March 25, 2015 / Paige Edmiston /

Check out Geocaching.com’s new look!

We’re always striving to make better tools for the geocaching community. The addition of the new geocache search and Hide a Geocache page gave us an opportunity to think about how players navigate Geocaching.com. We found that most players who visit the website want to either learn about geocaching, play the game, gear up, or connect with the global geocaching community. The new navigation should help guide you to find exactly what you’re looking for — and leave the hunting around for when you’re in the field!

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What’s new:

How do I access My Profile?

Click on your geocaching username or your profile image. This will take you to My Profile where you can access Lists, Geocaches, Trackable Items, Souvenirs, and more.

How do I access Account Settings?

Look for the gear icon in the drop down under your username.

Where can I see my membership status?

You can see your membership status listed in Account Settings or My Profile.

Why is the font different on the website?

You have good eyes! In the name of consistency, we updated the font to be the same across Geocaching.com.

Oh no! My geocaching scripts aren’t working anymore. When will you fix these?

These scripts are made and maintained by members of the geocaching community, not by Geocaching HQ. Occasionally, updates like this will stop them from working. Usually, the geocachers who own and maintain the scripts are quick to fix them. Thanks for being patient!

How do I find…?

Sometimes less is more. These pages did not make it into the new navigation but you can still find them on our website here:

Guide to Buying a GPS Device
Geocaching & Education
Geocaching Brochures
Geocaching Tools and Downloads
Advertising with Us
API Program
Signal the Frog
Geocaching in the News
Benchmark Hunting
Geocaching History
Local Organizations (Note: Getting involved with a geocaching organization is one of the best ways to take your game to the next level. You can also learn more about organizations here.)

March 25, 2015 / Alex /

And the February 2015 Geocacher of the Month Is…

Each month, geocachers around the world nominate members of their community for the prestigious title of Geocacher of the Month. The people who earn this title are not superheroes in the traditional sense: instead of the power of flight, they possess the power to transform a park bench into a treasure chest; instead of teaching the baddies how to be good, they teache newbies good geocaching etiquette; instead of stopping monsters from tearing down the city, they stop decaying geocaches from being archived.

There is no doubt in our minds that the folks nominated for February 2015 Geocacher of the Month are our geocaching heroes. Here are the three nominees.

TexasWriter
This geocacher from — you guessed it — Texas, is always rushing out the door to be the FTF, but won’t hestitate to help out a fellow ‘cacher along the way. If you live within 50 miles of him, he’s probably at the top of your Phone-A-Friend list.

Ramgab
This geocacher has found just about 58% of the geocaches in his country. That’s quite a feat when the total number of geocaches in Hungary around is over 6000. Aside from placing stellar kayaking cache series, Ramgab has also helped organize multiple geocaching Mega events in Hungary. As a result, the Hungarian geocaching community has grown significantly over the last few years.

TeamPommes
This German geocaching Team has amassed hundreds of favorite points for their creative gadget caches, tricky Mystery caches, and stunning cache locations like this one, which has been featured on the geocaching Instagram page. You’ll recognize a TeamPommes cache by their signature pommes frites (french fries) page background.

All three nominees are outstanding members of their geocaching communities, and every comment that came in to us about them was full of praise. They will each receive a prize package from Geocaching HQ. But there can only be one winner.

A panel from Geocaching HQ has collected and reviewed your comments.

The February 2015 Geocacher of the Month is:

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After we opened our blog post on the nominees for comments from the geocaching community, stories of TexasWriter’s generosity and leadership flowed in.

afe2c2e6-47a9-42e0-9d89-ec0f8902cf80_l Mike tells of the second time he met TexasWriter: I was with a group of cachers and we were caching his (locally famous) “Warrior Series” of caches. TexasWriter called me to ask about a cache that we had DNF’ed. (He knew we were getting his caches because I was uploading finds from the field). I told him I couldn’t talk to him right now because my phone battery was about to die and suggested that he should call one of the others in the group I was with. He surprised us when a half hour later he showed up on the trail and handed out water bottles. He then handed me a battery that plugged into my phones charging port and extended my phones battery life.”

TXDinoTrax says: “He’s also one of the nicest cachers I’ve ever met. My kids love that he’s shared his pathtags and helped build their collections. He’s always available for a PAF (Phone-A-Friend), and he and his wife have graciously opened their home to host educational geocaching events. And if that weren’t enough, he has had some truly epic adventures (think night caching in a Louisiana bayou surrounded by hundreds of shiny gator eyes at kayak level).”

