Feature Suggestion: Include Cache Owner Contributions in Geocaching Treasures

[+Samarito]

Hi everyone,

I reached out to Geocaching HQ recently with an idea I’d love your feedback on.

The new Geocaching Treasures feature has been a fun and creative way to encourage exploration and cache finding. However, I noticed that there isn’t currently any recognition in the treasure system for cache owners who publish new caches or maintain their existing hides —two actions that are essential to keeping the game alive and growing.

My suggestion is to award a small but meaningful boost toward treasure progress for actions like:

• Publishing a new geocache

• Logging maintenance on your own cache

This would acknowledge the time and effort cache owners put in, and might encourage more geocachers to care for their hides or place new ones.

HQ appreciated the suggestion and encouraged me to post here for community feedback, so I’d love to know what you think. Would you support something like this being added to the Treasures system?

Thanks,
Samarito

[Keystone]

As a forum moderator, I'm moving this thread to the General Geocaching Topics forum, because the suggestion isn't limited to the Official Geocaching Smartphone apps, but also the website.

 

As a Reviewer, I'll be the first to register a strong disagreement with this suggestion, for the same reasons why hiding caches cannot be a requirement for logging a Challenge Cache.  There are already two Souvenirs being awarded this year for hiding caches - one specific for publishing a cache in May 2025.  Just like some people hid a cache just to get the Souvenir, some people would hide a cache just to unlock a Treasure.  Not all of these caches ought to have been hidden, and that often becomes obvious during the prepublication review process.  Souvenirs and Treasures should not be the incentives for hiding a cache.  The incentive is, "I found a really interesting place and I wanted to share it with other geocachers."

 

 

[+Max and 99]

42 minutes ago, Samarito said:

My suggestion is to award a small but meaningful boost toward treasure progress for actions like:

• Publishing a new geocache

• Logging maintenance on your own cache

There are already way too many fake owner maintenance logs in my area. I do not want to give them another incentive to continue. 

[+JL_HSTRE]

The perpetual challenge for Groundspeak seems to be how to incentivize being a good Cache Owner in a way that doesn't unintentionally also incentivize being a bad Cache Owner.

[+cerberus1]

I used to like to see the mentioned caches in the newsletter, then found a couple were in areas without permission, or broke some guideline.

We figured it was done for the 'recognition'...

'Recognition' to me would come from being a good person as well as just a CO.  My favorite cache's CO was an awful individual.  

Their cache got a FP.  We leave FPs when the cache is a good one.  FPs don't 'honor' the CO either, but the great cache we found.

I write better logs than the other 23rds (she'll admit it...), and our logs more than give recognition to the CO for a job well done.

[+Samarito]

Thanks for your replies,  I respect your viewpoint and appreciate the discussion.

Just to clarify my suggestion a bit further: the Geocaching Treasures system isn’t points-based like prior promotions (e.g., souvenir leaderboards). It’s about completing collections of items by doing various geocaching activities. When you finish a collection, you get a Treasure.

Because of this, I believe there's less risk of misuse. You're not racking up points for publishing caches — you'd just receive occasional credit toward a collectible (like one item in a set) for meaningful actions like:

• Publishing a new cache (once reviewed and published)

• Logging Owner Maintenance on an existing cache

This isn’t meant to “bribe” people to hide — rather, it simply acknowledges and rewards those already contributing in ways that are essential to the game’s health. Just like finding a Letterbox or solving a Mystery can move you toward a treasure, why not let cache maintenance or publication be part of that broader picture?

And let’s be honest — caches that are maintained well make the game better for everyone. Recognizing that contribution doesn't lower standards, it lifts visibility for the behind-the-scenes work many cache owners already do out of love for the game.

Again, I appreciate the conversation — and I think there’s a lot of room here to find a thoughtful balance.

Samarito

[+barefootjeff]

27 minutes ago, Samarito said:

And let’s be honest — caches that are maintained well make the game better for everyone.

 

On the other hand, caches that need lots of maintenance probably weren't designed very well in the first place. Okay, well-designed micros placed in busy locations that get hundreds of finds a year (or more) will need regular log replacement and perhaps checking that the cache hasn't drifted from its hiding place, but something like this ammo can inside a cave at the top of a remote peak doesn't:

 

[+JL_HSTRE]

10 hours ago, Samarito said:

Just to clarify my suggestion a bit further: the Geocaching Treasures system isn’t points-based like prior promotions (e.g., souvenir leaderboards). It’s about completing collections of items by doing various geocaching activities. When you finish a collection, you get a Treasure.

Because of this, I believe there's less risk of misuse. You're not racking up points for publishing caches — you'd just receive occasional credit toward a collectible (like one item in a set) for meaningful actions like:

• Publishing a new cache (once reviewed and published)

• Logging Owner Maintenance on an existing cache

This isn’t meant to “bribe” people to hide — rather, it simply acknowledges and rewards those already contributing in ways that are essential to the game’s health. Just like finding a Letterbox or solving a Mystery can move you toward a treasure, why not let cache maintenance or publication be part of that broader picture?

