Most remote cache

[+NotThePainter]

I was flying over the American West the other day, just marveling at the scenery below and I got to thinking about geocaching there.

 

I know, I know, there are cache is Antartica, and above whatever high latitude there is in Alaska and Norway and Russia and who knows where else.

 

But if I recall, having looked at at least some of them, there are other caches nearby. Caches tend to breed caches it seems.

 

So where is the remotest cache?

 

I'll define "remotest" in several different ways, including the anti-cache remoteness.

 

First the rules.

 

The cache must be on a continent. Sorry, otherwise the answer is just a special case.

 

The cache must not be a virtual or locationless.

 

Remote 1 cache - the cache that is furthest from its nearest cache.

 

Remote 2 cache - the cache that is furthest from its nearest cache in the lower 48 United States.

 

Remote 3 cache - the cache this is furthest from its nearest cache in Europe (and man, I don't want to define Europe, I'll let someone else tackle that.)

 

Remote 4 anti-cache - the center of the largest circle, on a continent, that contains zero caches. (The center must be on the continent, not the entire circle)

 

Sure some database massager can handle this one.

[+DavidMac]

ArcGIS could figure this out in a pinch... it's getting the cache data that would be the tricky part.

 

Using the google map, I managed to find a contender for #2... the lower 48: In the General Vicinity of Somewhere in Texas is 30.7 miles from the nearest cache.

[+DavidMac]

The anti- cache: The largest cache free circle in the lower 48 is probably somewhere around the Four Corners area, because the Navajo reservation does not allow caches. Discounting virtuals:

 

N 36° 20.400 W 110° 20.760= 62.1 miles to the nearest cache. The coords could probably be tweaked to get you another .1 miles farther.

edited the coords slightly

Edited September 16, 2008 by DavidMac

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I was flying over the American West the other day, just marveling at the scenery below and I got to thinking about geocaching there.

 

I know, I know, there are cache is Antartica, and above whatever high latitude there is in Alaska and Norway and Russia and who knows where else.

 

But if I recall, having looked at at least some of them, there are other caches nearby. Caches tend to breed caches it seems.

 

So where is the remotest cache?

 

I'll define "remotest" in several different ways, including the anti-cache remoteness.

 

First the rules.

 

The cache must be on a continent. Sorry, otherwise the answer is just a special case.

 

The cache must not be a virtual or locationless.

 

Remote 1 cache - the cache that is furthest from its nearest cache.

 

 

There are some really remote caches in Africa. When I was in Zambia last year there were three caches within 10 miles from where I was staying but the next closest was over 89 miles away. From the "Hide and Seek a Cache" page, you can search for caches by country and you'll find a lot of countries which have no geocaches at all. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the largest countries in Africa, there is only one geocache.

[+Mule Ears]

There's a term for the sort of relative remoteness you're trying to identify: "pole of inaccessibility."

[Mr.Yuck]

ArcGIS could figure this out in a pinch... it's getting the cache data that would be the tricky part.

 

Using the google map, I managed to find a contender for #2... the lower 48: In the General Vicinity of Somewhere in Texas is 30.7 miles from the nearest cache.

 

AHHHHHHHHHH! The last log on that cache starts out with "an easy park and grab"!!!

 

I don't know though, I was snooping around North Dakota, and the 30.7 miles is going to be tough to beat in the lower 48. Kind of hard to believe, if you think about it.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

I was flying over the American West the other day, just marveling at the scenery below and I got to thinking about geocaching there.

 

I know, I know, there are cache is Antartica, and above whatever high latitude there is in Alaska and Norway and Russia and who knows where else.

 

But if I recall, having looked at at least some of them, there are other caches nearby. Caches tend to breed caches it seems.

 

So where is the remotest cache?

 

I'll define "remotest" in several different ways, including the anti-cache remoteness.

 

First the rules.

 

The cache must be on a continent. Sorry, otherwise the answer is just a special case.

 

The cache must not be a virtual or locationless.

 

Remote 1 cache - the cache that is furthest from its nearest cache.

 

 

There are some really remote caches in Africa. When I was in Zambia last year there were three caches within 10 miles from where I was staying but the next closest was over 89 miles away. From the "Hide and Seek a Cache" page, you can search for caches by country and you'll find a lot of countries which have no geocaches at all. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the largest countries in Africa, there is only one geocache.

Yes, and in a similar vein, speaking from first-hand experience, I can tell you that there are parts of India, Malaysia and Nicaragua where there are no caches for hundreds of miles in any direction.

