By this time, you’re probably aware that we are celebrating 15 years of geocaching this summer. We’re using the theme of road trips to make it fun for everyone. You have the opportunity to complete five geocaching quests, each of which will earn you a souvenir for your geocaching profile. Complete all five and you’ll earn a sixth, extra special souvenir.

Today, we highlight a three phenomenal road trips to take in three very different parts of the earth: Route 66 in the United States, a north to south bike tour of Germany, and a “New Zealand’s greatest hits” series of caches inspired by The Lord of the Rings saga.

United States of America – U.S. Route 66

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66) originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering over 2,400 miles (3,862 km). In the 150 miles stretch between Barstow, California towards Needles, Arizona lies a power trail of 800 geocaches. A power trail is path with a large number of caches placed within close proximity to each other (though no closer than .1 miles apart). All the caches in this series are on the same side of the road; therefore, this series should be done heading eastbound.

A few caches along the route are not part of the series, such as GC1K592 – Kick up your feet! There lies an dead tree covering in old shoes. So, if the power trail wears yours out, you could always swap for an older, dirtier, more busted pair.

 

Germany – Deutschland-Tour

GC3JH5D Deutschland-Tour is a 26 stage (with one alternate) Multi-Cache that runs from the north of Germany to the South, covering over 1,600 kilometers (994 miles). This is not a road trip for the weak, as it’s meant to be done by bicycle. The geocache listing page describes it best (German to English translation):

Es geht also um eine Radtour über 1600km durch 7 Bundesländer vom nördlichsten Punkt Deutschlands bis zum Südlichsten. Ja, richtig gelesen, die Dose liegt in der Nähe von Oberstdorf im Allgäu.
Ja, das ist völlig ernst gemeint und: ja, es ist sehr weit. Aber die Belohnung sind unendlich viele neue Eindrücke und das unglaubliche Gefühl, einmal aus eigener Kraft das ganze Land durchquert zu haben.

This is a bike ride of over 1600km through seven of Germany’s states, from the northernmost point to the southernmost. Yes, you read correctly, the cache is near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region.
Yes, that’s meant entirely seriously and, yes, it’s very far. But payoffs are new experiences and the incredible feeling of having travelled across an entire country under one’s own power.

 

Middle-earth (aka New Zealand) – The Lord of the Rings 

There are so many great geocaches related to The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy throughout out the world, but let’s just focus on New Zealand’s North Island. The dramatic landscapes and large uninhabited areas make it easy to understand why all of the movies were filmed here. I’m sure many geocachers could add a dozen more great spots to cache onto this list – and please do! But here’s some of the top geocaches dedicated to this story:

 

Keep in mind if you plan it right, since New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, you could geocache all summer long, twice a year! There are countless journeys to take while geocaching. Have you taken a geocaching road trip? What would be your ultimate geocaching road trip? Tell us in the comments below!