Hidden Treasures revealed by geocaching

[+wimseyguy]

In another thread congratulating TAR on his 10 geo-anniversary I mentioned that I've found some very interesting spots through geocaching. It's taken me to places I never knew existed while I was traveling, and probably are not listed in most tourist guides.

 

Most visitors to Washington DC will see the Lincoln and WW II Memorials, and many of the sites of virtual caches in town. While it was cool to find a cache in the Roman Forum, I would have visited it anyway. I didn't know there were bison in Golden Gate Park, but I still would have gone there when visiting SF.

 

What I'm curious about for this thread are the amazing sights and sounds have you been shown when following that compass needle to the cache coords? What are special places that geocaching introduced you to that you otherwise might never have discovered?

 

Here are a few of mine.

 

Sounds of the Bay is a very interesting sculpture on the edge of the water in San Francisco.

Columba is a unique resting spot also in SF.

Ebey Bluffs are one of the most scenic and pleasing places in Washington.

A Southern Walking Tour introduced me to a small college campus with several architecturally significant buildings.

Big Ball of Paint is just that out in the corn of Northern Indiana.

[Moun10Bike]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

[+niraD]

The view from Anniversary Cache was great, but I was already there, so it didn't really bring me there. But Gem of Big Sur and I hate I-5, So let's travel a different way! were beautiful locations we were near that we probably would have missed otherwise.

 

Purisima Crk Redwoods Open Space Preserve ~ MROSD was a great destination, and the EarthCaches at Pinnacles National Mounument (for example, Talus Cave - Pinnacles NM) helped me plan an extremely enjoyable hike through parts of PNM that I had never visited before. And Refuge Roundup introduced me to parts of the wildlife refuge that were new to me.

 

And most of the caches on my Public Art bookmark list have taken me to various examples of public art that I would have probably missed otherwise.

Edited August 15, 2013 by niraD

[+Viajero Perdido]

This was a very cool surprise for me at least, at a cache called Rock Face.

 

The picture is on the cache page, but I never looked at the page. I was expecting, you know, just your ordinary cliff.

 

[+u1bd2005]

Well, no pictures just yet, but I really like bridges in peaceful places, 2 recent caches (one today and one a few days ago) literally 10 minutes walk from where I work have both led me to discover some nice bridges and nice walks, both of which I'd never have known about.

 

Definitely going to be some new destinations for my morning walks before work, will try and get some pictures up sometime.

[+DragonsWest]

Too many to list and due to photo limits I'm unable to post everything I'd like.

 

Probably the most memorable was this morning view of Shasta.

 

[+hydnsek]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

Ooh, I know, I know! That was one of my favorite surprises on a cache outing, as well.

[+JBJ Puzzle Solvers]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

 

Wow, wish I knew which one this was so I could put it on my to do list. Looks very interesting.

[+Quossum]

Great thread! Finding hidden treasures of this sort is one of my favorite parts of this hobby. I can't count how many cool parks or historical markers I've found this way, but here's one of my favorites, a collection of funky folk art along a remote roadside:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=568cb1d6-dc09-452b-a385-d9147d63b579&IID=e736bfff-38dd-457a-9e2b-d66efb87ecda

 

This is for a cache, now archived, where a strange figure had been carved into a lightning-struck tree in front of a house (the cache was in a small park across from a house). The new homeowner sadly chopped down the art, so if it hadn't been for geocaching, I wouldn't have ever seen this piece.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=f64aee61-5fc2-4652-82c4-4b29627e454f&IID=5a749e79-f1f1-420f-bc3a-13de63e51834

 

Good stuff. What a hobby!

 

--Q

[+SwineFlew]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

 

Wow, wish I knew which one this was so I could put it on my to do list. Looks very interesting.

Hint, look at their favorite list. Not hard to figured that out.

[+suchanana]

my tagline says it all -geocaching ROCKS and is very seldom dull...Life is still an adventure...

 

i'm so glad geocaching led me to: Maumee River Alvar

 

special road trip with geo-friends made Wapakoneta known now for something other than Neil Armstrong's hometown Mocopulence

 

but then, this gem still stands out as the best of the basics: Power Lady take a short hike, find a cache among some back-to-nature ruins, all the while basking in the warm sun, with balmy breezes and Lake Erie just steps away...alone in a busy world for a moment of blissful joy...

thanks to the CO in 2001 for this cache treasure & thanks to all the cachers who place these treasure hides for those of us who follow...

[+JimC61]

I have only been Geocaching about 3 months. I usually go out with my 3 daughters. Since we have been geocaching we have been led to some very nice little city parks in the surrounding area we never knew existed. They are still young enough to hit the playgrounds at some of the parks too so they enjoy when the parks have them. We live in Northeast Ohio and there are some very old cemeteries around that have caches hidden in them. We usually spend a few minutes respectfully looking around them and I try to explain to the girls the historical value of them. Some of the caches, including some night caches, have been hidden in our local park systems as well. This gives us the opportunity to take advantage of the hiking trails, rivers, ponds and in some areas, the playgrounds. We have been to some of the parks previously but looking for the hidden caches we have discovered so much more of the parks.

 

I am hoping to come across an area or structure that will really blow me away. A place I probably wouldn't have visited unless Geocaching brought me there. Over the winter as our Geocaching time will be lessened due to school and the potential nasty weather that can be around here. I am going to look over the map, review logs and talk with fellow geocachers to try and line up some trips for next year where we might find more Hidden Treasures and maybe that place when we get there will cause us to stop in our tracks and say "Wow - this is a very cool place".

