It’s incredible to think that one small action could chart a course toward something so big. On May 2, 2000, that’s exactly what happened as the pivotal decision was made to flip the “Blue Switch,” leading to geocaching as we know it today.

On May 2, 2000, the United States government decided to discontinue restricting GPS accuracy, known as Selective Availability, making GPS technology more accurate for everyone. May 2 became known to geocachers as “Blue Switch Day.” The first geocache was hidden the following day on May 3, 2000.

This first hide started a chain of events that no one could have predicted. This eventually resulted in the game of geocaching, a global hobby with over 3.3 million geocaches!

This year, we depicted this important series of events with a Rube Goldberg Machine®. The many complex steps in the machine represent the complicated web of decisions that led from the removal of Selective Availability to modern geocaching, a hobby 25 years in the making.

To celebrate 25 years of geocaching, there are two new souvenirs to earn for Blue Switch Day 2025!

Blue Switch Day 2025 finder:

• To earn this souvenir, geocachers must find and log one geocache, attend an Event, or complete an Adventure Lab® Location between May 2 and 4, 2025.

Blue Switch Day 2025 hider:

• To earn this souvenir, geocachers must have a non-Event geocache published between May 1 and 31, 2025.
  • Any non-Event geocache type (excluding Adventure Lab) counts, as long as it is published between May 1 and May 31.
  • Remember that review times may vary! A geocaching community volunteer will typically begin the review of your geocache within 7 days. We recommend submitting your cache for publication at least a week before the deadline. Learn more about the cache review process in our Help Center.

How will you celebrate Blue Switch Day this year?