The Alabama State Parks 2012 Geocaching Challenge kicked off April 13, at Lakepoint Resort State Park in Eufaula.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game in which players hunt for hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices.

Inside the caches are usually log books, trade items and clues to a puzzle cache. Participants sign the log books and place the cache back as it was found.

In the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Geocaching Challenge, each cache also will contain clues to a puzzle cache. Participants who complete successfully open the puzzle cache are rewarded with a specially designed Alabama State Parks geocaching coin. To hit all the parks and caches, you would travel about 1,300 miles. [Earlier on al.com: Geocaching]

Participants must create a free membership on geocaching.com. The Alabama State Parks Geocaching Challenge locations can be found on that site or AlaPark.com. The coordinates can be entered into any handheld GPS-enabled device and then it's all about looking for the containers.

For those who are quick enough, there are "First-to-Find" prizes in each cache.

The game is kid-friendly and includes all of Alabama's 22 State Parks.