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Today, I want to write about geocaching with kids! This is such a fun family activity and really works hand-in-hand with family travel. You should be shocked at how many geocaches are hidden right in front of your eyes and all over the world.
But first, let me tell you a story…
[setting] Camp Helen St. Park, near Rosemary Beach, Florida.
[characters] A sweet family of four sitting on the bench looking out onto the crystal blue Gulf of Mexico. And us.
With our phones in hand, we follow the GPS toward them. 100 feet straight ahead. Now 30 feet. We walk up behind the family and echo the sometimes awkward, “Excuse me.” They turn around and we elaborate. “Excuse me. But do you mind if we look under this bench real quick?” With the kids beaming we continue talking. ” You see, we are geocaching and there is something hidden just beneath you. ” A little puzzled, they say yes, and the kids reached their little hands under and pulled out a sandwich-size Tupperware box with a Florida State Parks logo on it. It’s ORGT: CAMP HELEN STATE PARK, a regular cache complete with a logbook to sign and some trinkets to choose from. We take care of business, mark it found in our app, and then with an enthusiastic “thank you” continue back the way we came. The family seems excited to have been a part of this discovery and to witness whatever just happened here. This is just the day in the life of a geocache. Although most of the time, while geocaching, you are in such remote areas that you won’t see anyone, you have to be prepared for anything!
Geocaching With Kids
I have been wanting to write this post for a while now and since it is Geocaching’s 20th birthday this week I figure now is a perfect time! And while I am still a novice cacher, I have brought in the big guns for this one and interviewed someone who has logged almost 10,000 caches and just happens to be my Dad. And not to be outdone, wait until you hear how many his wife has found. Keep reading to find out!
What is geocaching?
First, of all. What is geocaching? It’s basically a giant treasure hunt with over 3 million geocaches hidden in 190 countries around the world. In fact, there may be one within a few feet of you right now. Seriously. Remember what happened to that sweet family above? In fact, my app shows 99 hidden right here in Dothan, Alabama. You can learn more at Geocaching.com.
I am excited to share more about geocaching with you because it truly is a fantastic activity for the entire family. It keeps kids curious, adults active, and provides a common goal to work towards. It’s cheap, easy, and something that you can do anywhere! Abby and Jake love showing their friends how to geocache and recently had the chance to find a couple of great ones down in St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, Florida. I mean look at these smiles!
Geocaching With Kids: A Step-by-Step Guide
Get the Geocaching App
I remember right after the time Abby was born, my Dad was in town and took my sister and me caching. Back then he had a handheld GPS and a bunch of printed-off papers. You had to find it now, log it later. But in the years since Geocaching has become so much easier! There is a Geocaching App that you will want to download to get started. Now, there is a free version that shows a limited number or you can pay monthly or annually for full access which we do and enjoy.
Click here to download the Geocaching App.
Set Up Your Geocaching Account
First, you will create an account including a username to get started, and then you are ready to find your first cache! You can download the app on multiple devices and open accounts for everyone in your family. Or you can choose to have one family account and work on that one together.
Finding Your First Geocache
Caches come in all sizes and are categorized as micro, small, regular, large, and other. Typically sizes regular and above will have trinkets inside so they are more fun to look for when starting out. Once you find a cache you will log it as found or enter DNF (did not find) if you were unable to find it. You can also leave a little note such as “great one” but make sure not to reveal any hints! You can mark finds as favorites. The regular ones are called traditional but there are also some special types of caches including mystery, multicache, earth cache, and others. The app also ranks them by difficulty and terrain so that you know what you are getting into! You can use the filter function to show all, some, or none based on the above. In the story above, we got started by searching for caches near our 30A condos in Seacret Beach, Florida
Geocaching has partnered with destinations for GeoTours (such as the Florida State Park find above) and also companies such as Disney, Jeep, and more to great fun series of finds. Right now there is an active partnership with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to celebrate the 35th anniversary of our half-shelled friends. They hid 5,000 limited edition trackables throughout the world! You can click here to learn more about Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Learn about Geocaching in this Expert Geocaching Interview
Me: OK, Dad, tell me again how many finds you guys have!
Dad: So I (Mogasman) started geocaching in January 2008. Jana (Cybercat) is one of the first, original geocachers who started 20 years ago when it first became available. By the way, it’s ok to use our geocaching names. I have close to 10,000 finds and Cybercat has almost 36,000 finds. Cybercat has found caches in 49 countries and I have logged caches in 44 countries.
Me: Woah! That is a lot! Do you have a favorite one?
Dad: It’s hard to pick the best geocache. There was a really creative one in Austin, TX called “Line of Sight”, where the coordinates took you to a tree with a kite stuck in the top. You had to follow the kite string for quite a ways that was wrapped around nearby trees until it came down, and there was a hollow tree with a container inside. There are so many good ones. Our favorite country to cache in was New Zealand with Iceland close behind. Another one of my favorites was a Wylie T. Coyote themed cache. The coordinates took you to a sign in the woods that said “Free Birdseed”. Way up in a tree right above you was a “bomb” that could be lowered by a rope and the cache was inside.
Me: Do you have a favorite type?
Dad: There are several different types of caches. Virtual caches are great because they take you to something cool or historical. Earthcaches are cool because they take you to some interesting geological sites and beautiful places. It’s a great way to see new parts of the world.
Me: Do you have any tips for beginners?
Dad: Tips for beginners… You should look at everything, even if you don’t think it can possibly be a cache. There are fake faucets, fake rocks, and even fake poop! Be sure you know what poison ivy and poison oak look like. Always read the hint or logs others before you have written.
Me: How can people be responsible geocachers?
Dad: Four ways to be a responsible geocacher… (1) Pick up trash if you find it. (2) Write a nice log for the cache owner, not just “Found it”. (3) If you take something from the geocache try to leave something of equal value. Likewise, if you take a travel bug, be sure to send it on its way instead of just forgetting about it in a bag for 3 years. (4) Also, cache hiders love to see pictures so post some if you can.
Me: Thanks Dad! I don’t know if this sense of adventure is hereditary or learned but I can recall back to the age of 5 when you let us dump a whole jar of pennies in the gravel beneath our swingset and spend hours and hours, make that days and days, looking for them. I can bet they are still finding them over 30 years later. I love that you take us geocaching and have taught the kids and I how to do it on our own. And thank you again for taking the time to help me write this!
Have you been geocaching with kids?
I would love to hear back from you! Have you been geocaching before? Did this post inspire you to give it a try? Log in and see how close nearby you can find one. And if you want to give Steve and Jana mad props for almost 50,000 combined finds leave them a note here!
And it’s bizarre to even have to mention this but, as we are in the midst of a pandemic, please be courteous and bring a wipe to keep germs away.
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This is so cool! I have been trying to get into this for YEARS. I have the app on my phone but always forget about it. Thanks for reminding me that I want to do this. haha!