Geocaching Responsibilities: There are Rules in This Game

Geocaching is a high tech treasure hunt, a hobby that requires the use of a GPS receiver to find a given set of coordinates in latitude and longitude. At these given coordinates is a box of some sort with a logbook to sign to prove you were there. The box may also contain trade items. The cacher does an even exchange of goods if he so desires. Trade items consist of almost anything from dollar store toys to handmade crafts to key chains and flashlights. It’s a hobby that gets people outdoors and searching their hometowns for a little secret.

For the history, rules and guidelines to this hobby, I refer you to the main website: www.geocaching.com. This website has all the info you require to get started in this hobby including clues and coordinates to hidden caches all over the country. If you are new to this hobby, I urge you to read this info carefully before setting out to find a cache and certainly before you plant your own “hidden treasure”.

There are things to think about before you start setting out to plant your own cache and certainly rules to be followed when finding a cache. If one of us doesn’t play by the rules, it ruins it for everyone. For example, look at the New York State Parks.

The parks do not allow geocaches or letterboxes to be planted on that property without a permit. This is due to security issues and the fact that this is state land though it is accessible to the public. National Parks do not allow geocaching at all. This is due in some part to the growth of the hobby. There are so many of us that to get to a concealed box off of a well-established trail may in fact be harmful to the environment. Consider the numbers of cachers in this country. If we all walked the same path to a cache, we’d create a new pathâÂ?¦a herd trail to nowhere. We would be trampling fragile plants and disturbing wildlife and birds. That’s not what this hobby is about. That’s why the rules are there, to insure that everyone can enjoy the pristine experience of the outdoors. It only takes one irresponsible cacher to ruin it for the rest of us.

So here is the next website I want you to visit: www.geocreed.info. This website does not have coordinates but what it does have is the way to conduct yourself when you geocache. It is a code of conduct we all should aspire to maintain. You need to have respect for the environment, respect for other people on the trail (however they choose to enjoy it), and respect for the cache itself. Read through the info on this site, it is invaluable and all of us should adhere to it.

Rules, rules, rulesâÂ?¦who needs them? If the nature of geocaching is to be secretive, then why worry? Nobody but geocachers will find my cache and they won’t rat me out. That’s untrue. It is every cacher’s responsibility to make sure no caches are where they shouldn’t be. It’s up to cachers to monitor themselves as a group. It’s not just the administrator’s job at geocaching.com to insure that caches are where they should be. They can’t know all the details of a location just from a set of coordinates. We who seek these caches must also let people know if we think it is a misplaced cache. It’s not “tattling”. It’s maintaining the integrity of this hobby so many people can enjoy it without fear of repercussions.

The responsibilities of a geocacher must be taken seriously. We are out on the trails, out in the parks, enjoying the scenery, and having fun. To continue to do this, we need to make sure that these trails are kept in the same good condition in which we’ve found them. We need to make sure that the environment is not harmed by our actions. When we begin to disregard our responsibility to the locations in which we plant, we have no business continuing this hobby. Don’t rely on someone else to step up. Do what you can to insure that this hobby continues to be about going out and enjoying nature and seeing places that we didn’t know were in our own backyard.