Is paying to park at a cache site a problem ?

[+Ramness]

I never found it to be a big deal when I have arrived at a cache area and found that a $2-3 parking fee was required, however it is nice when the cache owner posts that information so you can have your $ ready when you get there. But apparently some people have a problem with it… Found this on a cache log…

 

“Tried to find this cahce at lunch. Got to the park and could not get in without paying $3.00.

I think that a cache should be in a location where the GeoChachers don't have to pay to get in.

I ran out of time and never got into the park.

ThanX anyway . . . . .”

[Squad51]

I don't normally carry cash when I go caching so if I found I had to pay to get to the cache, I'd write it off and continue on my way. On the other hand, if it's noted in the cache description that there is an entrance fee, odds are I'll be sure to take along enough money to pay my way in. Things like paying entrance fees are ok by me, as long as the placer of the cache notes it in the cache description. I didn't vote in the poll because neither one fits...

[Rubbertoe]

Yeah - neither answer fits for me either, so I didn't vote.

 

But I will say that it probably all depends on the location. If the cache is hidden in a really kewl spot, and it requires a small admission or parking fee to get in, I might do it.

 

If it looks lame, I'd probably pass.

 

So, I'm not dead set against the idea of having caches hidden in places where a cost is involved - but yes, it should be mentioned on the page if possible.

 

I imagine there are caches hidden in various theme parks around the US. Talk about a fee... heh those places are getting stinking expensive.

 

--==< http://home.columbus.rr.com/rubbertoe >==--

[Rubbertoe]

Yeah - neither answer fits for me either, so I didn't vote.

 

But I will say that it probably all depends on the location. If the cache is hidden in a really kewl spot, and it requires a small admission or parking fee to get in, I might do it.

 

If it looks lame, I'd probably pass.

 

So, I'm not dead set against the idea of having caches hidden in places where a cost is involved - but yes, it should be mentioned on the page if possible.

 

I imagine there are caches hidden in various theme parks around the US. Talk about a fee... heh those places are getting stinking expensive.

 

--==< http://home.columbus.rr.com/rubbertoe >==--

[+Lil Devil]

I normally have my mountain bike with me when I go out caching. If I find a park that requires an entrance fee, I'll go park outside the park somewhere, and ride my bike the extra half mile or so.

 

And I always bring a lock so I can lock the bike to a tree or something when I have to hike to the cache.

 

Lil Devil

[Rigour]

I'd want to know about the fee, otherwise risk of commercial caches.

[+Rusty & Libby]

It really depends on the situation. If it's in a system of parks I visit frequently like our state park system I always get an annual sticker anyways. In other parks that I won't return to I only pay if there isn't alternative parking close by. I agree that if the main parking spot requires a of fee it should be noted in the description. It's also nice to note if there is free parking if it's in an area that usually has a fee.

 

Rusty...

 

Rusty & Libby's Geocache Page

[DisQuoi]

There are some parks in my area that charge an entry fee. It may seem like a "parking fee" but more likely than not, it's a way for the park to bring in revenue to pay for maintenance. If you're not willing to support the parks, stick to caches that are on the side of the road or near land fills. Sneak in if you want, I guess everyone else can pay a little more so you don't have to. Public Parks that require an entry fee are not commercial caches ... no risk of that. If you think it is commercial, feel free not to hunt it. If the coordinates are in a Park (just look on a map) assume that there might be a fee.

[+MartyFouts]

I just got back from a cache with a $4 parking fee, so I guess my answer has to be 'yes'. The qualifiers, as mentioned by others are that the cache description should mention the fee (most do) and that I think that either the cache is worth the fee or the park is worth the donation. Around here, usually, the park is worth the donation, so I haven't yet skipped a cache because a fee was involved.

[The Artful Dodger]

My Ay Caramba! cache offers them the choice of being an El Cheapo or coughing up the bucks!

[The Artful Dodger]

My Ay Caramba! cache offers them the choice of being an El Cheapo or coughing up the bucks!

[+brdad]

Paying fees is a part of life. I'm assuming some urban caches would require an out of town cacher to pay for a parking garage or meter or something? I'd rather pay $5 to be in a park for a few hours than pay $10 to park in a city for an hour (Just guessing on those figures, we don't have much for parking problems in this neck of the woods).

 

Either way, I'd assess the situation when I got there, if I figured the price wasn't worth it, I'd leave. But I don't think $5 or less to help with park funding is much to ask.

 

I am also amazed when people say they don't carry any cash with them, but that's not the subject we're on.

 

Warning: Objects in GPS may be closer than they appear!

