What is the state of geocaching in your local area?

[+spelldog]

Within the last few weeks I have really become disappointed in the state of geocaching in my neck of the woods. Within the last two months I have found over 250 caches and had about another 15 DNF's. Unfortunately I would say that a lot of the ones that I found had some short of problem. Here is a rough list of some of the problems: broken containers, containers full of water, logs completely destroyed, logs needed replaced, caches not in their hiding spot, etc, ect. I have emailed several owners about the problems and received hardly any communication back from any of them. Most of my DNF's were also from caches that were muggled over the winter months. Within the last month I have placed another nine caches. Most have been found by the regular caches in the area, but I have one that was posted a week ago and it still hasn't been found. There have also only been about ten new geocaches placed within 20 minutes of my house within the last three months. I have been the FTF on two of them and I didn't need to rush out to get them. Unfortunately all of these experiences really make me wonder about the state of geoaching in my neck of the woods. I am afraid that the poor economy, rising food & gas prices, and people losing their jobs or having to get second jobs to survive - is really hurting the sport. How are things where you live?

Edited April 28, 2008 by spelldog

[+WRASTRO]

Caching is alive and well East of the Lilly Pond.

[+Totem Clan]

Better than ever before up North.

[+OEnavigators]

Dead..as..a..doornail. I really have no idea what a doornail has to do with anything but as far as caches go, not counting mine or my sons, there have been two placed within twenty minutes of our house in the last eight months.

[+DrgnTrappr]

Iwouldnt say that the sport is hurting around my area, there was over 50 new listings this week. I think the economy and the weather has slowed things down some, but spring is here and the weather is getting better and it will pick up. I myself am pretty new to the sport and dont have the time to allways be out there caching with work and all.

Just be positive about it and maybe try getting new people involved, have an evnt cache, a local meet and greet to get the old cachers in the area back interested. There are hundreds of ways to get things going again in your area.

You should also think about looking farther out than twenty minutes from your house, I have cached in several hundred miles from home.

Edited April 28, 2008 by DrgnTrappr

[+Pat in Louisiana]

South central Louisiana is overrun with micros

[+Lacomo]

Caching is great in Central Missouri

[+The Pathman]

Not too bad around here but considering the snow cover still in the surrounding hills it will be a bit before that many new caches are placed. Had a new one placed yesterday with two finds already and we will be going after it in a couple more days. Folks just aren't in that great a hurry around here so even a FTF can wait for over a week in some cases.

[Neos2]

Doing well around here. Lots of new caches, I've noticed some enthusiatic new folks signing logs, and lots of caches being found.

 

You will notice the sort of things you are seeing about now. It's that time of year....it's warming up, the sun is starting to come out a bit more often, folks like yourself are getting out more--but the caches haven't all been tended to yet. Some people are finishing up a school year (like me, I teach) or trying to cache up on yard work. Folks haven't had their vacation yet, and the work load is picking up in most businesses.

 

Email the cache owner if you can't find their caches (after poking around a bit to see if they've washed downstream of been buried over the winter in leaves and debris) and post a DNF for the next guy.

 

Carry along extra supplies to do simple repairs. Paper towels and duct tapes can make a nice temporary fix on almost any cache. Be the good guy who slips in a dry log, an extra (sharpened) pencil, a bit of fresh but inexpensive swag.

 

That'll let the cache owner get out to enjoy a couple of new finds a tiny bit sooner, too. An maybe, just maybe they'll have time to place that cache they've been plotting all the long winter and the soggy spring.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Doing well around here. Lots of new caches, I've noticed some enthusiatic new folks signing logs, and lots of caches being found.

 

You will notice the sort of things you are seeing about now. It's that time of year....it's warming up, the sun is starting to come out a bit more often, folks like yourself are getting out more--but the caches haven't all been tended to yet. Some people are finishing up a school year (like me, I teach) or trying to cache up on yard work. Folks haven't had their vacation yet, and the work load is picking up in most businesses.

 

Email the cache owner if you can't find their caches (after poking around a bit to see if they've washed downstream of been buried over the winter in leaves and debris) and post a DNF for the next guy.