Kind words from OMA&OPAof5: “We vote for TexasWriter. If there were such a thing as an International Geocache Goodwill Ambassador, he would be the perfect choice to fill the position. He has a passion for geocaching that is contagious. He uses his love of geocaching to mentor newbies like us and is always willing to answer any questions we might have.”

So says Swagglepuss: “My vote is for TexasWriter. His numbers are impressive enough to win based on those alone, but they don’t even begin to tell the story about the tremendous positive impact he has had on the geocaching community. I appreciate the time he puts into writing meaningful, thoughtful, helpful, encouraging, and at times, extremely entertaining logs on every cache he finds. I love the time, effort, thought, and craftsmanship he puts into placing and maintaining his numerous hides.”

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The outpouring of praise we received for TexasWriter goes on. The impact he has made on the Texas geocaching community (and elsewhere!) is clearly significant. We’re happy to award him with the Geocacher of the Month geocoin.

The earned, never for sale, Geocacher of the Month geocoin.

Know an outstanding geocacher who should be recognized? Nominate them for next month’s award!

March 25, 2015 / Carly /

You hid your first geocache, now what?

You did it. You hid the coolest, most creative geocache and followed all the necessary guidelines… right? Well, the work is not over. As a geocache owner, you have a responsibility to maintain and manage your geocache after it is published. The hide itself is just the beginning of your ‘geocache owner’ journey.

Note: The cache was screwed into a tree for this photo, but this was not a permanent placement.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind as a new geocache owner…

1. It’s your job to perform maintenance on your geocache. That includes replacing full or wet logbooks, fixing the container as needed, cleaning up trash around the geocache, editing text on the listing page, etc.

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2. If a trackable is listed online as being in your geocache but is not physically there, mark it missing.

3. If your coordinates are off or you need to move your geocache to a new location, update them.

4. The “Needs Maintenance” red wrench icon will show on your geocache listing if it has been reported by the community as needing maintenance. Geocachers see this icon as a sign that your geocache may not be in good condition and they may skip trying to find it. Once you have made repairs, post an “Owner Maintenance” log on your geocache page. This log removes the Needs Maintenance icon.

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5. You can temporarily disable your geocache if needed. Do this if the geocache needs repairs, or if the area is closed for a period of time (construction, hunting, winter closures, etc.). This is meant to be temporary, which means a few weeks, or perhaps a couple of months.

6. Don’t log your own geocache. Save the smiley for use when you’ve truly discovered a hidden geocache.

7. Use your owner powers wisely. Logs that fail to meet stated requirements (such as ‘Found It’ logs by geocachers who have never found the geocache) or logs that conflict with our Terms of Use Agreement may be deleted. Read more about log deletion .

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8. Sometimes life happens and you can no longer maintain your geocache. You will want to archive the geocache listing, which will permanently remove it from the geocaching.com website, or adopt the geocache out to someone else. Remember to also remove the physical geocache container if you archive.

9. Lastly (and most importantly), have fun! One of the greatest perks to being a geocache owner is reading all the wonderful logs by other geocachers discovering your geocache.

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March 23, 2015 / Eric Schudiske /

Earn New Souvenirs — Celebrate 15 Years of Geocaching

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Unlock Your 2015 Geocaching Mission on May 2 and 3

This May 2nd and 3rd, celebrate the history of geocaching by unlocking your mission for 2015. May 2nd and 3rd signal the beginning of geocaching, some 15 years ago. On May 2, 2000, GPS signals were descrambled, increasing the accuracy of GPS devices worldwide by ten times. The following day, what would become known as the first geocache was hidden.

Celebrate 15 Years of Geocaching on May 2nd and 3rd by finding any geocache or attending any geocaching event. You’ll earn a new digital souvenir for your geocaching profile.

Unlock details of your 2015 geocaching mission by reading the souvenir’s description. Join the conversation with your fellow geocachers on social media by tagging #Geocaching15 in your posts.

(Hier kannst Du den Artikel auf Deutsch lesen)

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Thank You for a Deliciously Successful Pi Day!

On March 14, 2015, aka 3/14/15, geocachers around the world celebrated Pi Day by finding a Mystery Cache or attending a Pi Day event and earning two souvenirs. In case you missed it, there was another puzzle hidden within the souvenirs.

Take a look at the two Pi Day souvenirs. Notice the numbers and letters around the rim? Combine those to find the page for GC31415, which contains a very special message from one of the co-founders of Geocaching.com and a few delicious pi(e) recipes.