Rock hunting draws thousands of Manitobans to the outdoors

Rock hunting seems to be the latest summer phenomenon that’s made its way to Manitoba.

This rock phenomenon is a simple way to explore the outdoors and find a treasure at the same time. You go out to a park, playground, maybe even a splash pad or your front yard and you search for rocks hidden in the outdoors. But you aren’t just searching for any old rock, and you may or may not find one.

Rocks are painted with messages, or some sort of marking and hidden deliberately for people to go out and find them.

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Shy Pattie and her daughter have been rock hunting for a few weeks around Winnipeg and said they’ve found, replaced, and even painted dozens of rocks to spread the joy of an old fashioned treasure hunt around the city.

“I think it’s similar to Pokemon Go in that it got people outside and walking,” Pattie said.

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Organizers of the Winnipeg Rocks group said the treasure hunt is simply about finding a fun, creative rock that’s been deliberately hidden for someone to find, then take a photo of it and post it on the Winnipeg Rocks Facebook page. After that, you can either hide the rock again, keep it, or paint some new ones and hide them around local parks.

Families taking part in the scavenger hunt have said it has given their kids a chance to be outdoors on a treasure hunt and also the chance to channel their inner creativity when they go home with some plain rocks and start painting messages of kindness and different designs on them.