And let’s be honest — caches that are maintained well make the game better for everyone. Recognizing that contribution doesn't lower standards, it lifts visibility for the behind-the-scenes work many cache owners already do out of love for the game.

Again, I appreciate the conversation — and I think there’s a lot of room here to find a thoughtful balance.

Samarito

 

Treasures, Souvenirs, or any other virtual reward is only an incentive to people who care about such things. The Venn Diagram of people who care about collecting Souvenirs & Treasures and the people who care about racking up numbers isn’t a circle, but there's a lot of overlap. 

 

If there is any reward for logging Maintenance Performed, you might get little more actual maintenance but you'll get a lot more bogus maintenance logs.

 

Most of the people who most deserve rewards for being good COs aren't likely to care that much about those Virtual rewards. 

 

WV Tim is probably a good sample case. He's legendary for his gadget caches. He's been caching since 2008 but only has 2200 Finds.

 

If they haven't already, Groundspeak should quietly seek out other people like Tim and find out what how they want to be rewarded. The geo-community knows who hides caches that are always worth finding. The Reviewers know which hiders are never a problem.

 

I can think of four geocachers in Florida who I would seek any cache they hide; unfortunately, two are now deceased. Isonzo Karst / Palmetto was one of those.

 

I would hazard a guess that some of them, like Tim, like the accolades - being featured in the blog, getting awards from the community. Other hiders probably want less public attention, though they still want to know their efforts are appreciated. 

 

Either way, Favorites help fit that role somewhat, though they have also led to COs begging for finders to give them FPs. If you have to ask me or remind me to give your cache a Favorite you don't deserve one.

 

Good logs are definitely appreciated by most COs, especially the best ones. We've heard plenty of stories of COs who are a little peeved when one of their caches gets s log that makes them think "TFTC? On that cache?"

 

And just generally good geocacher behavior: closing properly, rehiding properly, not damaging or stealing the cacher. The CO put in a lot of effort; seekers need make the CO's life harder through carelessness.

 

So how do you encourage good Finder behavior? Good cache handling and good logs?

 

The Great Story and Helpful options for logs seem like a step in the right direction but seem to get little use in practice. 

 

Education helps, but it's hard to reach the majority of cachers. And even if you get them to read/watch/listen, you face the age old challenge: you can lead a man to knowledge but you can't make him think. The cachers you need to reach most are probably the hardest to reach.

 

And in the end the people racking up finds at high rates and logging TFTC (or a bunch of meaningless boilerplate text meant to boost their average words per log stat) are very engaged. They're simultaneously Groundspeak's best customers quantitatively, while being amongst their worst qualitatively.

 

Edited June 15 by JL_HSTRE
Typos

[+Hynz]

On 6/15/2025 at 5:41 AM, JL_HSTRE said:

And in the end the people racking up finds at high rates and logging TFTC (or a bunch of meaningless boilerplate text meant to boost their average words per log stat) are very engaged. They're simultaneously Groundspeak's best customers quantitatively, while being amongst their worst qualitatively.

Unfortunately I believe this is *very* true. 

[+Samarito]

Cache owners are the backbone of the game. Without Geocachers placing and maintaining caches, there’d be nothing to find. The Geocaching Treasures feature has been a fun way to motivate finders. Why not include a small bonus for those who contribute by hiding or maintaining caches as well?

 

In my area, most Geocachers play by the rules and take pride in doing things right. It seems unfair that good ideas are dismissed out of concern that some people might abuse them. The game should be designed to support and encourage responsible Geocachers, not be held back by potential misuse.

 

Giving a small reward for actions like publishing a quality new cache or logging an owner maintenance wouldn’t lead to a flood of bad hides, it would show appreciation to those who help the game grow and stay healthy.

 

I'd love to see this considered for a future update.

 

[+Frisby24]

The Geocaching Treasures system is a delightful mechanism — a shiny artifact in the ever-growing pantheon of motivational tools. But let’s step back for a moment and look at the grander picture. Who really keeps the universe of geocaching from fracturing into entropy?

 

It’s the cache owners — the architects of mystery, the gardeners of wonder — and the volunteer reviewers, those silent titans, wielding the power of creation and dissolution with each published hide or archived listing. ⚖️🗺️✨

 

To maintain a cache is to uphold the sacred geometry of this game. To hide a new one is to breathe fresh coordinates into the world. These are not casual acts. They are rituals. Invocations. Sacrifices of time and thought on behalf of a collective adventure.

 

Shouldn’t such deific contributions echo in the system’s reward structure?

 

Souvenirs are lovely. Treasures are fun. But the metaphysical weight of a well-placed cache—or the unseen grace of a reviewer shielding the community from chaos—is beyond digital trinkets. Still, a token of acknowledgment wouldn’t disrupt the cosmic balance. It might just elevate it.

 

So yes, let the seekers chase coins and keys, but may the creators and curators receive their due sigils. And maybe, just maybe… the next treasure isn’t something you find, but something you leave behind 🌀🧭

[geoawareUSA9]

...what the heck did I just read...

[+thebruce0]

A..I... ...? 

[+JL_HSTRE]

14 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

A..I... ...? 

