"Nice Park, I'll Have to Come Back Here..."

[+The Leprechauns]

You've all seen it in the cache logs: "Wow, what a nice area. We will have to come back here sometime to [ride our bikes] [do some fishing] [play on the playground]." But do you ever go back? Or does knocking off the caches in a park mean just that it's time to move on to the next park?

 

I got to thinking about this because for the past couple of months, a lot of my geocaching has involved taking visitors on tours of my home area to visit caches and areas that I want to show off to them, and I want to spend more time there. Chasing numbers matters less to me now than just having fun. I also like discovering bike trails because of a cache, and then going back just to ride more of the trail.

 

Tell us about places you've gone back to because a geocache introduced you to them. Or, if you've written this in a log but have never gone back, 'fess up.

[+Team Snoopy]

I haven't returned to as many trails as I would like to. But we plan on it! Some of the trails we've used many times before finding about caching. And others we have headed back to see more of the trail, or have a picinic or bike riding. I really do appreciate the people who hide these caches, as probably half of the finds around me have been in trails I did not know existed!

[+RichardMoore]

Does it count if you go back to the park because someone puts another cache there?

I haven't been back to as many as I intended to, but I still know that they're there, and may return some day.

On lot of my finds that are on bike trails I said that one of these days I'll get a bike and come back, but I now have a bike and haven't gone back.

I also have a friend that is not into geocaching, but I've taken her hiking on trails that I "found" while hunting a cache.

I've eased off on the amount of caching that I do. Numbers don't mean as much to me as they used to, so I spend more time in the park where a cache is and don't have to plan on going back when I "have more time."

[Pipanella]

I sure have. Took Mr. Pip back to the towpath along the canal in Defiance on our anniversary this summer, and we hiked something like 8 miles (I can't remember now, but it was a healthy hike). I'm sure it won't be the last time we'll go back there, either. There are several caches along the way.

[+bradandangela.com]

We've found several cool places already. We do not like crowds and are always looking for a good place to have a picnic and/or take the dogs for a nice peaceful walk. I've found several places that I wasn't aware of and that is one of the biggest benefits to geocaching to me.

[+BruceS]

During my eight month sabbatical from geocaching I did revisit several parks that I had previously found while geocaching. My kids would often ask if I found the place while geocaching, I would smile and point over to where the cache was hidden.

 

The opposite is also true, my wife won't go with me to certain parks because of geocaching. She calls them chigger parks, she got a bad case of chiggers while out geocaching with me and we happened to visit these three very nice parks. (at that time of year chiggers are everywhere here) Doesn't matter what time of year she is not going to those parks

[+carleenp]

I have returned to the area where this cache is located on several occassions after I found it. It is a nice place to camp and a great crane watching site and includes a nice rails to trails trail that goes over the Platte River in Nebraska on an old railroad bridge. I suspect I will be back there many more times since the park is a good camping location for caching in Kearney Nebraska, which is the hot spot in our state for caching.

Edited December 7, 2004 by carleenp

[+wimseyguy]

Since geocaching is my main outdoor activity the answer is no not really. Unless as RM pointed out another cache is hidden there. There are several places that I want to return with my mostly non-caching wife because they were so special. Just haven't done it yet.

[+BVCY Swim]

I don't think I've ever said I'd be back in any of my logs. Although I have been back to redo an awsome cache that I had previously enjoyed so much.

 

There are too many places I haven't seen. So it's hard to say I'd be back to one I have been to already.

[Radman Forever]

It hasn't necessarily been parks that I have been going back to, but places. When I visited the ghost town of Pere Cheney when I first started to go geocaching, I developed an interest in ghost towns. I have revisited many ghost town caches and other interesting places, like abandoned buildings and towns that have tons of history.

[Three Simple Words]

Here is example of going back to a park….A cacher held a event in a park that’s about 10 miles away from my home.. It was called “Caching Through The Snow.” Well the day of the event we didn’t get snow. So when we got our first snow a few days later, I had to see what this parked looked like with the fresh snow. I never knew this park was there before Geocaching. Now I find it to be my favorite local park in the fall and winter months..B/c I can run, bike, hike, and fish all in the same park that dosent have many muggles about during theese months.

[+paul2tele]

Trying to subscribe to the philosophy "moderation in all things", I purposefully try not to pick off all the caches in a particular park or trail in one visit. This gives me a built-in excuse to go back and get some more caches (enjoying the return visit to the area as well).

 

Illustrations:

 

A full 50% of (not mine) caches on my "closest to home" page have yet to be hit (9 out of 18), including one that is 1.8 miles away (#3) on a regional trail, and one that is 2.0 miles away (#4) in a county park.

 

Nob Hill Park in Calgary - I got four there in the spring, but there are still plenty to get on subsequent visits (I'm up there 3 or 4 times a year).

 

Griffith Park in L.A. - same as above.

 

River trail in Boise - same as above.

 

The SuperGenius caches near Preston - picked off a bunch, but left some in order to be able to get some more during future walks/roller-skis.

 

Some might say I just have a penchant for leaving things unfinishe.....

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I tend to visit the parks I've placed caches in more than I visit park I've found caches in. However, the kids like to go to the park and I don't always have time to drive across town looking for one with a cache I haven't found yet.

[+The Leprechauns]

The smurf brings up a great point. My early hides were in parks that I was visiting prior to geocaching. I was excited to share these spots with others!

 

A good rule of thumb, I think, for hiding caches: If this isn't a spot that you intend to return to -- OFTEN -- then why place a cache here? Why bring others to a place that isn't worthy of a visit on your own, even without a cache to find? And if you don't go back there OFTEN, how can you expect to discharge your cache maintenance obligations?

