Letterboxing is a kind of outdoor treasure hunt, with a little rubber stamp artistry involved. Letterboxers hide weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places, such as parks or state forests. They post clues or navigational directions for finding the box on one of several websites. According to the LbNA website, there are approximately 20,000 letterboxes hidden in North America alone. In addition to the new Boxerwood letterbox, two other letterboxes are actively hidden in Lexington—one in Hopkins Green, the other on the Chessie Trail.

 Inside a letterbox can usually be found a log book, a rubber stamp (often hand-carved), and an ink pad. Finders bring their own stamp and log book. When they find the box, they make a print of the letterbox stamp in their personal log book and then stamp their personal stamp in the letterbox's log book.

 Boxerwood will introduce letterboxing to families who participate in Kid’s Health and Safety Fun Day on Saturday, April 26 at Glen Maury Park in Buena Vista. The free event is sponsored by Project Horizon and open to the public. At the Boxerwood booth, children will design their own letterboxing stamps on “tree cookies” (slices of tree limbs) and receive directions for finding letterboxes hidden in the Rockbridge area.

 A Dartmoor National Park guide is credited with starting letterboxing started in England in 1854, when he left a bottle with his calling card in it along with an invitation to those who found the bottle to add their cards. Visitors began leaving a self-addressed post card or note in the jar, asking that it be returned by mail by the next visitor (thus the origin of the term “letterboxing;” “letterbox” is a British term for a mailbox). In time, rubber stamps and visitor’s log books replaced postcards. Letterboxing caught on in the US in 1998 after an article appeared in Smithsonian Magazine.