How reliable is google maps?

[Moosley]

I don't have a GPS, and I don't have any money, but I really want to go geocaching. Is the location accurate for most caches in google maps?

[+PrincessBTigress]

I've had pretty good luck. My only GPS is a car one I got for my husband last summer, we don't have the money for a handheld yet (oh how we want one though) and the car one is not always as easy to read as would be helpful.

I usually use google maps on satelite and can get a good guess at where some will be and have found many just by remembering what the google map looks like, no use of gps.

[+Thrak]

I've had pretty good luck. My only GPS is a car one I got for my husband last summer, we don't have the money for a handheld yet (oh how we want one though) and the car one is not always as easy to read as would be helpful.

I usually use google maps on satelite and can get a good guess at where some will be and have found many just by remembering what the google map looks like, no use of gps.

 

I'd guess you aren't finding many caches with a high degree of difficulty. Try doing that with a nano and it might be impossible. I'd also guess you don't cache at night much. I actually found a cache one day using google maps when I was at work and didn't have my gps on hand. However, it wasn't a micro and I found it a full block away from where google maps showed it to be.

 

If you can find caches this way then I salute you. It's too much for me.

[+PrincessBTigress]

Actually our GPS has had more tendancy to send us off course than google maps has! There has been times my husband was using the GPS to find a cache whereas I was using my memory of what the google map looked like and he went off one direction while I went another direction and found the cache fairly quickly.

We hope that getting an actual handheld unit will cut down on the inacuracy that we get from our car unit. And I've done all sizes this way. Just last weekend I found a bison tube going purely by my memory of the google map picture, hubby never even had an oppurtunity to pull out the gps lol!

 

Oh and it depends on the area you are caching in. Large cities google maps can get you in close enough to see the color of someones shirt! But a tiny town will not zoom in as far and will be blurry. I have still found ones in tiny town areas that were blurry without the gps but it grows substantially harder, expecially if you don't already know the area well.

Edited March 20, 2008 by PrincessBTigress

[+Fuchsiamagic]

I find the photos on Google Maps to be extremely accurate, better than the GPSr in fact, because it doesn't rely on taking a direct reading from of the satellites which vary from day to day. If there is a suitable landmark near to the cache, taking a print-out of the aerial photo with you with the green arrow showing where the cache is, is just about all you will need, assuming the cache-setter had the right co-ords. I have found many caches this way, and always use it to check for accuracy before setting my own.

[+Markwell]

As long as you're using the Google Maps and not the Google Earth Geocaching Browser (KML file) you should be OK.

 

If you download the Google Earth KML file and use it, be sure to read this page:

Please note that the coordinates used in Google Earth are only an approximation and can be up to 100 ft from the actual location. Do not use the coordinates in Google Earth for cache hunting. It is merely a viewing tool for getting a general idea of the cache location.

[+Team Dromomania]

I've had very good luck using USAPhotoMaps.exe in spotting locations for caches. I usually know exactly which tree to look under or which side of the road to park. I use the program along with my GPSr to get a better fix and where to head when in the wilderness. But it works great for the city also.

[+btgeocacher]

I find the photos on Google Maps to be extremely accurate, better than the GPSr in fact, because it doesn't rely on taking a direct reading from of the satellites which vary from day to day. If there is a suitable landmark near to the cache, taking a print-out of the aerial photo with you with the green arrow showing where the cache is, is just about all you will need, assuming the cache-setter had the right co-ords. I have found many caches this way, and always use it to check for accuracy before setting my own.

 

That is very encouraging. I just wrote a program to allow me to use my iPhone with .LOC and .GPX (Pocket Queries) The iPhone comes with a high degree of integration with Google Maps. I too find the satellite and hybrid views helpful. I used to print them out and take them with me. Now I can just view them "live" on the iPhone. I've got some new caches loaded up and I'll see how well it works this weekend.

 

-dB

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