[+Harrald]

quote:

---

Originally posted by brdad:

I am also amazed when people say they don't carry any cash with them, but that's not the subject we're on.

---

 

If the cache placer posts on the cache page about the parking fee then it's all good. I can choose if I'm willing to fork over the bucks myself.

 

As to not walking around without cash. I keep a couple of George $ on me but that's about it. I almost never have more thean 2 or 3 bucks on me. Between EZ-pass and credit cards I don't need the green stuff anymore.

 

====================================

As always, the above statements are just MHO.

====================================

[+Web-ling]

I have no problem with parking or entrance fees, but I do agree that the fees should be noted on the cache page, along with the hours the area is open to the public, if applicable. An example would be my Texas Wild! Safari cache, which is in the Fort Worth Zoo. I give a link to the zoo's website so the cache seeker can look up the admission and hours.

 

[Dru Morgan]

What exactly is the difference in paying a fee to enter and a commercial cache as defined by this site? I am not passing judgement on either, but just want to know how you would objectively differentiate between the two if one is allowed and the other not.

 

"Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out." -Dru Morgan www.theheavenlyhost.com/dru

[+Markwell]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dru Morgan:

What exactly is the difference in paying a fee to enter and a commercial cache as defined by this site?

---

 

Interesting take. I would personally differentiate it as to whether I am being tricked into buying something vs. being asked to support maintenance of the land. We have one nearby that has an entrance fee for the grounds, but it is a war memorial. They're not asking me to buy their coffee or the best scone in the state - just a fee for keeping up the grounds.

 

Put a cache behind the counter of a coffee shop and have the code word be "Give me a half-caf cappacino with a lemon twist" and make me buy the rancid concoction to get the cache, and I've got a problem.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[Dru Morgan]

I know that sounds like an easy question, and I agree with you Markwell. But, I can't articulate why. With a little creative language, you could make a case for either of those situations to hop the fence to the other side. You could be 'buying' a parking place in park, or you could be 'supporting maintenence' of your local Starbucks.

 

Is there a way to classify these two as different in a more exact way?

 

"Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out." -Dru Morgan www.theheavenlyhost.com/dru

[+brdad]

I was assuming at first if whoever was placing the cache wasn't placing it to make a buck for himself, it wasn't commercial, but...

 

Looking at the "rules" part of it states "Examples include for-profit locations that require an entrance fee".

 

Is a park run by state or local authorities considered "for profit"?

 

Warning: Objects in GPS may be closer than they appear!

[+mikemtn]

Maybe somebody could enlighten me a little. What's the point of where this discussion has evolved to?

 

_______________________________

Mike

 

Never forget, It's just a game.

[+OzzieSan]

Have paid and will continue to pay as needed.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

Of course I'd pay. Parks are great places to hide caches and shouldn't we support our parks anyway? Or you can jump the fence at night!!!

 

j/k

 

Never Squat With Yer Spurs On

[RainbowTVP]

If it is a cache near me, I would probably know the area enough to know if there is pay parking... and if I didn't, I wouldn't really cae...

 

BUT if it were far and I drove a good distance for it- and found out once I got there that I had to pay for parking... I'd be annoyed.

 

If I had the cash on me, I'd pay... but if I didn't- I probably would be soured by it and not come back...

 

It should definitely be in the description.

 

I usually don't carry money when caching.

 

Tara P

[Dru Morgan]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mikemtn:

Maybe somebody could enlighten me a little. What's the point of where this discussion has evolved to?

---

 

You are lost? I am just asking for some justification as to why 'exactly' that an entrance fee for a cache is not considered commercial according to the rules stated on this site.

 

"Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out." -Dru Morgan www.theheavenlyhost.com/dru

[+culpc]

I think that paying to park is just the breaks of the game. I hope that the cache page notes that there is a parking fee, but if not, it is still a personal choice issue. Pay or pass...

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[+culpc]

I think that paying to park is just the breaks of the game. I hope that the cache page notes that there is a parking fee, but if not, it is still a personal choice issue. Pay or pass...

 

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

[+Cachier]

Many of the New York State Parks charge a day use fee for a vehicle to enter a state park. I first experienced this at Watkins Glen State Park on a cache hunt there. Inadvertantly, I dodged the unexpected fee by arriving at 6 am and leaving before 8 am. If your hiking in...no problemo!!

 

"When you find it, its always in the last place you look."

[+Cachier]

Many of the New York State Parks charge a day use fee for a vehicle to enter a state park. I first experienced this at Watkins Glen State Park on a cache hunt there. Inadvertantly, I dodged the unexpected fee by arriving at 6 am and leaving before 8 am. If your hiking in...no problemo!!

