Heads up, Goosechasers! The last Take It Outside Challenge of the year is about halfway completed.

So, if you signed up for the Fall Frolic and are pursuing missions, points and prizes across the Will County preserves, keep going. If you haven’t signed up yet, there are still more than four weeks left to go, which is plenty of time to participate. 

Fall Frolic, the fourth seasonal challenge of the year, began Oct. 6 and it wraps up Dec. 14. Funding for this campaign is provided by The Nature Foundation of Will County. 

To get started, download the free Goosechase app from the App Store or Google Play to your smartphone. Then, search for Take It Outside Challenge: Fall Frolic or enter the search code ED7MGP to join. 

Each week, new missions will be released that require participants to check in at specific GPS locations, take photos of flora and fauna, pose for selfies and answer trivia questions. 

Point totals will be listed on a leaderboard in the Goosechase app so you can see how you and others are doing in the competition. Make sure you read the online rules before you begin competing. 

If you want to meet fellow challenge participants, check out the Take It Outside Challenge Meetup on Sunday, Nov. 17, at Forked Creek Preserve – Ballou Road Access. There also is a Take It Outside guided hike on Dec. 8 at Lake Renwick Heron Rookery.

Prizes

Amazon gift cards in the amounts of $500, $250 and $150 will be awarded for first, second and third places, respectively. But you can only win a seasonal cash prize once. 

Forty-five addtional prizes, the most ever for a Take It Outside Challenge, will be awarded randomly to competitors. 

Those prizes include prize packs from Wild Birds Unlimited Joliet, Crumble Cookies in Mokena, Monee Reservoir activity and meal prize packs, and gift cards from the Forest Preserve, Creamery, Portillo's, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bass Pro and Potbelly. Ten Take It Outside prize packs with a shirt, hat and mug also will be awarded. 

Since it debuted, the Take It Outside Challenge has been wildly popular and has enriched the lives of many who have joined. Many participants have said that they made new friends, learned about new preserves and improved their health while competing. 

“Last year, the Take It Outside Challenge broke the record for the largest Goosechase experience ever with 117,000 missions completed by participants, and now we’re on pace to blow past that number in 2024,” said Chad Merda, the Forest Preserve’s head of digital marketing strategy/engagement. “The support we’ve received from the community, both from participants as well as sponsors, has been incredible.”