Geocaching for cars

[kchorzepa]

I only discovered geocaching a few days ago when I bought my nuvi 200 and saw a link on Garmin's website. It seems, however, that the vast majority of caches are meant for and created by hikers with adventure gps units, which is very understandable. Is there currently a way to search for caches that are more or less "park and grab"? Ones that aren't necessarily easy to find, but aren't on hiking trails?

 

It may just be that I live in an area surrounded by forests, of course, that makes it seem that they're all on hiking trails (NorthWest NJ). In any case, I have found some caches that are in great locations for me, such as behind guard rails in parking lots and in a public park just off a main road. Locations like that are great for automotive gps units like my nuvi, that aren't as precise and always depict you as a giant triangle or car icon.

 

So, long story short, is there a way to search for these roadside caches? Or can we create a category of cache that is meant for the driver and not necessarily the hiker?

[+Miragee]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Well, since you just started, I don't know if you want to pony up for a Premium Membership just yet, but if you do, you can get Pocket Queries and designate that the only caches you want are those with Terrain ratings of 1.5 or 1. Those are likely to be near a road or a paved path.

 

You can use your Nuvi to find caches off the road, but you'll want to be very careful with it since it isn't very weatherproof or durable. A program you might find useful for putting Geocaches in your GPS unit is GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) and Garmin's free POI Loader you can download from the Garmin site.

[+briansnat]

Fortunately for those of us who like to hike, northern NJ is loaded with caches that require a bit of a hike. Unfortunately for those who prefer quickie park and grabs, there aren't a lot of them. Look for the El Cheapo Grande series by klizich. Those are mostly near roads. Try a keyword search on El Cheapo for a list.

 

The only other thing you can do is to look at the Geocaching.com cache maps or Google Earth with the Geocache viewer and look for caches close to roads.

[kchorzepa]

A program you might find useful for putting Geocaches in your GPS unit is GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) and Garmin's free POI Loader you can download from the Garmin site.

 

From what I've read, using GSAK and POI Loader with gpx files will provide a user with all the additional cache information on their unit. But will all that extra gpx information work on my nuvi?[

[+Miragee]

As far as I know, yes. I use POI loader to send Custom POIs to my Vista HCx. Those contain more information than the regular Waypoints.

[+Airmapper]

[+Renegade Knight]

.... is there a way to search for these roadside caches? Or can we create a category of cache that is meant for the driver and not necessarily the hiker?

 

The method that I use is to read my maps with the cache icons on them. It's simple enough if you know the area to get a feel for the 'lay of the land' and know which caches will tend to be quick and which are hikes. Out of town that's not so easy, but in my own area it's pretty straight forward.

 

Another cheezy way to do this is to get a pocket query and limit it to micro caches. Those tend to be in town.

[+deeperrin]

Welcome to Geocaching.

 

You might want to quit before it is too late and you get consumed by this hobby. No really, this is one of funnest things I have ever come across.

 

If you don't want to go for the premium membership what you can look for is "Park and Grab" caches. People might also call the P&G. These are easy to get and they don't make you go hiking to get them. Your NUVI does not have a huge battery but you should do great getting to caches and back to your car.

 

Good luck on your first hunt.

 

Derrick Perrin

Lets Go Caching, A Video Podcast About Geocaching

[m andree]

I just purchased a Nuvi 360 with the intention of using it only with my car. However i soon discovered that my GPS could be used for geo caching off road and maybe your Nuvi can do the same. First check to see if you have a coordinate setting when you click Where to. If you do you can enter the coordinates on your GPS. Also you can set your GPS for pedestrian as well as off road by clicking on the the little wrench when you open your main page and by clicking on navigation.Where it says vehicle click on car and select pedestrian instead. Also click on Route preference and select off road. You should be all set .

I am new to this activity as well with 0ne geo cache find and one hiddeen. I hope things work out for you, and that you find this info. helpful.

[+PrincessBTigress]

I geocache with just a car GPS (no money to buy a hand held) I don't remember off hand what unit we have but it's for vehicles we carry it with us on hikes anyway. It is not near as percise as a hand held (and uses a different coords translation then what most do making mulitis impossible) but it gets you to the area and then you hunt within that area. I'm not about to let my lack of money stop me from having fun so I go and just have to work a bit harder for my caches then most people do!