 

Carry along extra supplies to do simple repairs. Paper towels and duct tapes can make a nice temporary fix on almost any cache. Be the good guy who slips in a dry log, an extra (sharpened) pencil, a bit of fresh but inexpensive swag.

 

That'll let the cache owner get out to enjoy a couple of new finds a tiny bit sooner, too. An maybe, just maybe they'll have time to place that cache they've been plotting all the long winter and the soggy spring.

What Neos2 said applies in Alabama as well, come on down for some great caching!

[+wyld_bill2003]

We live in the NW Ohio area and did a cache run to the north of us today. We found 27 of 31, and only 2 needed some kind of maintenance. I also just ran a couple PQ's for my area. In the last 2 weeks there have been 115 new listing within 100 miles and 20 within 50 miles. So everything seems to be ok around here.

[+WRASTRO]

To be more specific, there are almost 1,200 active caches within a 10 mile radius of our home. Caching seems to be fairly healthy in our area. Not complaining...

[+ventura_kids]

We have tons of active cachers.

There are lots of clever caches, as well as Puzzles.

Events are plentiful, with one just about every week within 100 miles.

There are tons of urban micros, lots of desert Jeep type hides, and many hiking trails.

Good, good, good....everything is hopping around here.

We tend to post our plans, and carpool whenever possible.

[+MountainRacer]

Business as usual in northern New Jersey. We do have an exceptionally active, social, and well-organized group (NNJC), plus a few die-hard seekers (stayfloopy and IMspider), legendary hiders (briansnat and treequest), and an expert coinmaker (avroair), so all that combines to make north Jersey a good place to be a cacher.

[+WRASTRO]

Hmmm, sounds like there might need to be an attitude adjustment in NE Ohio.

[Keystone]

It's not the Northeast Ohio with which I'm familiar as a volunteer cache reviewer. There are 6823 active caches within 100 miles of downtown Cleveland, and half that radius is Lake Erie. It got so busy there that I hollered for help, and now there are two additional volunteers covering just Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania. Both OH and PA are in the top ten US States for cache density, and Northeast Ohio/Northwest PA are among the most cache-dense areas within their respective states. New caches are published daily, not just on weekends.

 

I also keep track of disabled caches, "needs archived" logs and other cache maintenance issues for approximately 15,000 geocaches, including Northeast Ohio. I would characterize Northeast Ohio as "average" for the quality of cache maintenance. No matter where you go, you'll find a certain percentage of caches whose owners have left the game, gotten distracted by family issues, etc. "Spring cleaning" for caches is needed in EVERY region where it snows during the winter, not just Northeast Ohio.

 

As for event caches, there are two recurring monthly events in Northeast Ohio, plus at least two other events each month (more in the nice weather months). The event portion of the "newest caches" list for Ohio ALWAYS runs more than one page for as long as I can remember, meaning that there are always more than 20 events coming up somewhere in the State. Several of the Northeast Ohio events are so popular and of such high quality that people take long roadtrips from other states to attend them.

 

There are multiple local geocaching groups in Northeast Ohio, and everyone generally gets along and plays nice together. Geocachers help each other out with cache maintenance and do all the other things that an active community ought to be doing.

 

That is the Northeast Ohio which I know, and which I am proud to serve as one of their volunteer cache reviewers. Things may be different within a 20 mile radius of the OP's home. If so, take a roadtrip. I visit Northeast Ohio regularly and I've enjoyed every trip.

Edited April 28, 2008 by Keystone

[+spelldog]

Hmmm, sounds like there might need to be an attitude adjustment in NE Ohio.

 

I will just politely say that maybe you should actually do some caching in my area before you mention me needing an attitude adjustment.

 

On another note - I am glad to hear that things are better in other parts of the state (Northwest, OH) and country. I just did a PQ and there have only been 12 caches published in the last month that are less than 20 miles from me. I placed four of those caches and had an influence in another one. I just hope things get better and that more people get out and start caching again.

