'Be A TrailBlazer' Begins Fall Session

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Around 2,000 people have already taken part in this year’s Be a Trailblazer experience, and the final session is about to begin, the Forest Preserve District of Will County shared.

If you’ve been participating all year, keep it going, the preserve said. If you haven’t joined yet, now’s the time.

The fall session runs from Sept. 25 to Nov. 8. Missions will be released in two batches: one at noon on Sept. 25, and the second at noon on Oct. 17, the preserve said. Participants can win prizes such as a Fitbit, mini Solo stove, walking poles, fishing starter pack, s’mores kit, and prizes and gift cards to a variety of local businesses. There also are weekly drawings for Be a Trailblazer T-shirts.

Prizes are provided by The Nature Foundation of Will County and more than two dozen local businesses and organizations.

“The support from The Nature Foundation of Will County to fund this experience and pay for the larger prizes, as well as the support from local businesses has really allowed us to give extra incentives for people to hit the trails and hopefully find a new favorite preserve,” said Chad Merda, head of digital marketing strategy/engagement for the Forest Preserve.

To join, download the free Goosechase app to your smartphone. Search for the Be a Trailblazer experience or enter code PQNL75. Be sure to review the rules before you head out to complete nature-themed missions throughout the preserves.

Fall is an especially good time to get involved, Merda said.

“Walking a trail in a preserve in a different season can be like an entirely different experience due to those scenery changes,” he said. “Some of the locations we have selected in the fall have little shade, so doing it on a chilly fall day when there is full sun is much more enjoyable than if we were sending people there in August.”

This year’s experience was redesigned, so people can complete missions at their own pace, the preserve said. All prizes are awarded randomly, though participants can still track their progress on the leaderboard and earn 10 points per mission.

So far, more than 60,000 missions have been completed.

“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on gated missions, where missions at a preserve are released in order after you complete a mission,” Merda said in a release. “It adds a bit of mystery and adventure to the outing, so we’ll be working more of those into fall. We’ll also be bringing back the ‘Where’s Willy’ cutouts, where people need to take him on some of the adventures. Participants embraced it in the summer and got pretty creative with the photos, so it was fun to see those flowing into the social media feed.”

Participants say they enjoy the adventure aspect of the challenge, which encourages them to be more observant and to discover new locations, according to the preserve.

“This experience has built a community of nature lovers, helped people make new friends and form groups to explore the preserves together, and gain a better appreciation of everything the District has to offer,” Merda said. “This is all about getting more people outside and with more regularity and based on feedback from participants, it has been doing that.”