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People involved in the popular outdoor hobby known as letterboxing enjoy the thrill of the hunt, as well as the prospect of adding unique stamped images to their logbooks. All around the country, letterboxers venture out into state parks and popular landmarks with compasses in hand, sometimes deciphering clues printed from Internet sites to track down a box hidden in a bush or hollowed tree, where they may collect a stamp and sign the enclosed guestbook as testament to their discovery. Visitors to St. Augustine especially will find the nation’s oldest city to be an excellent spot for letterbox enthusiasts.

Before You Go

If you are new to letterboxing and have read up on the basics of the hobby on Letterboxing.org or Atlasquest, you’ll know to be careful when searching for letterboxes in highly populated areas. As St. Augustine welcomes tourists year round, you want to exercise discretion when retrieving and replacing letterboxes, particularly if you chance the risk of a groundskeeper or property official seeing you. Some people who plant letterboxes do so with the cooperation of the property’s owners, but others tend to work clandestinely. Nevertheless, have fun when you venture into Old City to add stamps to your collection. Because the majority of stamps available in St. Augustine are hidden in area parks, it might be a good idea to bring along sunscreen and bug repellent.

Where to Go

In St. Augustine, letterboxing fans will find stamps relevant to the city’s history and culture. The St. Augustine of Hippo stamp celebrates the man for whom the city is named, and can be found via hiking Anastasia State Park. A smaller recreation area, Davenport Park, hosts a stamp in the shape of one of Florida’s signature animals, hence the name Florida Gator.

For those interested in a stamping “safari,” Moses Creek Conservation Area provides a jungle backdrop to a “wild” stamp that requires a bit of hiking and orienteering. A simpler find is a box planted near the St. Augustine Lighthouse. For a stamp commemorating the now-defunct Cross and Sword dramatic reenactments in the St. Augustine Amphitheater, visitors may hunt on the grounds where the show was staged.

Be sure to visit the Atlasquest Web site, one of the more definitive guides to letterboxing, for a complete list of locations and clues to St. Augustine letterboxes. Happy hunting!

Kathryn Lively is a freelance writer specializing in articles on St. Augustine and Outer Banks travel.

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