Geocaching

Off the Beaten Trail

Some areas of the country have specific geogaching trails. The state of Colorado has a program called Off the Beaten Trail.

Using the expertise of our local historians, we have identified a number of very interesting places with intriguing stories. At each location you will find a sign that tells you the site’s history. Somewhere near the sign, you’ll also find a little metal box (a cache) with a log book–to prove you were there, and a little surprise just for you! Geocaching or not, you’ll surely enjoy skipping from location to location as you explore our area. Learn lots. And most importantly, have fun!
Off the Beaten Trail.

Basic Geocaching

What is Geocaching? Geocaching is a hobby who has been around for 11 years and is kept mostly as a secret by those who are playing the sport. To play you should either have a smart phone with a GPS included in the phone or a handheld GPS or actually nothing at all … the only thing that will then cost you is the price of gas to roam your local vicinity.

First thing to do is register your user name at Geocaching.com for FREE. If you have a smart phone download the FREE Geocaching apps for your phone. If you have a handheld GPS pull it out of the closet and dust it off, or you can actually print off the clues and maps to your finds from your computer to do it for nothing.

Geocaches are EVERYWHERE. I can nearly guarantee you that you have driven or walked by a geocache every day. What is geocaching? It is a world wide treasure hunt for objects that have been hidden by those involved in the game today and for the past 11 years. There are over 1,300,000 geocaches currently hidden in the world. Most of them in the USA.

Save your old prescription bottles, plastic peanut butter jars, tupperware-like containers or just about anything that can contain a log sheet to prove that you found it to others. In some geocaches containers you can find some small SWAG (something we all get) that can be traded for similar SWAG if you so desire.

What is my best tip to getting started? Just get out and do it.

It is a great family adventure sport and creates a lot of competition among everyone trying to find the containers by reading the description and the hint.

They can be hidden in bushes in court house grounds, light post bases in shopping center parking lots, in tree knot holes way up a hillside for a great family hike, they can be literally hidden almost anywhere.

I started out geocaching by download the Geocaching Intro app on my iPhone over a year ago and I found it can be played everywhere at anytime. You can geocache at the grocery store, at the restaurant, at the theater, just about everywhere. Just pull out your iPhone, Droid or Blackberry and check your geocaching app and see where the nearest geocache is located to your present location and the game is on.

If you want to advance in the hobby you can pay $30 to be a premium member for an entire year and even more can be found that are hidden for premium members only.

There are several geocaching clubs all over the world and I bet there is one in your region.