WHAT IS GEOCACHING? GEOCACHING IS A REAL-WORLD, OUTDOOR TREASURE HUNTING GAME USING GPS-ENABLED DEVICES. PARTICIPANTS NAVIGATE TO A SPECIFIC SET OF GPS COORDINATES AND THEN ATTEMPT TO FIND THE GEOCACHE (CONTAINER) HIDDEN AT THAT LOCATION.

HOW IS THE GAME PLAYED? AT ITS SIMPLEST LEVEL, GEOCACHING REQUIRES THESE 8 STEPS: REGISTER FOR A FREE BASIC MEMBERSHIP.BASIC MEMBERSHIP VISIT THE "HIDE & SEEK A CACHE" PAGE.HIDE & SEEK A CACHE ENTER YOUR POSTAL CODE AND CLICK "SEARCH." CHOOSE ANY GEOCACHE FROM THE LIST AND CLICK ON ITS NAME. ENTER THE COORDINATES OF THE GEOCACHE INTO YOUR GPS DEVICE. USE YOUR GPS DEVICE TO ASSIST YOU IN FINDING THE HIDDEN GEOCACHE. SIGN THE LOGBOOK AND RETURN THE GEOCACHE TO ITS ORIGINAL LOCATION. SHARE YOUR GEOCACHING STORIES AND PHOTOS ONLINE. THERE ARE MANY OTHER LEVELS TO THE GAME. KEEP READING THE GUIDE TO LEARN MORE!

WHAT ARE THE RULES OF GEOCACHING? IF YOU TAKE SOMETHING FROM THE GEOCACHE (OR "CACHE"), LEAVE SOMETHING OF EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE. WRITE ABOUT YOUR FIND IN THE CACHE LOGBOOK. LOG YOUR EXPERIENCE AT

WHAT DO I NEED TO GO GEOCACHING? THE ONLY NECESSITIES ARE A GPS DEVICE OR A GPS-ENABLED MOBILE PHONE SO THAT YOU CAN NAVIGATE TO THE CACHE, AND A GEOCACHING.COM MEMBERSHIP.GEOCACHING.COM MEMBERSHIP

WHAT DOES A GEOCACHE LOOK LIKE? GEOCACHES VARY GREATLY IN SIZE AND APPEARANCE. IN THE FIELD YOU WILL SEE EVERYTHING FROM LARGE, CLEAR PLASTIC CONTAINERS TO FILM CANISTERS TO A FAKE ROCK WITH A SECRET COMPARTMENT. SO, HOW DO YOU FIND THE CACHE? THE FIRST STEP IS TO GET A GENERAL IDEA OF THE CACHE'S SIZE. THE SIZE IS SHOWN ON EACH CACHE PAGE. A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE CACHE SIZE GRAPHIC IS FOUND BELOW. PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE JUST EXAMPLES; SIZES CAN VARY. Micro - Less than 100ml. Examples: a 35 mm film canister or a tiny storage box typically containing only a logbook or a logsheet. A nano cache is a common sub-type of a micro cache that is less than 10ml and can only hold a small logsheet. Small - 100ml or larger, but less than 1L. Example: A sandwich-sized plastic container or similar. Regular - 1L or larger, but less than 20L. Examples: a plastic container or ammo can about the size of a shoebox. Large - 20L or larger. Example: A large bucket. Other - See the cache description for information.

WHAT ARE TRACKABLES? A TRACKABLE IS A SORT OF PHYSICAL GEOCACHING "GAME PIECE." YOU WILL OFTEN FIND THEM IN GEOCACHES OR SEE THEM AT GEOCACHING GATHERINGS. EACH TRACKABLE IS ETCHED WITH A UNIQUE CODE THAT CAN BE USED TO LOG ITS MOVEMENTS ON GEOCACHING.COM AS IT TRAVELS IN THE REAL WORLD. SOME OF THESE ITEMS HAVE TRAVELED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MILES THANKS TO GEOCACHERS WHO MOVE THEM FROM CACHE TO CACHE! THERE ARE THREE MAIN TYPES OF TRACKABLES: TRAVEL BUG ® TRACKABLES, GEOCOINS AND OTHER TRACKABLES. A TRAVEL BUG IS A TRACKABLE TAG ATTACHED TO AN ITEM THAT GEOCACHERS CALL A "HITCHHIKER." EACH TRAVEL BUG HAS A GOAL SET BY ITS OWNER. GOALS ARE TYPICALLY TRAVEL-RELATED, SUCH AS TO VISIT EVERY COUNTRY IN EUROPE OR TRAVEL FROM COAST TO COAST. TRAVEL BUG TRACKABLES MOVE FROM CACHE TO CACHE WITH THE HELP OF GEOCACHERS LIKE YOU. SEE THE "WHAT DO I DO WHEN I FIND A TRACKABLE?" SECTION OF THE GUIDE FOR INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN HELP TRACKABLES MOVE. GEOCOINS ARE CUSTOMIZABLE COINS CREATED BY INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS OF GEOCACHERS AS A KIND OF SIGNATURE ITEM OR CALLING CARD. THEY FUNCTION EXACTLY LIKE TRAVEL BUG TRACKABLES AND SHOULD BE MOVED TO ANOTHER CACHE, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY THEIR OWNERS.

HOW DO I LOG MY FIND? INSTRUCTIONS FOR LOGGING A "FOUND IT" ARE LOCATED HERE. IF YOU NEED TO POST ANOTHER TYPE OF LOG, SUCH AS A "DIDN'T FIND IT" OR A NOTE, THE SAME INSTRUCTIONS APPLY, WITH ONE SMALL CHANGE; INSTEAD OF CHOOSING "FOUND IT" IN THE DROP-DOWN MENU, YOU WOULD CHOOSE THE APPLICABLE LOG TYPE.HERE

GEOCACHING ETIQUETTE