Edited April 28, 2008 by spelldog

[Keystone]

I see that the OP is still not convinced that he lives in one of the BEST regions for geocaching. I'll try another tack -- land manager cooperation. Within 100 miles of the OP's home:

 

1. The Cleveland MetroParks has one of the oldest and most successful partnerships with geocaching. They hide their own caches, sponsor multiple geocaching events each year, and allow other cachers to hide caches in the MetroParks under a permit system.

 

2. The Northeast Ohio division of the Ohio State Parks has an annual contest that runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The park rangers hide 25 caches in five different parks. The first to solve the final puzzle wins a big prize; last year it was a GPS.

 

3. The Ohio Historical Society hides their own caches to attract geocachers to features of historic interest.

 

4. Numerous other counties sponsor or co-sponsor event caches, and welcome geocaches in their park systems.

 

5. Next door, the counties of Northwest PA banded together and created the Allegheny Geo-Trail program. Find six of the special Geo-Trail caches in a county, stamp your official passport, and earn the free geocoin for that county. This was done under a Federal grant to increase tourism to this beautiful area.

 

How many of you feel a bit jealous, reading that the state and county land managers are not just "tolerating" geocaching, but actually hiding caches for us to find, and giving away GPS receivers and geocoins?

[+briansnat]

It's going strong in northern NJ. We have a community of very good cache hiders who take care of their caches. We've avoided the shopping mall micro plague so far.

 

I've also noticed a few newer cachers who have caught the hiding bug and have been hiding excellent caches.

 

I don't think fuel prices are much of an issue here. In most areas you can drive a few miles, park your car and take a 3-12 mile hike and bag five, ten, 10, a dozen or more caches along the way. No driving from strip mall to strip mall required.

[+Ry and Ny]

In East Central, WI, I'm seeing upwards of 15 new caches a week within 20 mi. of my location. It's getting to where I'm becoming quite concerned that there won't be a decent site available at all when I decide to hide one.

[+carleenp]

I'm happy in the Chicago suburbs. I have no problem finding nice preserves to find caches in and one area that was previously closed just opened back up and I have a permit waiting for me to pick up to hide a new cache there. There are some great caches near bike trials, and we just got new bikes, so that is a bonus as well. Plus it is spring, so new caches are also springing up right and left! Yay!

[+Driver Carries Cache]

Northern California has been crazy! I came in this morning and opened my email to 15 new caches (just hidden over the weekend)... there seem to be a few new ones every day and we're all getting ready for Geo-Woodstock to come visit!

 

I'd say things are great in our neck of the woods. We've got a heavily active geocaching community!

 

DCC

[+NeoAddict]

Perhaps you need to expand your search area?

[+Lotho]

In my area, caches are generally maintained well. I suspect this is because its the UK and the area is smaller, with more cachers in the same place, which stops too many maintainence problems.

[+SgtSue]

People are putting them out faster than I have time to find them here in SC. And the vast majority of the ones I find are in good to great shape. Of course, we don't have the snow you have.

[+StarBrand]

Geocaching is alive and well around here and most of the places I travelled to over the past 3 months. The only thing I have noticed more of in the past 6 months or so is a growing number of poor containers. Putting out the cheap non-sealed tupperware vs a decent lock-n-lock only saves a buck or two. No need for soggy contents - spend the extra money folks!

[+spelldog]

I just did a seach and only fifty new caches have been placed within twenty miles of my house within the last year. Of those fifty - I have placed ten of them. I also noticed that a couple of them are already archived. So I have already had to expand my search to find caches. Lately I have been driving 40 to 45 minutes (one way) to find areas that have several caches that I haven't found yet.

 

I also second the thought of StarBrand. Spend the extra money and get good containers.

Edited April 28, 2008 by spelldog

[+Sarge104]

I must agree with others that maybe your limit of 20 miles may need to be redefined. If I were to do a query for new geocaches in my area in MT(did it by zip code) and put a limit of twenty miles to it I would have zero new hides since last year(18 Mar 07).

 

I admit your circumstances may be different but I don't expect people to put caches right at my door step in order for me to find them. Traveling the world I've had awesome experiences just for a DNF. I hope that you continue to venture forth and have a great time playing the sport. There is an endless supply of caches for you to find as long as you go out and try for them.

