whatevah.com

whenever my brother or I get into a cache-placing mood, we'll open Google Earth and turn on the option to show parks. look for one that looks big enough, and has an area with a substantial number of trees, and hop in the car. of course, where I am, Google Earth has some pretty clear imagery. it's a really handy way of finding parks, it'll show city and county parks, plus state parks and forests. there might be more parks around your area than you know about. I had no idea that there were this many parks in my area.

I use the Google Earth plugin, scroll along the route I'll be taking and look for caches within a short distance. even done it for friends over the phone. "yeah, go about 10 more miles, the cache is on the far side of the parking lot"

old post, I know, but... http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...80-66af8d4babcb http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...3a-746f6a1dfc78 anybody up for a trip?

this cache doesn't require pictures, or even that you have to use a GPS. as long as you can answer the questions without going back up, log it! after all, doing it twice would make you a fool, right?

just chiming in, the H2O is a great unit, gets good locks even under some heavy tree cover, but we picked up a Glisson antenna to use in my Cherokee (bad reception with that metal roof) and for when under REALLY heavy tree cover.

I use Google Earth almost exclusively (the area we cache in has high resolution). I can see where the cache is, roads & parking, streams, etc. Of course, in some areas the data is a couple years old, but that's part of the fun, right? The GPSr is loaded with hunting trails and access roads plus streams and topo data, in addition to the normal roads, so if we get confused when doing a bunch of caches, we just use the mapping function of the Lowrance H2O. When doing some offroading caches in New Jersey, I asked "THIS trail is in the GPS" a few times, as the trail was accessible only by 4x4 vehicles (which we were in). I only use topo maps when I'm in an area that Google Earth doesn't have high resolution coverage of. Of course, for caches less than 0.5 miles from parking, I don't even bother if the terrain rating isn't too high.

another vote for GPS Babel, I wrote a quick script so I can batch-convert .loc files and put them on the memory card (iFinder H2O) in one operation.

I typically use Google Earth for distances, since I can use the path option instead of a straight line (if I want).

I hate reviving old topics, but... If you don't mind driving for a couple hours, the Pine Barrens in NJ have a ton of caches. I knew there were a few there, but today when I was playing with the Google Earth plugin for the Geocaching website, I saw over a hundred in the area of Wharton State Forest, one of the legal offroading areas. Depending on when you go, and which areas you visit, you'll need good mud tires (and, of course tow points, and another Jeep with you to pull you out) as many of the trails get very muddy. The local offroad clubs are doing a Trail ride/Cleanup this weekend, and I'll take my brother (geocaching partner) and mother out for a little geocaching+offroading while the offroad clubs are having fun on the trails. Note to anybody wanting to do 4x4 caches: -make sure your GPS is tracking your route as soon as you get off the main roads (so you can find your way out) -go with another 4x4 vehicle (so you can get pulled out). -don't forget to bring food and extra clothing incase you get really stuck and have to stay out overnight. And, of course, make sure the areas you'll be driving on are really approved for legal offroading. (The popular offroading area near me is only approved for driving on the established trails, a lot of people don't know that, so they get a nice ticket from the police. My brother and I spent a nice rainy day caching in that area, picked up 10 nice caches, and stayed on the legal trails. Fun!)

been a full month since this thread was started, but... at the (only!) I-95 rest stop in Delaware, there is a quick little micro. I think there is a traditional cache at the I-95 stop south of Philadelphia/Chester PA, just north of the PA/DE border. DE reststop - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...9e-2cf9dd0fa1bf Chester, PA reststop - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...77-462f7cfadbea this one is about a mile, from I-95. currently, the building near it is under construction, but once its done, it'll be an evenings/nights only cache. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...17-28f2a61b67f3 not sure what exit number, it's the Christiana Mall/ Rt 7 / Rt 1 exit