Are virtual caches still allowed to be listed?

[+Scanlon]

I live in an area where a large portion of the land is national sea shore and I think traditional caches are not allowed.  But I am unable to see any information on setting up a virtual cache

[+niraD]

8 minutes ago, Scanlon said:

I live in an area where a large portion of the land is national sea shore and I think traditional caches are not allowed.  But I am unable to see any information on setting up a virtual cache

On the Geocache Types page, virtual caches are listed as one of the grandfathered cache types: "These are geocache types that are still available to find, but no longer available for creation on Geocaching.com. The reasons for why each of these types was retired varies."

 

There have been new virtual caches listed in the past couple years as part of Virtual Rewards programs, where specific cache owners were offered the opportunity to list a single virtual cache each. But if you weren't included in those Virtual Rewards programs, then you're out of luck.

 

On the other hand, a national seashore sounds like a great place for an EarthCache. There is a national wildlife refuge around here that does not allow physical caches, but which has a few EarthCaches.

[+Max and 99]

I think an EC is a great idea! Just make it different than the one already in your area.

[+barefootjeff]

Another option is a multi with virtual waypoints at locations of interest in the reserve and the final physical cache somewhere outside the reserve where it's okay.

[+Korichnovui]

You would still need to obtain permission even to place an earthcache, but it should be much easier if there’s no physical component to it.

[+hzoi]

15 hours ago, Scanlon said:

I live in an area where a large portion of the land is national sea shore and I think traditional caches are not allowed.  But I am unable to see any information on setting up a virtual cache

 

Virtual caches were grandfathered back in 2006.  Before then, anyone could submit a virtual cache for publication, but not after.

 

They have had a limited comeback over the past few years as "Virtual Rewards."  But those have been specifically awarded to geocachers.  If you weren't specifically contacted by Groundspeak and notified you have a Virtual Reward to place, then you wouldn't be able to create one.

 

edit: hey, look, @niraD said pretty much the exact same thing.  Ah, well.

 

But, if you can come up with a good earth science lesson, and you get permission from the National Park Service, there's probably room for some more earthcaches at the Cape Cod National Seashore.  There's a regional thread about how the numbers keep going down, in fact.  So if nothing else, new caches will make @edexter happy.

Edited February 10, 2020 by hzoi