[+Renegade Knight]

Picking up steam here.

[+Thrak]

I don't think fuel prices are much of an issue here. In most areas you can drive a few miles, park your car and take a 3-12 mile hike and bag five, ten, 10, a dozen or more caches along the way. No driving from strip mall to strip mall required.

 

Ohhhhhhhhh........... I am so jealous!

[Skippermark]

Caching is alive and well here in CT. We have a great mix of different types from parking lots to long hikes in the woods, with lots of new ones coming out.

 

With high gas prices, we're seeing more "gas saver" types coming out where you have 20 in a park placed over an 8 mile hike, but people still seem to do a lot driving to find them too.

[+anakerose]

Our area (Okanagan Valley in British Columbia) seems to be doing alright. 10 new caches in the last week and there's probably still more in the works. There are more and more cachers out there and this area seems to be a draw for people when they go on vacation.

[+SuzyJazz]

Well first off I am NOT a huge poster to the GC forums... but this one I had to step up to the plate for.

 

I DO live in NE Ohio. Just west of Cleveland. Our area is busting at the seams with caches. So much so that I have been able to keep a cache a day (or more than one a day) streak of caching alive for almost a whole year now. Yes.. I have been able to find at least one cache a day for 315 plus days. And I am NOT a new cacher. I have over 3,000 finds. Yes, there are some days that I have to travel 8 to 10 miles, but all in all I have never had to farther than 20 miles to get a cache for the day. So, that tells you that there are new caches being placed all the time in the area. Yep, even through the blizzard of 2008 our awesome group in NE Ohio was placing caches for this Crazy Cat to find.

 

So please when you point a finger at this area and say that there are NOT alot of caches "near your home of NE Ohio"... please also note that you are the EXTREME end of NE Ohio which is on the boarder of PA.

 

Just my humble two cents.

[+spelldog]

I didn't realize that I had to indicate my exact caching location in my initial posting. I apologize that I didn't say that I live on the OH & PA line (Ashtabula & Crawford County), and that most of the caches that I have found are within 40 miles of the line. I also didn't realize that I was "pointing the finger" at the Cleveland area. The area I am talking about is about 70 to 80 miles east of the city of Cleveland. So I really don't consider Cleveland being in my neck of the woods.

 

A lot of the posts also keep focussing on the number of new caches being placed in their areas. I am glad that many of your locations seem to be getting new caches listed everyday (I am definately jeolous!), but my intial post concerning the state of caching deals more with the condition of the caches that I have found and that fact that people don't seem to be caching around here lately. That is what concerns me the most. I know that there aren't going to be a lot of new caches in my area, but it seems like the caches that are here are not upkeeped as well as other areas and that only a handful of people are active cachers.

Edited April 28, 2008 by spelldog

[+WRASTRO]

Hmmm, sounds like there might need to be an attitude adjustment in NE Ohio.

 

I will just politely say that maybe you should actually do some caching in Northeast, OH and Western, PA before you mention me needing an attitude adjustment.

 

On another note - I am glad to hear that things are better in other parts of the state (Northwest, OH) and country. I just did a PQ and there have only been 12 caches published in the last month that are less than 20 miles from me. I placed four of those caches and had an influence in another one. I just hope things get better and that more people get out and start caching again.

 

Ummm...I didn't say YOU needed an attitude adjustment. Think about it in response to your original post.

[+spelldog]

Hmmm, sounds like there might need to be an attitude adjustment in NE Ohio.

 

I will just politely say that maybe you should actually do some caching in Northeast, OH and Western, PA before you mention me needing an attitude adjustment.

 

On another note - I am glad to hear that things are better in other parts of the state (Northwest, OH) and country. I just did a PQ and there have only been 12 caches published in the last month that are less than 20 miles from me. I placed four of those caches and had an influence in another one. I just hope things get better and that more people get out and start caching again.

 

Ummm...I didn't say YOU needed an attitude adjustment. Think about it in response to your original post.

 

I apologize if I misinterpreted your post!

