This event itself is a two-hour gathering where geocachers can socialize, tell tales of adventures past, share plans of upcoming adventures, swap trackables and organize themselves into teams for the Geo Car Rally to follow. A group photo will be taken part-way through the event.
Following this event will be a Geocaching car rally. These car rallies were run for many years by dancer man, but due to COVID-19, retirement and moving to Ottawa, the events came to an end. This popular activity was revived in 2023 and we're back for another round in 2025!
The Geo Car Rally will start immediately after the event concludes at 11:00 a.m. The car rally is a completely optional activity and participation is not required in order to log an Attended on the geocaching event.
Please log your Will Attend and indicate whether or not you plan on participating in the Geo Car Rally.
Geo Car Rally - How it Works
A car rally is not a race - it is a competition between cars to see who can navigate accurately and be observant.
This car rally is going to take you on a scenic drive through the countryside of Waterloo Region. The car rally is designed on the lower end of the challenging scale and is intended to be family friendly. Those of you who have participated in past car rallies will have some idea of what to expect. Welcome back! For those who are new, you are in for a fun time. The car rally will consist of an approximately 80 km drive on country roads. Each car must consist of a driver and a navigator and as many kids or other participants as would like to join in the fun. The more the merrier!
Each car is given a set of instructions at the beginning. Using only the clues provided on the instructions, the navigator interprets the instructions and tells the driver when and where to turn. Your car will need a trip odometer that you'll set to 0 at the start of the rally. On each stretch of road, there are typically one or more things that you have to find to answer a question on the instruction sheet. For instance, the instruction sheet may have a fill in the blank such as "_____ races here" and you'll drive by a track advertising "HAMSTER RACES HERE at 7PM". You'll answer "HAMSTER" on the instruction sheet. Pretty simple stuff!
There are also checkpoints along the route where you'll have to answer a Geocaching-related trivia question for bonus points. For instance we might ask what the placed date of the oldest active geocache was. The closer you are, the more bonus points you get. Ensure you bring your GPS. The instructions will contain a few items that you'll have to find based on coordinates, the same way we find geocaches. The route typically takes two to three hours to complete. This car rally will end at Kelseys on Ottawa St. S. in Kitchener, where you can join the group and see who won. There is no cost to join and we'll have prizes for the top three cars. I hope you can all join... the more the merrier. We go rain or shine.
A Note on Terrain
The Pre-Rally Event itself is held in a carpool parking lot. While the paved surface is wheelchair accessible, surrounding areas will not be. The car rally will require at least one participant per vehicle to exit the vehicle at several locations. The terrain rating at these locations should not exceed 2.5. Expect in the worst case to have to cross a small ditch, trudge through some tall grass, and/or navigate a very small hill. We are trying to keep all such locations as tame as possible for maximum enjoyment by all. That said, none of these locations should be considered wheelchair accessible.
Community Celebration Events - 2025
This Event is part of a limited release of Community Celebration Events to celebrate 25 years of geocaching. Geocachers hosted events between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025. Learn more about Community Celebration Events on the Geocaching Blog.