With hikers, families and even dog walkers joining in, geocaching has become a modern-day treasure hunting game. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to navigate their way to hidden treasure, people all over the world are “caching” in on this new adventure. 

“Cache” is a term used by hikers and campers to describe a place for concealing and preserving supplies. Geocaching, which began in 2000, combines GPS technology with the Internet to search for caches. 

GPS units are electronic navigation devices that determine an approximate global location within 6-20 feet based on 24 satellites positioned around the world. The system is free to use but, GPS units range from $100 to $1,000 depending on capabilities, as some are equipped with built-in maps, compasses and voice navigation. 

There are currently 187,709 active caches in 216 countries around the world. Frequent geocacher Carolyn Greene of Thousand Oaks explained, “Caches can consist of just about anything you can imagine and of course it depends on the size of the cache container, which can vary from a tiny ‘nano’ pill bottle to a large metal military surplus ammunition box. Generally, there are small trinkets and toys, key chains, trail maps, coins, et cetera.”

Greene volunteered her geocaching expertise at a GPS seminar in June hosted by the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area. She went on to express, “As the game has evolved, it has become much more mentally challenging as well, as finding caches may require solving complex puzzles. Or a cache may be hidden in a 35mm film container on a busy street—thousands of people may walk or drive by it daily and not know it’s there, but I do.”  This weekend Greene will celebrate her 2000th find.

Bryan Roth, co-founder of Groundspeak, which is essentially the Global Headquarters for geocaching, noted that it is fairly simple to get started with the activity. Roth stated “what we have found with the geocaching community is that people are very friendly and willing to share the joy of finding a cache by taking beginners out and showing them how to get started.”

Roth also noted that anyone with a GPS unit can log on to the geocaching Web site, which has many tutorials and forums to provide assistance. The Web site is free and provides information on all caches that have been logged. People can view caches in their own area or any area of their interest, view pictures, read about all the visitors to a certain cache, and get the coordinates where it is located to get started on a search. 

The only rules that apply are that if a visitor takes the treasure from a cache, he or she must replace it with another item and make a note in the logbook. It is important to note that caches are not to be buried underground for environmental reasons.

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