[+hukilaulau]

Within the last few weeks I have really become disappointed in the state of geocaching in my neck of the woods. Within the last two months I have found over 250 caches and had about another 15 DNF's. Unfortunately I would say that a lot of the ones that I found had some short of problem. How are things where you live?

To answer your question: Things are great here in eastern Long Island! I feel fortunate to have this as my home base.

 

And an unsolicited suggestion: Read some cache pages and only go after ones that look good. Find 20 good ones in a month instead of 125 that leave you disappointed.

[Earthdog Patrick]

Things are really BOOMING in NE Indiana!!!

[+horsegeeks]

Caching and caches are alive and well in GW5land Raleigh, NC. Just a reminder nothing could be finer than to cache in Carolina. We have great caches and cachers. Come on and visit us. Thank yeeeeeewwwww

Edited April 28, 2008 by horsegeeks

[+escondido100]

here in kona hawaii we have 75 caches within 75miles.....just over 100 on the entire island.... the local cachers have kinda maximized the number of caches they would like to own...most have a dozen or so that they maintain.......even though vacation caches dont last long here... i will find them as soon as they are posted...

we need more caching residents......

when i have to have some new caches we will go to oahu and pick up a few.....makes caching kinda costly.

i will often ask some oahu cachers to come over and hide a few just so there is something to do.

i have been caching for nearly two years and my big milestone just ahead is 200 caches....

most of the caches take a few hours to find here...usually over lava.

[Ferreter5]

Lately I have been driving 40 to 45 minutes (one way) to find areas that have several caches that I haven't found yet.

I drive that far to work each day.

[+kf4oox]

Spelldog,

 

I live just a little bit south of you in Sharon, Pa. I have seen your new caches being published. I would like to thank you for putting the caches out and keep up the good work on that. I do want to get up and do them but right now it takes more money to fill my tank then what I make in a week. (My work cut my time down to 1 day a week and have not found anything else) So I guess you can say the gas prices ARE affecting my caching.

 

I see you did my 2 caches last week. I am working on a 3rd cache. I just ordered a lock n' lock container for it. I hope to be putting it out in a couple of weeks. So I am trying on the putting out new caches as well. Just takes time.

 

If a cache is in poor shape then you should help out the owner and do what you can for it. You should also post a needs maintenance log for it as well. On Sat me and a couple of other cachers did a cache run and we stopped at a cache that was temp disabled to try to rescue that cache. (it had fallen and could not get up again) But we could not get it out. We logged our attempt to help the owner. I did get an email back thanking us for the attempt.

 

I have come across some caches in poor shape. I put the information in the log for the owner to act on. Owners can not get to their caches everyday. (well one of mine I can, all I have to do is look out my window and I see it)

 

But their are people who get into the game and then drop out after a while. Leaving their placed caches in place. They slowly decay and their is no response from the owner.

 

I see new caches being put out every week. I see the notify emails many times a week. I do not have any numbers but have seen plenty put out. I think Keystone has a better view on the numbers than I.

 

I know a cacher who has a couple thousand finds and has cleaned out a good 40 mile area around his home and he still goes out a couple times a week to find new caches local to him.

 

Now that spring has sprung I think we will be seeing more new caches being placed. I also think more people will be going out and finding caches.

 

I think you have started a good topic. Their is lots of conversation on it.

 

Also you live in Crawford Co. in witch Allegheny GeoTrail (AGT), a publicly funded project, is active. I do not think their is any other project like this int he US. Hopefully other areas can follow the AGT model and do the same thing.

 

I hope this helps.

 

kf4oox - Paul

[+spelldog]

kf4oox

 

Thanks for adding your honest opinion to the topic. It is nice to get opinions about this topic from another cacher in the area.

 

I remember both of your caches and I have to say that they were definately two of the better ones that I did on my cache run. The view from the one was the best of the day and your container at the other one was really cool.

 

I also think that your comment about gas prices hits home with a lot of cachers in our area. People are really struggling around here and I do think that it has had an impact on the number of people who are caching. I also think that it affects how well people maintain their caches.

 

The AGT GeoTrail is a great project and I am extremely grateful for the people who started it. I have found several caches in Crawford county and some of them have taken me to some great places. I know that there are other projects like it throughout the US and I am glad that we can say that we have similar project in our area.