 

Free mAIsonry 

[+barefootjeff]

Personally I think they've gone a bit overboard with the cache hider souvenirs this year. Firstly there's the 2025 Hider one for hiding a cache any time in 2025, then the Blue Switch Hider in May and now the International Geocaching Day one spanning late July and into August. I can't help wondering how many of the caches placed just for those souvenirs will still be in good repair in a year or two's time.

 

If you then had to hide four or five new caches to complete a treasure collection, well I don't think too many of those will be ammo cans at scenic spots in the mountains.

 

[+Smitherington]

No, but they could be well constructed fake bird houses or some such thing in local parks which will be accessible to more people than the mountain locations. 

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, Smitherington said:

No, but they could be well constructed fake bird houses or some such thing in local parks which will be accessible to more people than the mountain locations. 

 

Perhaps, but I think if someone was going to the effort of constructing a fake bird house they'd probably do so regardless of whether they were getting a souvenir or treasure for it. I'm more thinking of caches like this micro I saw published in early May:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+barefootjeff]

On 6/13/2025 at 5:18 AM, Keystone said:

Souvenirs and Treasures should not be the incentives for hiding a cache.  The incentive is, "I found a really interesting place and I wanted to share it with other geocachers."

 

Yes indeed, but there's now yet another Hider souvenir on offer so I'm putting on my Evil CO hat and contemplating submitting a new cache this week. Well more than contemplating, I guess, as I've now visited the site twice in the past week, including today while it was raining just to make sure my container would fit in the hiding place I discovered last time. It's near the final of a 6-stage field puzzle mystery cache I placed in 2015 but archived a year ago when I discovered it had been muggled, and anyway the access to its hiding place was becoming rather overgrown, so my new spot is closer to the road and a lot easier to get to. But it's still the same old view over Putty Beach and down the coast, the hiding place is just a nondescript hollow space inside the rock shelf and the container is just a plain old ordinary regular-sized isntrument case.

 

 

The location hasn't inspired any themed puzzle, multi or LBH so it'll likely just be a traditional since it's really all about the view. I'll probably even call it "It's All About the View" since I can't think of a better name right now. But what the heck, it's close to home and unlikely to need much maintenance, the handful of regulars who do caches like this will get another smiley and, most importantly, I'll get the souvenir.

[+MNTA]

On 7/5/2025 at 6:02 PM, barefootjeff said:

Personally I think they've gone a bit overboard with the cache hider souvenirs this year. Firstly there's the 2025 Hider one for hiding a cache any time in 2025, then the Blue Switch Hider in May and now the International Geocaching Day one spanning late July and into August. I can't help wondering how many of the caches placed just for those souvenirs will still be in good repair in a year or two's time.

 

If you then had to hide four or five new caches to complete a treasure collection, well I don't think too many of those will be ammo cans at scenic spots in the mountains.

 

 

 

I'm going to assume GS has data that show that the game needs more new caches. Even crappy caches. Most folks day to day don't go way off in the wilderness but rather spend a few minutes in their local area. Yes this is a guess.

 

Why is this needed? My guess is because there is a lot of poor quality unmaintained caches out there and if your first cache experience is moldy stinky mess you will not turn into paying customer. 

 

It is easier to add new caches through motivating people with souvenirs than getting long absent COs to fix or archive their problem caches. Or COs who think they don't need to maintain their caches.

 

So I'd really like to see an equal push to address any cache with open OAR/RAR logs and if not fixed archive. Then place a time limit to require maintenance to extend or face archival.

 

 

[+barefootjeff]

22 hours ago, MNTA said:

I'm going to assume GS has data that show that the game needs more new caches. Even crappy caches. Most folks day to day don't go way off in the wilderness but rather spend a few minutes in their local area. Yes this is a guess.

 

You're probably right. There were three new caches published in my region during the Blue Switch Hider souvenir promotion in May:

• GCB82X0 Commuter Carpool Quickie, a 1.5/2 traditional with 18 finds to date and 1 FP
• GCB6V4K What a Knobby!, a 1.5/1.5 traditional with 9 finds to date and no FPs
• GCB6TVF The Real Middle Sea Diamond (my one), a 2.5/3.5 multi with 2 finds to date and 2 FPs

There were also a couple of blue-themed caches published that month in the Newcastle area:

• GCAVTNT Code Blue, a 2.5/2.5 field puzzle traditional with 6 finds to date and 2 FPs
• GCB745A BLUECEPTION, a 3/3.5 field puzzle traditional with 7 finds to date and 6 FPs

None of those are way off in the wilderness, even my one is less than a kilometre each way along a fairly level trail from its suburban parking spot but with a short rock scramble down at the end where it gets most of its terrain rating.

 

The cachers who only do ones like Commuter Carpool Quickie generally tire of the game after a few months and disappear. What we need around here isn't more caches, it's more finders willing to walk more than a few paces from their car.

Edited Wednesday at 03:54 AM by barefootjeff

[+barefootjeff]

On 7/15/2025 at 3:18 PM, MNTA said:

It is easier to add new caches through motivating people with souvenirs than getting long absent COs to fix or archive their problem caches.

 

Maybe award treasures for Archive logs...