Finding Archived Caches

[Nylimb]

Tonight I found a cache, On The Island in Sacramento, California. But when I tried to log it on the website, I couldn't find it by name or location. So I figured it must have been archived. Luckily I still had an old printout that showed the waypoint name, so I was able to get to the page and log my find.

 

Is there any way to find an archived cache if all you know is the location or name?

[+Crow T Robot]

This particular cache is available for viewing and I'm not sure why you couldn't find it. I was able to find it when I did a proximity search in the general location as well as a name search. Caches that have been active and archived because they have been lost or stolen are usually availabe for viewing and can be found by a name search or location search. In fact, there are nearly a dozen archived caches within a mile of this cache. However, caches that were archived without ever being approved will not appear in your search results.

[Keystone]

I must respectfully disagree with my distinguished colleague, Crow T Robot. When I search under my reviewer's account, I can see archived caches. But when I sign in under my normal geocacher's account, and perform the same search, the archived caches automagically disappear from the search results. I don't think archived caches show up in search results, and this is by design... they are archived, they're not there anymore.

 

The two "back door" methods I'm aware of:

1. Look at the list of caches found by a geocacher that you know has previously found the cache you are interested in. The archived caches found by that user will show up in the search results.

2. Use the Geocaching.com maps, find the closest nearby cache, then select the option to show archived caches on the list summary below the map.

[+Navdog]

2.  Use the Geocaching.com maps, find the closest nearby cache, then select the option to show archived caches on the list summary below the map.

Wow, I totally missed that feature before. I have always wanted the abaility to access archived caches from a zip code. There is good history and insight in knowing why a cache was archived. Especially if it concerns a ban at a particular park.

[Nylimb]

2.  Use the Geocaching.com maps, find the closest nearby cache, then select the option to show archived caches on the list summary below the map.

Thanks! I hadn't noticed that feature.