Feature Request: Distance Feature like Google Earth

[+Nakedbamboo]

Would it be possible to put a distance measuring tool on the GC.com maps like the ruler feature in Google Earth? I am always downloading caches into GE and then using the ruler to measure how many miles or feet they are from each other. I use this to get an idea of how long I might be walking down trails or how far off the road a cache might be. This would be a great addition to the site which would eliminate all the middle steps of going to GE.

[+KRnlKilR]

Would it be possible to put a distance measuring tool on the GC.com maps like the ruler feature in Google Earth? I am always downloading caches into GE and then using the ruler to measure how many miles or feet they are from each other. I use this to get an idea of how long I might be walking down trails or how far off the road a cache might be. This would be a great addition to the site which would eliminate all the middle steps of going to GE.

 

This would also be useful when deciding where to place a new cache, as you could measure the distance from existing caches to make sure you are at least the minimum distance required by the placement guidelines. No more walking miles into the forest and placing your cache, taking coordinates, preparing the cache page, etc just to have the reviewer come back and say your three feet shy of the minimum 528 feet, so they are not going to publish your listing.

 

Could be a useful tool.

[+Prime Suspect]

Would it be possible to put a distance measuring tool on the GC.com maps like the ruler feature in Google Earth? I am always downloading caches into GE and then using the ruler to measure how many miles or feet they are from each other. I use this to get an idea of how long I might be walking down trails or how far off the road a cache might be. This would be a great addition to the site which would eliminate all the middle steps of going to GE.

 

This would also be useful when deciding where to place a new cache, as you could measure the distance from existing caches to make sure you are at least the minimum distance required by the placement guidelines. No more walking miles into the forest and placing your cache, taking coordinates, preparing the cache page, etc just to have the reviewer come back and say your three feet shy of the minimum 528 feet, so they are not going to publish your listing.

 

Could be a useful tool.

Your GPS is also useful tool. You could load it with caches in the area, then use it to check how far away you are from other caches.

[+Nakedbamboo]

Your GPS is also useful tool. You could load it with caches in the area, then use it to check how far away you are from other caches.

 

Yes you could, but then you have to be standing at the cache to tell how far away another one is. I am wanting this to help plan some of my caching trips. There are a lot of trails near where I live that have caches all along them, and I would like to get an idea of how far I will be walking. Besides your GPS gives you only a straight path distance, where with GE, I can use the ruler path tool to follow a curvy trail.

[+Prime Suspect]

Your GPS is also useful tool. You could load it with caches in the area, then use it to check how far away you are from other caches.

 

Yes you could, but then you have to be standing at the cache to tell how far away another one is. I am wanting this to help plan some of my caching trips. There are a lot of trails near where I live that have caches all along them, and I would like to get an idea of how far I will be walking. Besides your GPS gives you only a straight path distance, where with GE, I can use the ruler path tool to follow a curvy trail.

 

My post was in response this, about placing caches:

This would also be useful when deciding where to place a new cache, as you could measure the distance from existing caches to make sure you are at least the minimum distance required by the placement guidelines. No more walking miles into the forest and placing your cache, taking coordinates, preparing the cache page, etc just to have the reviewer come back and say your three feet shy of the minimum 528 feet, so they are not going to publish your listing.

[+KRnlKilR]

Your GPS is also useful tool. You could load it with caches in the area, then use it to check how far away you are from other caches.

 

Yes you could, but then you have to be standing at the cache to tell how far away another one is. I am wanting this to help plan some of my caching trips. There are a lot of trails near where I live that have caches all along them, and I would like to get an idea of how far I will be walking. Besides your GPS gives you only a straight path distance, where with GE, I can use the ruler path tool to follow a curvy trail.

 

My post was in response this, about placing caches:

This would also be useful when deciding where to place a new cache, as you could measure the distance from existing caches to make sure you are at least the minimum distance required by the placement guidelines. No more walking miles into the forest and placing your cache, taking coordinates, preparing the cache page, etc just to have the reviewer come back and say your three feet shy of the minimum 528 feet, so they are not going to publish your listing.

 

Yes, your GPSr is a useful tool. But my GPSr doesn't allow me to see satellite photography of the area. Therefore, I would have to be standing at the spot to see if there was even a suitable hiding spot that was still outside of the minimum distance required for the hide. Now, obviously I'm not going to be able to see fallen trees or stumps with the google maps, even in satellite photo mode. But I could tell if I was going to be standing in the middle of a forest, where I may find a suitable hiding spot, or the middle of an open field (or a baseball diamond, city park, etc.) where I would likely not find a suitable hiding spot.

[+Prime Suspect]

Yes, your GPSr is a useful tool. But my GPSr doesn't allow me to see satellite photography of the area. Therefore, I would have to be standing at the spot to see if there was even a suitable hiding spot that was still outside of the minimum distance required for the hide. Now, obviously I'm not going to be able to see fallen trees or stumps with the google maps, even in satellite photo mode. But I could tell if I was going to be standing in the middle of a forest, where I may find a suitable hiding spot, or the middle of an open field (or a baseball diamond, city park, etc.) where I would likely not find a suitable hiding spot.

 

The issue was the following:

 

No more walking miles into the forest and placing your cache, taking coordinates, preparing the cache page, etc just to have the reviewer come back and say your three feet shy of the minimum 528 feet, so they are not going to publish your listing.

 

Having nearby caches loaded into your GPS would eliminate that problem.

[+pacogoatboy]

I'm sure someone will have something unpleasant to say in this thread of rapidly increasing unpleasantness, but this would be a great feature for urban cachers as well. There aren't a whole lot of people I know who would be particularly happy to allow an unspecified number of strangers to wander around their property at unpredictable times, so private property is kind of a no-go for me. So, since in my area there are a limited number of public places to hide things, it would be nice to have a simple way to measure the distance between an existing cache and potential hiding spots before I drive around town looking for a spot (with all of the nearby caches loaded into my gpsr or not.) Not that walking through a park isn't nice, but searching for a good place to hide a cache takes a lot of time, and that's not something that everyone has. Narrowing down the search area before going out would be handy. I can switch around applications, get good coordinates, measure distances, etc... Anyone can. The idea is to make the process a little easier.