[+Raine]

This has floated around before and was a wall paper a couple years ago. I just updated it recently.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...9e7c0f782_b.jpg

 

Here's a 14000 x 7000 version as well:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...c79ef4002_o.jpg

[+The Blorenges]

This has floated around before and was a wall paper a couple years ago. I just updated it recently.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...9e7c0f782_b.jpg

 

Here's a 14000 x 7000 version as well:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...c79ef4002_o.jpg

 

... and, when you've got free minute, could you just create a nice overlay for that, showing all the World's caches, please? Then maybe we could zoom in and find those really remote ones...

 

MrsB

Edited September 17, 2008 by The Blorenges

[+Raine]

"all" the worlds caches?

[+Fish Below The Ice]

Here's a 14000 x 7000 version as well:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...c79ef4002_o.jpg

That's awesome. You can almost use that map to track the US-Mexico border. It's also interesting how Northern Europe, specifically Germany and Netherlands, are painted green, but Belgium, France, and Spain aren't, but then Portugal is. I wouldn't have expected national boundaries to be quite that distinct.

 

dave

[+DavidMac]

Raine... that's awesome! I've never seen the hi-res version.

 

I'm assuming that the grey dots are virtuals? And I noticed that puzzle caches are not mapped.

 

I can even make out a few of my caches! Now I just wish that I lived in a really cache-sparse area, so that I could hide a cache series to spell out my name on a blank part of the map

Edited September 17, 2008 by DavidMac

[+The Blorenges]

Hey! I've just come back to this - and now it's working for me... I can see all the little dots!

 

That's great!

 

MrsB

[+eigengott]

Caches tend to breed caches it seems.

 

No, it's still cachers that breed caches. See the map posted here and you will see for example the relationship between population density and cache density in countries where geocaching catched on.

 

Regarding remote category 1: Difficult to find without data. The nearest cache function stops at some distance, so for the really remote caches like Mount Soche you don't get an exact distance to the next neighbour.

Edited September 17, 2008 by eigengott

[+JacobBarlow]

Now I just wish that I lived in a really cache-sparse area, so that I could hide a cache series to spell out my name on a blank part of the map

 

That reminds me of a couple cool things people have made here in Utah...

 

The Baseball Diamond : http://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx...;lng=-112.67073

 

And the Heart of the Desert : http://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx...lng=-110.633333

[Dj Storm]

This has floated around before and was a wall paper a couple years ago. I just updated it recently.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...9e7c0f782_b.jpg

 

Here's a 14000 x 7000 version as well:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/277539...c79ef4002_o.jpg

 

Nice! I can see it includes caches published less than a month ago (probably even more recent caches).

 

Regarding remote category 1: Difficult to find without data. The nearest cache function stops at some distance, so for the really remote caches like Mount Soche you don't get an exact distance to the next neighbour.

 

You could get the cache coordinates, than search the area around those coordinates with a larger radius. The closest cache to Mount Soche is 379 km (235.5 miles) away.

[+trainlove]

Weighing in with a few more cents than I had done personally about 10 minutes after this thread started.

 

You could always append &dist=999 to any search to change the default 100 miles to a bigger amount. But I think it will not let you do anything more than 1000 miles.

 

Gee, if only kilometers were not smaller than miles, one might eak out a little bit more in remote areas.

 

Now to use my spreadsheet of info created to answer another question,

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=202425

which prompted a new question

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=203936

and perhaps whas the progenitor of this one,

I might have some real info to impart soon.

[+UncleJimbo]

 

Remote 1 cache - the cache that is furthest from its nearest cache.

 

This End of the World cache is pretty remote! One of my coins recently passed thru there. I am not sure where the nearest cache is, but it is very far! And this cache is on the North American continent.

 

Edit: Wow, hard to believe, but there is a cache only 103 miles from this one.

Edited September 17, 2008 by UncleJimbo

[+eigengott]

You could always append &dist=999 to any search to change the default 100 miles to a bigger amount. But I think it will not let you do anything more than 1000 miles.

 

Ah, cool! Thanks for this paramtere (unknown to me until now).

 

Due to the "must be on a continent" limit, 999 miles might suffice. I tried a few remote caches in Russia, India and Pakistan but was not able to top the Mount Soche's 379 kms yet.

[+eigengott]

SBEG, Brazil/Amazonas, 568.3km

[+NotThePainter]

The Baseball Diamond : http://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx...;lng=-112.67073

 

And the Heart of the Desert : http://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx...lng=-110.633333

 

Man, you people in the desert just have too much land... :- )

 

Well done!

[+eigengott]

Tomsk Fountain, Russia, 744.9km

[+Caribou Hunter]

Interesting thread....

[+paleolith]

I immediately thought about the Everglades, but amazingly you can only get about 40 miles from the nearest cache. Best spot looks like a little N of the SW corner of the park -- you have to watch out for caches in the Florida Keys too.

 

Edward

[Dj Storm]

Congo-go, Congo, 966.1 km (600 miles)