 

"When you find it, its always in the last place you look."

[+bigeddy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by brdad:

I was assuming at first if whoever was placing the cache wasn't placing it to make a buck for himself, it wasn't commercial, but...

 

Looking at the "rules" part of it states "Examples include for-profit locations that require an entrance fee".

 

Is a park run by state or local authorities considered "for profit"?

---

Out west there is considerable controversy about fees to use public lands. Most (but not all) Forest Service trailhead parking areas in Oregon and Washington say they require a Northwest Forest Pass at $5/day or $30/year. There is active resistance to the fees, most notably Wild Wilderness which distributes “No Fee” stickers that can be found in a few local caches.

 

In the winter, many of the same parking areas require a separate Sno-Park pass ($3/day or $15/year). Also, some developed areas run by vendors within the Forest Service require yet another fee separate from camping fees. Some of these fees make sense, some don’t, but they all add up to make cache access on public land potentially expensive, confusing and inconvenient.

 

I’ve found that most cache descriptions alert you to the fee, and a few have negative comments about it.

 

[+Allen_L]

quote:

---

Originally posted by brdad:

Is a park run by state or local authorities considered "for profit"?

 

_Warning: Objects in GPS may be closer than they appear!_

---

The state parks here in Georgia don't appear to be for profit, they are always asking for more tax dollars.

 

Side note: I have always found the objects in my GPS are further away than they appear. The GPS says the cache is .5 miles away and I have to walk 2+ miles to get to it.

[BassoonPilot]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cachier:

Many of the New York State Parks charge a day use fee for a vehicle to enter a state park. I first experienced this at Watkins Glen State Park on a cache hunt there. Inadvertantly, I dodged the unexpected fee by arriving at 6 am and leaving before 8 am. If your hiking in...no problemo!!

---

 

Yes, I notice many parks can be legally accessed for a couple of hours prior to (or after) the period when fees are collected. I also notice that some (or areas of some) NY State Parks only charge entrance fees on weekends.

 

Many of the NJ State Parks had one "free day" per week, but I think that may have been rescinded due to budgetary considerations.

 

I have no objection to paying parking or user fees ... and there has been more than one instance when I was a little short on cash and had to choose between paying an unexpected fee or having lunch. See? I knew geocaching would help me shed a pound or two.

 

[This message was edited by BassoonPilot on August 13, 2002 at 08:35 AM.]

[BassoonPilot]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cachier:

Many of the New York State Parks charge a day use fee for a vehicle to enter a state park. I first experienced this at Watkins Glen State Park on a cache hunt there. Inadvertantly, I dodged the unexpected fee by arriving at 6 am and leaving before 8 am. If your hiking in...no problemo!!

---

 

Yes, I notice many parks can be legally accessed for a couple of hours prior to (or after) the period when fees are collected. I also notice that some (or areas of some) NY State Parks only charge entrance fees on weekends.

 

Many of the NJ State Parks had one "free day" per week, but I think that may have been rescinded due to budgetary considerations.

 

I have no objection to paying parking or user fees ... and there has been more than one instance when I was a little short on cash and had to choose between paying an unexpected fee or having lunch. See? I knew geocaching would help me shed a pound or two.

 

[This message was edited by BassoonPilot on August 13, 2002 at 08:35 AM.]

[+sbukosky]

Government parks are not commercial but it would be nice to have a check-off when filling in the cache page that a fee is required. For example, I think every serious cacher in Wisconsin has a state park sticker. However, my county, Waukesha, also charges to enter it's park system so it should be necessary to mention that. I don't think caches should be place on private property such as theme parks or festival sites. This is the type of area most of us are trying to get away from while caching!

 

Steve Bukosky N9BGH

Waukesha Wisconsin

[+Renegade Knight]

Having said that here is my take. If a geocache says "There is a fee" there is no problem. I can skip the cache. Normally I don't carry cache. As for the fee's themselves. Gimme a break. My tax paid for the park. Now fees are supposed to pay for the upkeep. But when the budget gets cut guess what they cut? Parks. We have one here in the Boise area that closed. My town want's to start a recreational district to build parks. Ok fine. But then don't charge me a fee later to use what I paid to build and maintain.

 

On a recent trip I could have paid over well over $50.00 in fee's if I didn't take the time to walk extra distances. If everyone charges a fee sooner or later you can spend a day caching and pay city, state, county, recreational district, power utility (they build and maintain parks also), forest service, blm, parks service and a few other agiencie fees. And I'm not kidding. I named 8 agencies and 8 caches isn't that hard to do in a day.