Enjoy the outdoors? Hiking? Nature? A good puzzle or game of Hide-and-Seek? You might want to try your hand at Geocaching. We started in 2006 and have made it a part of our travels, both at home and abroad. Our first find was near Pt. Defiance in Tacoma, Washington and we’ve been hooked on “caching” ever since. We’re not alone. According to the Geocaching website, there are 2,187,848 active geocaches and over 6 million geocachers worldwide!
What is Geocaching?
Geocaching is sort of an outdoor game of hide-and-seek. The game is played using a GPS (Global Positioning System)-enabled device, such as a handheld GPS or smartphone, to point to a set of GPS coordinates. Every place on earth has coordinates (latitude and longitude), and in geocaching each hiding spot is listed according to these points. Once you are close to the coordinates you have to use your wits to discover the “hide.” In this way, geocaching is similar to the more traditional letterboxing and waymarking. The actual cache will be a container ranging from something the size of an ammo box to a “nano,” which can be as small as pencil eraser. Caches contain at least a logbook to sign and potentially some small items to trade. These items usually aren’t of much value, but often include small toys or something relevant to the site. Caches may also contain a “trackable” in the form of a Travel Bug or Geocoin, which can be moved from cache to cache.
On the way to a cache in Washington
How to Begin
- Register for free on the Geocaching website (you can even log in with Facebook).
- Go to the “Hide and Seek a Cache” section and enter in a postal code (works for many countries), address, country, or other term you’d like to search by.
- Pick out a cache that looks interesting, and enter the coordinates into your GPS. They all have descriptions, some more detailed than others. We like the ones that tell something about the area: history, geography, etc. We’ve discovered great tips and information on places we thought we knew well! Puzzle caches are fun too.
- Get out there and find the cache! It takes some practice, and some experience to get good at guessing likely spots, and interpreting hints on cache descriptions. Some can be very tricky!
- Sign the log book inside, and log the find on Geocaching.com to track your adventure. The cache owner will know people are out there enjoying the areas in which they’ve hidden items, and you will have a record of all the places you’ve been caching.
I know it’s here somewhere. . .
Geocaching Etiquette
- When you take something from a cache, you should also leave something behind.
- Put the container back in exactly the same spot you found it, and hide it just as well.
- In order to avoid a cache being “muggled,” (discovered by non-cachers) be subtle in areas where there are lots of people.
A “nano”
Types of Caches
Caches come in all sizes: from the tiniest nano up to 5-gallon buckets and larger. There are also different levels of difficulty. Some caches are tougher because of the terrain, while others involve a puzzle or riddle. Some caches contain “trackables” that can be moved from place to place. Travel Bugs sometimes have a mission to visit a certain place or to get a picture with a certain item. One special type is called “Cache In Trash Out.” At these events, groups search for caches while picking up litter along trails, removing invasive species and generally tidying up. Some of our favorites are Earth Caches, special places that people can visit to learn about a unique geo-science feature. EarthCache descriptions include educational notes to read up on before heading out. The last one we did was in Pushkar, India. We learned about the formation of sand dunes, and had to answer a couple of questions about the ones at the coordinates in order to log the cache.
Single747 AKA Dad with a Travel Bug
Our Geocaching US State Map
Our Geocaching Country Map
Our Spin on Geocaching
We enjoy using Geocaching to help us find hiking trails and natural areas in places we’re not familiar with. It’s also great inspiration to get out and exercise and breathe some fresh air. Having a goal, something to look forward to at the end of a hike makes it even more rewarding. Some of our favorite caches that require a good hike include one at the top of the pass between Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Victor, Idaho; “Cogburn Cabin” in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon; and one to the 80 foot Mesatchee Creek Falls near Mt. Rainier in Washington State. On our travels internationally, geocaching has often taken us off the beaten path. We’ve found a cache in nearly every country we’ve visited, from South Africa to Cambodia to Scotland. It’s amazing how many people around the world are participating in geocaching. In a future post, we’ll share some of our favorite caches from around the world. In the meantime, our friends at Peanuts or Pretzels have a great section dedicated to geocaching on their blog. Be sure to check it out!
Trusty GPS at my side
Geocaching Gear
We mainly depend on our Garmin 60 CSx, (a comparable, newer version is the 62S), but we use the iPhone when we don’t have that with us. The Geocaching app is $9.99. Caches can be downloaded directly onto some GPS models.
There are also a few low-tech items that come it handy too. In our backpack we always carry a pen or pencil to sign the cache’s logbook. A small multi-tool is quite useful in a pinch as well. Sometimes you need tweezers to extract a log sheet from a tiny cache container. Makes sure to pack some water for those long hikes too!
I just spotted your post and remembered you told me it was coming on Facebook! This is very helpful, I’m really excited to give this a try.
I’m curious how you can possibly find those tiny nanocaches! And also how you are supposed to sign the log. Is there a rolled up paper in there, or do you sign that you found it digitally somehow?
And, are any of them buried or are they generally just hidden under a bush/log etc?
Glad you found the post. I remembered talking to someone about doing a post on geocaching recently, but couldn’t remember who! The nanocaches take some practice, but they’re usually magnetic and stuck onto or under something. There really is a teeny roll of paper in there to sign, but you’ve got to have your own pen/pencil. The cache owner has to replace the log pretty frequently, since it has to be a very small strip of paper. You also record that you found the cache online at geocaching.com. That’s the case with any cache. The physical log is the real proof you were there and actually found it. The online record is more of a notification to the owner and others and a record for you. It’s against the rules for caches to be buried. If you have to dig or create a hole in the ground to place or find a cache it’s not allowed. A cache can be covered over with leaves or brush, etc. but not buried. More likely they’ll be in a nook, cranny, pre-existing hole, etc. People make some pretty ingenious disguises too (fake rocks and things). I have heard of some caches underwater too!
Hi there – great post & thanks for sharing our travel blog / Geocaching section too! We also primarily geocache for the “adventure” of it. Just as a way to have a goal while we are out and about exploring. We love the scenic trails, but also the caches that are at meaningful or historic sites. We always love to learn or discover something new.
Happy Caching!
– Liz & Josh (Peanuts Or Pretzels)
http://www.PeanutsOrPretzels.com
Thanks Liz! We’ve had such a great time caching on our travels, but hadn’t written much about it. Thanks for the inspiration. We love the historic caches and Earth Caches too. Some cache owners put a lot of time and effort into the educational side of their cache description and hide, and we love that. We’ve learned a lot, and definitely hit some spots we NEVER would have seen if we hadn’t been looking for a cache! Thanks for reading. –Tamara
Outstanding blog, Heather, I’m going to link it on Facebook and send it to geocaching.com!
Great! Hope this inspires some people to give it a try, like you did!
Honestly I want to say ”thank you” for putting this post together! People ask us all the time about geocaching but I honestly had no idea what it was and whenever I try to look it up I feel like the articles already assume you know what it is to some degree and spend time explaining details as opposed to the basics of the concept. It does seem like a really cool way to find off the beaten bath hiking trails and hidden gems 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
You are very welcome. We are glad this post helped give you an idea of the basics of Geochaching. Thanks for the feedback.