found. Participants who find 30 out of 35 caches will be rewarded with an official Belmont County Geocaching coin. They must take a selfie and/or register the cache code and submit the information to belmontcountygeotour@gmail.com for approval.

Geocaching is an everyday event that can occur at any time of the day. The goal is to take people to places they have never visited before.

To play, one must download the Geocaching App or visit Geocaching.com and sign up for a free account. Then, players can select a geocache they would like to find. They may use the app or GPS to navigate the cache. Once found, players are encouraged to sign the logbook, exchange a trinket or souvenir and place the cache back where found for the next person to locate. The Belmont County GeoTour offers players and visitors the chance to embark on a treasure hunt in the local area. Some of the sites include the Belmont County Heritage Museum, Barkcamp State Park, Raven Rocks, and the Schaeffer-Campbell Covered Bridge. If participants find all 35 caches, they will receive the coin and be entered into a quarterly drawing for prizes.

The Tourism Office is located inside the Ohio Valley Mall, St. Clairsville, and is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its mailing address is 67800 Mall Ring Road. Participants may also collect their coins after office hours at the Ohio Valley Mall customer service desk. For more information, go to visitbelmontcounty.com.