Best puzzle cache areas

[+fizzymagic]

A few friends and I are planning to do a puzzle caching trip this spring sometime. The idea is that we find an area with a lot of great puzzle caches, solve a couple hundred, and then fly out and grab a bunch during a weekend.

 

We live in the SF Bay Area, which has tons of great puzzles. A couple of us have already done this in the Seattle area last summer around GW8. We've also pretty much done Las Vegas and the good puzzles in the LA area seem to be too spread out to make for a good trip.

 

So where are there good concentrations of interesting and difficult puzzle caches? From a brief look, there seem to be a lot in New York. Where else should I consider?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

A few friends and I are planning to do a puzzle caching trip this spring sometime. The idea is that we find an area with a lot of great puzzle caches, solve a couple hundred, and then fly out and grab a bunch during a weekend.

 

We live in the SF Bay Area, which has tons of great puzzles. A couple of us have already done this in the Seattle area last summer around GW8. We've also pretty much done Las Vegas and the good puzzles in the LA area seem to be too spread out to make for a good trip.

 

So where are there good concentrations of interesting and difficult puzzle caches? From a brief look, there seem to be a lot in New York. Where else should I consider?

 

Most of the Puzzle Masters Challenge caches are in the mid-atlantic region including puzzles in PA, MD, NY, DE, and NJ.

 

The Raliegh-Durham area in NC has quite a few good ones.

 

If you really wanted to splurge on a trip check out the number of puzzle caches in Paris. There are a lot of them.

[+jsarche]

I'd suggest checking out the Colorado Springs area. There are some really smart and creative puzzle makers busily hiding caches south of Denver.

[+JJnTJ]

Puzzle Golden Valley, Minnesota.

[+2Wheel'in]

I've got just over 300 on my "Ignore List" here in the DC/Northern Virginia area. That's in a 20 mile radius just about centered on Dulles International Airport. Considering I've got over 200 in the found column...that makes for a pretty puzzle rich environment.................sigh

 

Bill

[+briansnat]

Central NJ has a lot of puzzle caches.

 

Oddly enough the northern part of the state doesn't have that many. Not sure why that is. Maybe all the brainiacs live in the central part of the state.

Edited December 15, 2010 by briansnat

[+Viajero Perdido]

Edmonton, Alberta and Ottawa, Ontario seem to be puzzle towns.

 

I've had lots of fun with puzzles in both places.

[+Semper Questio]

There's a bunch of good ones in the Austin, TX area.

[+hzoi]

Marburg, Germany, has some great puzzle caches. Most of 'em require translation, but I don't sprechen the Deutsch so good, and I got by.

[+Isonzo Karst]

ePeterso2, chief Puzzle Headed Weanie, has sparked an modest puzzle nest in southeast Florida.

 

I've been watching Safari Utopia, Yokel Reality for sometime. It's an elegant page.

[+TerraViators]

There are hundreds of puzzle caches in DFW. One really good one is 'Sound Exactly Like Noggle Whizzler" I've been stumped for months.

[+hurleyanne]

Edmonton, Alberta and Ottawa, Ontario seem to be puzzle towns.

 

I've had lots of fun with puzzles in both places.

 

I'd like to second the vote for Edmonton, Alberta. There are a lot of nice caching areas in and around the city where you can find caches. There are numerous parks and natural areas along the river and ravines. There are all styles of puzzles - some are fun, some are maddening. And the Edmonton cachers play off each other a lot, which is also fun.

 

My personal favourites are the puzzle caches of JBeck2 - Newby Geocacher

[+fizzymagic]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

 

I went to a wedding in the Austin, TX area last year and solved a bunch but never had the time to find very many. There are some good ones there. Combine that with DFW and that could be a very nice trip.

 

Mid-Atlantic looks like fun, but having lived there once for a couple of years, I worry about the accessibility of the caches. Might be very hard to get at enough of them over a long weekend. But the quality looks to be very high.

 

Canada also looks like a lot of fun. A local puzzler is originally from the Ottawa area and has found a couple of cool ones there. I'll look into the Edmonton area more.

 

Once again, many thanks!

[+Michaelcycle]

Central NJ has a lot of puzzle caches.

 

Oddly enough the northern part of the state doesn't have that many. Not sure why that is. Maybe all the brainiacs live in the central part of the state.

 

(Cough, cough) I'm sure bs meant to say southern Jersey where there are many fine puzzle caches and clever solvers, too! I would add Maryland to the list as well. Much of the puzzlement in central Jersey comes from the clowns in Trenton

[+Viajero Perdido]

My personal favourites are the puzzle caches of JBeck2 - Newby Geocacher

I'll second that, and - since we're naming names - also throw in the fine puzzles of Kbrunog and Celestial_Badger as examples of why puzzling is so much fun around Edmonton.

 

Browse and ye will find classics.

 

In Ottawa, the caches by binthair are legendary. These are older caches, listed as multis but actually puzzles in spirit, and even though binthair has long ago dropped out of the game, his surviving caches have been adopted by the community. Completing the Binthair Challenge (an all-finds club) is quite an accomplishment and a badge of honor.

 

Binthair has set the tone for Ottawa as a puzzle town.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Viajero Perdido

[+wimseyguy]

A few friends and I are planning to do a puzzle caching trip this spring sometime. The idea is that we find an area with a lot of great puzzle caches, solve a couple hundred, and then fly out and grab a bunch during a weekend.

 

We live in the SF Bay Area, which has tons of great puzzles. A couple of us have already done this in the Seattle area last summer around GW8. We've also pretty much done Las Vegas and the good puzzles in the LA area seem to be too spread out to make for a good trip.

 

So where are there good concentrations of interesting and difficult puzzle caches? From a brief look, there seem to be a lot in New York. Where else should I consider?

The Raleigh-Durham area in NC has quite a few good ones.

Thanks for the props for this area. I'm not much on puzzles, but there are a few decent ones around here placed by stumpwater, binary J, The Alethiometrists, smoovetalker, and binaryflow. There are others, but those are the main puzzleheads around here whose caches I avoid. That's 70+ for starters.

Edited December 17, 2010 by wimseyguy

[+John in Valley Forge]

Central NJ has a lot of puzzle caches.

 

Oddly enough the northern part of the state doesn't have that many. Not sure why that is. Maybe all the brainiacs live in the central part of the state.

 

(Cough, cough) I'm sure bs meant to say southern Jersey where there are many fine puzzle caches and clever solvers, too! I would add Maryland to the list as well. Much of the puzzlement in central Jersey comes from the clowns in Trenton

 

Central Jersey? There is no such place. There is North (Giants territory) and South (Eagles country).

 

That said, there are some real good ones in the southern parts of North Jersey and the northern part of South Jersey.

Edited December 17, 2010 by John in Valley Forge

[Skippermark]

Burlington, VT has a lot as does the Conway, NH area. Any puzzle by Hipointer & Capiti is going to take you somewhere nice, often into the Mount Washington/White Mountains.

 

And of course Central Park in NYC is well known for the puzzle caches there.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Skippermark

[+narcissa]

Ottawa, Ontario! We're seriously nuts for puzzles here.

[+Thrak]

Just drive a few hours North to Yuba City. I don't know what the quality level is but there are a lot of puzzles there.

[+niraD]

Just drive a few hours North to Yuba City. I don't know what the quality level is but there are a lot of puzzles there.

I'm pretty sure fizzymagic and the gang have already cached out the nearby puzzle concentrations like Yuba City. There have even been a few puzzle cache numbers runs up there by groups of local geocachers.