 

Thanks again for your giving your insight and opinions!

[+louk.]

I'm in central Jersey and we have a good number of regular hunters and hiders. FTF's are generally performed in hours. We have a ton of small parks in the state and they're generating new caches all the time. ...and many of us have PA right next door too. We don't generally have to travel very far at all to access a goodly number of hides, so gas prices aren't much of an issue, I'd think. Doesn't hurt that Jersey's got about the lowest fuel prices in the nation (about the only thing cheaper!)

 

The S. Jersey Pine Barrens in particular seem to have attracted a nice hard-core group who actively hunt, hide, maintain and 4 wheel around the woods. I've met several cachers who've been great to talk to and I'm looking forward to attending an upcomong Flash Mob get together. All my electronic communication has been great too, except for a single snarky "expert" who had a hard time letting go.

 

We're very lucky.

[+LyleVB]

I live in the Quad Cities area (iowa/Illinois). Lot's and lot's of new caches recently, but 90% of them are crappy road side micros or in urban areas that I'd rather not search for.

 

A good portion are hidden by new cachers that haven't been exposed to anything other than more of the same kind of thing. One guy in particular started caching last July and now has about 150 finds and 350 hides. I've probablt put over 150 of them on my ignore list. It's a problem I only see getting worse.

[+PJPeters]

I'm happy in the Chicago suburbs. I have no problem finding nice preserves to find caches in and one area that was previously closed just opened back up and I have a permit waiting for me to pick up to hide a new cache there. There are some great caches near bike trials, and we just got new bikes, so that is a bonus as well. Plus it is spring, so new caches are also springing up right and left! Yay!

I was in the Chicago area last summer. I love those parks. I just wish I could have spent more time in the area. A day trip just wasn't quite enough. I did get to find Beverly, though - one of the oldest caches still active.

 

Back on track, now...

Seems like I've seen a bit more needs maintenance logs popping up (I get a notification about them), but whether it's over-zealous new cachers, or from the rough winter, I'm still not sure. Maybe both. I've found lots of damp logs, even one of mine (in an ammo can in a tree, no less!) got wet. We got a lot of snow this year. Fortunately, our community does a great job of keeping the caches fixed up (at least, once they know about 'em!).

The quality of some, in my opinion, leaves a bit to be desired. There's some great caches (found one of those today), but there's a bunch of PnGs. Not bad for winter, but a summer series of parking lot micros? I'll pass. Send me into the woods, please!

[+SidAndBob]

There have also only been about ten new geocaches placed within 20 minutes of my house within the last three months.

I don't think there have been 10 caches placed within 20 minutes of us (apart from our own) since we started caching over 2 years ago. We just have to travel.

[+Menehune Man]

We have very creative and prolific cachers here on Oahu, Hawaii.

My favorites are ones up in the mountains, but have enjoyed some urban hides as well.

Have to admit there are too many puzzle caches for my liking... seems like hiding caches from cachers?!

 

The only real downside I see is when visitors pass through, leave a cache and return home.

That's when they submit it and get denied because they didn't have the "maintenance" issue dealt with beforehand. Most vacation caches truly don't have much thought involved in the placing of it. Just a micro hidden under some rocks in a parking lot as an example. Wish cachers wouldn't do that! Please...

 

Sometimes the locals here get contacted and volunteer for the job, though really wouldn't have hidden one like that themselves. Just trying to show aloha.

[+Cach Hunter1]

There haven't been any new caches lately around this neck of the woods (Rotorua New Zealand) but I have been getting a few hits on my caches every so often.

[+CBT69]

You name it, we got it. Want evil micros? Yep. Want long 3 mile multis? Yep. Want three page logic puzzles that will make your brain hurt for a week? Yep. Want 5/5's that require a last will and testament on file? Them too.

 

And TONS of em. If I do a 7 mile radius I have several hundred. If I do a 50 mile radius, it breaks the map.

 

the new ones seem to be slowing down a little bit, but that's primarily due to saturation, and a lack of urban caches. Most of them seem to be park based, rather than "middle of town" based.