In the forest near Baden- Wϋrttemberg, Germany lies a doorway that supposedly leads to vast hidden treasures. But to get the find for this treasure, you’re going to have to put in some work. Das Vergessene Portal (The Forgotten Portal) (GC3HWBE) will test your puzzle-solving skills as well as your patience.

The geocache owner die wilden crossies had this to say about creating this difficulty 2.5 terrain 3 geocache, “You start with a not-too-difficult puzzle, have an idea for a good history, some craft talent and some mechanic operations for the ‘wow-effect.’”

He then drew inspiration from exciting, treasure-hunting movies like “The Goonies” and “Indiana Jones” to create an entire history for this geocache. The description tells the story of a castle that once existed near the portal. During a ferocious battle, residents of the castle secured a large treasure within the portal and locked it with two locks. Now, the treasure can only be recovered by deciphering the code and using the correct keys to open the portal.

Frau Potter, from Geocaching HQ, had the opportunity to find this geocache during a trip to Germany. In her log, she writes, “This geocache is very inventive and exciting. We had some trouble, but thankfully some local experts were there to help us along.” Another geocacher to log find the geocache was dieroes, who wrote in their log (translated from German), “From the first log it was clear, this was something special. We had high expectations on the way and were not disappointed…Many, many thanks to the owner for this great work!”

While geocachers  may not find gold and gems hidden by ancient castle-dwellers, the real treasure is the satisfaction of solving the puzzle and adding another smiley to your Geocaching profile. “I wanted to give pleasure to all the geocachers who will discover the forgotten portal,”die wilden crossies said. With a creative backstory, an inventive geocache container and an intriguing puzzle—we think he succeeded. Have you come across a geocache with an amazing story? Tell us about it in the comments.

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@geocaching.com.

Last week, we hit a major Geocaching milestone: our two millionth active geocache. This feat happened only three years after the millionth geocache, which means our favorite activity continues to grow by leaps and bounds. To continue the celebration, this week we’re featuring the geocache that put us at the two-million mark: Overwatch #1 (GC46N4E) near Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.

Take one look at the log book and you’ll see just how excited the Geocaching community is about the two millionth geocache. There are more than 1500 notes from geocachers all over the world sending congratulations and well wishes to the geocache creator, rAMPant_1.

Geocacher TheRadioheads writes, “Wow, what a milestone to have: we would like to add our congratulations on having the 2,000,000th cache published.” Geocaching HQ got in on congratulating rAMPant_1 by sending a Geocaching care package. The package includes personal tags from those that work at Geocaching HQ and Lackey Geocoins. Who knows, they may end up as swag in the 2,000,000th active geocache.

And that geocache is no walk in the park. The difficulty and terrain are both 3.5 and the search includes a scramble up a short, steep slope. From ground zero, you’ll get an amazing view of Alice Springs and the surrounding country.

So far, Overwatch #1 only has one find by geocacher tttedzeins, but we’re guessing that this geocache will have plenty of “found it” logs soon.

Are you planning on making the trip to Alice Springs to log the two millionth active geocache?

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog or view the Bookmark List on Geocaching.com.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, send an email with your name, comments, the name of the geocache, and the GC code to pr@groundspeak.com.