You’ve decided to create a new geocache. You’re excited, and you can’t wait to go out and hide it. Slow down, eager cacher. A little preparation before you go can make the difference between seeing your cache published quickly or having to start all over again.

Let’s go over a few things to check before, during, and after you hide your cache. Also, at the end of the blog post we’ve included a graphic you can save and print so you can have a physical checklist to set you up for hiding success.

Getting ready

• Choose a container.
  • Ideally it should be as large as your hiding location can support. Don’t hide a micro in a place that could easily conceal a container large enough to hold swag and trackable items. Bigger is better for both the environment and geocachers searching for it.
  • A good geocache container should be waterproof and sturdy for a long life outdoors. Learn about what makes a good geocache container: Cache containers explained.
• Check your local land policies.
  • Some areas require a permit to hide geocaches, while others may want you to show the staff where your geocache will be hidden. Some places do not allow any geocaches at all.
  • The ideal time to find out about policies for your chosen area is before you go there to hide your cache. Reviewers around the world have contributed to a Regional policies Wiki that you can use to check your local land policies.
  • Make sure your hiding area is a place you can easily revisit to perform maintenance on your cache if needed.
• Go over the Geocache hiding guidelines.
  • This part is very important. When your cache is reviewed for publication, your reviewer will check it against every one of those guidelines. If you already have an idea of where and how you are going to hide your container, check your idea against the guidelines first. If it doesn’t meet all of the guidelines, it cannot be published.

Pro tip: Bookmark the Regional policies Wiki and Hiding guidelines for quick and easy access.

When you go out to hide your cache

• Think about muggles. If you think you’ve found a potential hiding spot, step back and look all around. Are you in full view of muggles? If so, you might consider another spot, or add a spoiler picture or descriptive hint to your cache listing. Instead of a highly visible location, try to hide your cache where geocachers can do their searching behind some cover, to avoid attracting the attention of nearby muggles.
• Think about what kind of impact to the environment your cache will inspire. Nearby plants might be trampled if a hide is very difficult to find. If you think the area may be damaged, choose another hiding place or make your cache easier to find.
• Think of hidden waypoints. If you haven’t found all of the nearby caches with puzzles or multiple stages, recognize that a secret physical cache may be nearby that blocks your cache placement. It may be worth your time to look for other potential hide locations in the area in case your first choice is not available.

Before you submit it for review

• Do one last guideline check. Go through the guidelines again and check your cache against each one. If it doesn’t pass them all, fix anything non-compliant before you submit it for review.
• Make sure your cache container is in place and ready to find when you submit it to be reviewed. Nearby geocachers often race out to be first to find a newly published cache.
• Share hiding details with your reviewer. Describe every detail of your container and hide for your reviewer when you submit your cache for review. The more information you provide, the less likely your reviewer will have to pause the review to ask you questions.

During the review process

• Be patient. Reviewers are highly experienced volunteers that review caches in their spare time. They have jobs and families to take care of first, in addition to their geocaching responsibilities. The review process should begin within 7 days, but it is usually much sooner.
• Check your email and the cache page for notifications about your cache. Your reviewer may have questions for you. They will be posted as notes at the bottom of your cache page.
• Use a Reviewer note log type to respond to questions. Use your cache page to respond to those questions with a Reviewer Note log type and then resubmit it for review. Be as detailed and explicit as you can with your answers – all of that communication will be automatically deleted when your cache is published. No one will see it but your reviewer.
• Edit the cache page to resolve any issues. Don’t create a new cache page to fix an issue. Edit the one you have instead. If your cache doesn’t work out, you can even reuse it for a new cache. Everything but the GC code can be edited before publication.

The more thoroughly you have prepared, the more likely your cache will be published soon. Have fun reading the logs on your new cache!