Let's Get Together

Subscribe

  • Home
  • About
  • Daily Life
  • Recipes
  • Church
  • Holidays
  • Sponsor

Family Geocaching: How to Get Started

June 22, 2015 by Shari

Family Geocaching How to Get Started

This outdoor sleuthing activity comes from my dear walking/hiking friend Julie.   Her family loves all things outdoors and we can’t wait to try this!     

Are you looking for a free, fun activity to get your family outside and active? Geocaching is a fun and simple way to involve the whole family. You might be surprised at how many geocaches are located in your local neighborhood. I looked and there are hundreds of geocaches within a 10-mile radius of my home. And with geocaching apps available for your GPS-enabled mobile phone, it doesn’t have to cost money.

So do it practically in your own backyard or when you’re out and about, traveling for the summer. For Spring Break our family went to Goblin Valley, Utah. Here is the geocache we found there:

Goblin Valley Geocache

Geocaching appeals to a broad range of ages – even young children love to search for hidden caches. A cache is just any kind of container of any size. And you never know what you’ll find inside! I have heard of families whose children are all grown who geocache Easter eggs all around town, some of them with money inside. You can imagine how competitive that gets.

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.” (https://www.geocaching.com/guide/)

How Do I Begin?

  • Create a free account on www.geocaching.com
  • Click on “Play” and then “Find a Geocache”
  • Use a GPS or geocache app on your smartphone to find the coordinates
  • Search for the container, see what’s inside and sign the log
  • If you take something from the geocache, leave something of equal or greater value

What are “Travel Bugs”?

Finding the geocache in Montana

Each year our family gets a Christmas tree permit from the U.S. Forest Service so we can cut our own tree. Last year we were visiting family in Montana for Thanksgiving and decided it would be fun to cut our tree up there. As we were hiking around looking for the perfect Christmas tree, our daughter noticed a geocache at the base of one of the trees. This was a particularly fun geocache because it contained a “Travel Bug” named Lucy’s Horse. A “Travel Bug” is a geocache item that includes “Travel Bug” tags which has a trackable number.

Tags on Lucy's horse Travel Bug

Lucy’s Horse started in California in 2006 and has traveled from geocache to geocache in Nevada, Washington, Wyoming, Montana and we brought it home to Utah and placed it in local geocache here. The goal is to have this “Travel Bug” reach all 50 states.

Lucy's Horse at Highland Glen Park

For more information about “Travel Bugs” and how they work and what to do if you find one, click here. 

Related Posts

  • Camping Scavenger HuntCamping Scavenger Hunt
  • Dinner Camping MenuDinner Camping Menu
  • 17 Movies You Should Watch With Your Family This Summer That Aren’t Lame17 Movies You Should Watch With Your Family This Summer That Aren’t Lame
  • The Summer Essentials: Keeping Your Kids’ Minds and Bodies ActiveThe Summer Essentials: Keeping Your Kids’ Minds and Bodies Active
  • Group Dating for Teens: Summer StyleGroup Dating for Teens: Summer Style
  • Summer SippingSummer Sipping

Filed Under: activities, Daily Life, Family, Family Home Evening

« Singing Time Bingo
Frozen Chocolate Almond Balls »

aa

Comments

  1. Shirley Wood says

    July 8, 2015 at 6:14 am

    We would love for you to stop by and link this post up at the Summer Family Fun party! Geocaching is a great family activity! http://intelligentdomestications.com/2015/07/summer-family-fun-linky-party-fairy-gardens.html


  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
profile

From big holiday traditions to the little pieces of daily living, we think life is better together!

Copyright © 2023 · JAM AND JUICE WEB DEISGNS