 

One of the coolest things about this hobby is finding the places you never knew exisited... The Hidden Treasures.

[+The Jester]

The cache is long gone, but it did show me that there is a baby monster buried in Kent, WA.

[Moun10Bike]

The cache is long gone, but it did show me that there is a baby monster buried in Kent, WA.

 

That was a cool one, too!

[SJSE]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

 

What state is it in at least? lol

[+Jayman11]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

 

That is awesome!!!

[+BAMBOOZLE]

The title of this post is probably the one thing I love most about the game. Crisscrossing the country we've found hundreds of these treasures and dozens have been truly astounding.....too many to pick out one !!

[+Dreamer of Pictures]

Discovering new and interesting places has been a major draw for me:

 

2013: A rock formation with a unique view down to the small town where my dad was born (found an easy jeep trail leading to the rocks, but I could not quite find the geocache)

 

2012: A very isolated triple waterfall near a seldom-used fire road on a mountain.

 

2012: On that same road trip, the Cadillac Ranch, car bodies nose down in a real working cattle ranch in Amarillo. A photo I took of that amazing art won a first prize in Color Abstract/Pattern at the county fair back home.

 

2012: Picking up one caches or more in each of 14 different states on our family road trip to New Mexico, including one hidden in a long-dead truck stop on Route 66 at the end of four miles of long-dead businesses on Route 66 (a reasonable setting for Walking Dead and the like).

 

2011: A summer kitchen shack, older than I am; at that one, I had a nice chat with my son and his friend about the reason why a summer kitchen existed.

 

2003: (my find #16) A cliffside cache on the Eastern Continental Divide - rain falling on my left would run into the Mississippi, and on my right into the Chesapeake.

[+Dogmeat*]

Found a bridge I've crossed many times, but didn't realize it was a bridge until a geocache brought me to the side of it. It's on a dirt road and was built with stones to cross a small brook and then covered with dirt. Was amazed that I never noticed it before.

 

Found many beaver dams and water falls.

 

My favorite was in a small town off a highway I travel often for work in another province. I passed by so many times, but a geocache brought me into it this day and it brought me to this beautiful church with an amazing monument with fountains and a waterfall built into it.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

This one is only about 200 feet from a road but it's a rural road with thick woods on both sides and you'd never know this existed unless you lived very close by. It would be very easy just to drive by and not notice the faint trail about 100 feet from a small spot with room for one vehicle,

 

 

 

[+Ben0w]

For over 30 years I drove (or as child: was driven) by an old stone-mill building, when visiting relatives, going big-city shopping or - later - everyday to university and office. As a kid I always wanted to visit this building, and it still impressed me every time I passed it, but I never took the opportunity for some reason. It looked like a long forgotten industrial monument with a large wooden tower.

 

Then I started geocaching and found cache coordinates nearby. Now, there was the last kick, eventually. I visited the location and was stunned, finding it still in service. Would make a great movie location, though. The cache itself nearby was another impressive thing, but to really visit a spot I wanted to be since beeing a kid - in this case I owe it to geocaching.

 

The most money worth "treasure" I found was a key ring with a lot of keys at the park coordinates of a remote cache site. After doing some unsuccessful research in the cacher community I finally sent it to the lost&found office. They were able to contact the real owner and I was rewarded with 30 EUR - so my Premium Membership for the year was paid by geocaching.

[jenndiggy]

This weekend I visited a cache and discovered there used to be a 300 room hotel in the next town. There is a "gas house" from the hotel left and I have driven by that location thousands of times but never knew it was there. Just thought that was cool that I have driven by it so often and was clueless as to its existence!

[+The Jester]

I won't say what cache this is to avoid spoiling it, but this was the surprise awaiting me at the final of one of my favorites:

 

080531_020-The stump lodge by Moun10Bike, on Flickr

 

Edit to say that I never would have traveled to this remote location or known that this was there without the cache leading me to it!

 

What state is it in at least? lol

Washington AC*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*That's Above California

[+fizzymagic]

There have been so many things revealed by geocaching that I would never have seen otherwise. One that sticks out to me is this cache:

 

Galileo's house

 

Very few tourists to Florence see it; it is not widely known. Yet a geocache took me there!

[+wimseyguy]

A few recent posts jogged my memories of three others that fit this category. I'd post more pics here, but it seems the image servers are acting up. Just click the gallery links at the listings if you want to see more.

 

The Grand Hotel took me to the foundation ruins of a spectacular hotel that was 10 minutes from my family's vacation home in MA. We've been going to the Berkshires for 25 years and none of us ever knew this was here or had heard of it until we went caching on those trails.

 

I discovered there were ruins of a Roman fort in a forest in Germany because of the cache listing. I suspect that visiting something like this isn't on the itinerary of most visitors to Frankfurt.

 

I missed out on Galileo's House as it was placed after I visited in 2004. But if Stairway to Heaven 2 wasn't listed as a virt I wouldn't have known that you can climb to the top of the famed Duomo in Florence. I'll be a very significant percentage of visitors to that lovely city stop by the cathedral, but I doubt many make the 15 minute climb inside the walls to reach the viewing platform at the very top to see the amazing views of the city and Tuscany and view the ceiling frescos from close up as you transition from the path through the walls to those through the dome itself. It was a very special first morning in that city for me.

 

 

Edited August 20, 2013 by wimseyguy

[+J Grouchy]

This cache brought me to a really cool nature preserve near my home. There's a good description of the area here...and the Doll's Head Trail is especially creepy and fun to explore.

 

 

 

[+bflentje]

I found in Colorado that Big Foot REALLY does exist.

 

Big Foot Crossing