Geocaching---a way to get the kids outside and hiking

[Ottakee]

We started up geocaching again yesterday.  I took 19dd and 11 foster ds with me.  They LOVED it.  The dog enjoyed it too as one of the caches had dog treats in it.  I mentioned wanting to go for a walk but neither was excited about the idea.  They happily hiked the trails, up and down some small hills, over 2 miles to find our geocaches and asked to go find more.

 

I just upgraded to the paid membership today.  Now I need to know how to USE it.  How to download groups of caches, find those along a route (meaning ALONG the route....not miles out of the way), etc.

 

I would love any hints/tips, ideas, etc. you have.

[Liz CA]

:bigear:  I don't even know how to start this. What website do you go to? How does it work?

[Arcadia]

:bigear: I don't even know how to start this. What website do you go to? How does it work?

We use below link website's free account and print the maps

https://www.geocaching.com/play

 

We could use the car portable GPS to find the geocache once we key in the GPS co-ordinates.  If the geocache is hidden in an urban area, it is easier to locate with the hints.  Those are the ones my boys started with. 

 

The park rangers and park docents use the Garmin Etrex series when teaching the public about geocache. They use the basic one in link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00542NV32/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

 

There are iPhone apps for geocache but my phone signal isn't strong at the big state and county parks.

[Ottakee]

I use a Garmin etrex 20 which I bought for horseback riding but works well for Geocaching as well.  I think you can use your phone but in our rural/wooded areas it tends to lose GPS signal and/or eat up a lot of battery very quickly.

 

I went to www.geocaching.com and joined for free.  Then I downloaded several caches that were close to home and we just muddled our way through it to figure it out.  Once a friend showed me how to use the compass feature we did a lot better.  We have mostly done the larger, easier ones.  The kids enjoy getting a trinket and leaving one (things like chucky cheese coin, pencil, sticker, toy figures, etc.----most with a value of 25 cents or less).

[Rachel]

It's been awhile since I've had a paid memembership but I seem to remember the forums being helpful with figuring out how to download coordinates.

 

I haven't been caching in awhile, but my youngest is old enough we may need to plan an outing soon.

[HS Mom in NC]

Just be really careful to follow the rules.  We geocahed a lot several years ago and learned that many people don't like geocachers because too many aren't following the rules.

Don't pick up geobugs and other trackables if you aren't really going to follow through. Too many are out of circulation because some geocachers are unrealistic about moving them along.

[Ellie]

Similar to geocaching but without the need for a GPS device is letterboxing.

[blondeviolin]

My kids really like geocaching too! We made simple little wooden coins to drop in the caches, which they thought was super neat.

[creekland]

Enjoy caching!  We had a blast with our cachehounds back before they had the nerve to grow up and move on.  It's a ton of family fun.  We still have one we placed on our farm and hubby & I still try to get out every now and then, but it was far more fun with the "hounds" with us.  As a team we found some pretty tricky (and fun) hides and saw some great scenery along the way.  It also makes for nice stretch breaks on road trips.

[6packofun]

We use our smartphones with the Geocaching app.  I did not want to figure out the GPS device!  LOL  At a glance we can see all of the many caches within 2-5 miles of our house.  Love it!