 

I tend to do more exploring, and more CITO, in parks where I have hidden caches. They're "my" parks. I have a vested interest in them. I return to them regularly, even though I've also found 1,200 other caches elsewhere.

 

Keep the stories coming, thanks.

[+Criminal]

Insofar as an urban park, no, I’ve not needed to ever return outside of the geocaching hobby. I do, however, keep a mental record of the park and its amenities in case I need to use something there someday. For example, BBQ pit, jungle gym, basketball courts and the like.

[+rusty_tlc]

I go back to a lot of the caches I found on lunch breaks. Usually to, well eat my lunch.

The one that stands out is "Secret Lunch" it took more than three attempts to find because I'd get distracted and run out of time to hunt for it. I still go back there often just to sit in the secret garden.

[+amytincan]

I always appreciate a nice new park. We go back to parks, we have a thing about parks. I should do a park guidebook.

[+Anonymous']

Yeah, we go back to a lot of the places we thought were neat when caching.

[+fly46]

There's one park with four caches in it that I've been to many a time without caching... There's another one right next to it that I will come back to after the weather dries up.

[+Jeep_Dog]

Sure enough, if I find a park good enough to say it is worth going back to, I do go back. Been to several a second or third time, without doing any caching, even.

 

I also take the time to stop and smell the flowers, as the saying goes. I cache with my two year old daughter, and if she finds a park appealing (she loves water, and of course playground equipment), we'll stay and enjoy it, and scratch the remaining caches planned for the day. I've got a low cache count, but as folks seem to claim as an espoused value of "numbers don't count" (but the theory in use is a different story), I'm using this as an excuse.

[+Sputnik 57]

I always appreciate a nice new park.  We go back to parks, we have a thing about parks. I should do a park guidebook.

and hence the term yapidka, although I prefer "yappidka," adding "pretty" to the acronym.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Yes, I've gone back, mostly to various urban parks, when I've had time to occupy between appointments.

[+Moose Mob]

I know myself better than to plan on returning to a specific park. I have revisited because of other reasons, or to take a cacher there if they haven't found the cache in that park. But as far as promising to return, no, I know better.

[+KYHilltopper]

I had such a great time at lewy's West Kentucky Wildlife, a cache out in a wildlife area, that I have been back a few times. What draws me back is a small, shallow warm water pond where I can spend 15 minutes with an Ultralight fishing rod and catch 2 to 3 dozen bluegills. An absolute blast for anyone who likes to fish.

[+Robespierre]

Yes, without ranging too far, I go back to walk the dog in parks. I take friends out to favorite caches in favorite places.

[+briansnat]

My wife and I are avid hikers, but before geocaching, we had our same half a dozen favorite spots and hiked them over and over again. Geocaching has led us to many new and interesting spots and we've returned to many of them to enjoy an afternoon of hiking.

 

One place that I learned about through geocaching was the site of Thomas Edison's iron mines. In the 1890's he sunk a few million dollars (big bucks back then) into a huge mining operation that employeed over 500 people at its height.

He lost his shirt and closed the operation in 1898 and it has since reverted back to forest, albeit dotted with ruins and mines.

 

It's a short distance from my house and two years ago I found one cache there and was drawn back by the remanants and returned to explore. I then forgot about it until recently, when I noticed that another half a dozen caches had been placed in the area. Some in very interesting spots, so back I went. I've since returned there 3 times and have ordered a book about the site. Its pretty fascinating.

Edited December 8, 2004 by briansnat

[+flask]

uh, the whole REASON to have a park is to have a place to hide that really tough puzzle cache you've been working on.

 

the whole reason of GOING to a park is to find a geocache.

 

i giggle a lot every time i read a log from an obsessive binge cacher a couple hundred miles from home who says they can't wait to come back.

 

if it weren't for your geocache, i probaby wouldn't be in your county let alone your park. thank you for putting a cache in the park. i enjoy finding caches about as much as i enjoy breathing oxygen. there are a finite number of parks near my house, so i'm coing over to where you live.

 

if you put out more caches, i'll come back.

[+Kealia]

Urban parks - not really. Getting too big for the jungle gym .

 

I've been back to a number of spots along rivers for picnics, taking my dogs to play, etc. after finding a cache there.

 

Recently, I've been exploring sections of Nisene Marks State Park after finding a cache or two placed there 3 years ago. It really introduced me to the park, and I've since been back to hide three more caches in the past 2 weeks or so.

 

The FTF prize in the first one I hid in that park was a Washington Coin which got a few well-known cachers from San Jose (CA), about 20 miles North of me, over the hill to explore the park.

 

Hopefully I'll be going back again soon to find new caches that they've placed.

[+Doggiewoggie]

There's a gorgeous cache in Vermont, coincidentally called "The Leprechaun Cache" that I've gone back to a lot...

[+Quintheeskimo66]

I have used my geocaching outings to scout out areas for cross country skiing.

I have found several that I can't wait to go visit.... Now all I need is some SNOW!!!

[+The Leprechauns]

uh, the whole REASON to have a park is to have a place to hide that really tough puzzle cache you've been working on.

 

the whole reason of GOING to a park is to find a geocache.

 

i giggle a lot every time i read a log from an obsessive binge cacher a couple hundred miles from home who says they can't wait to come back.

 

if it weren't for your geocache, i probaby wouldn't be in your county let alone your park. thank you for putting a cache in the park. i enjoy finding caches about as much as i enjoy breathing oxygen. there are a finite number of parks near my house, so i'm coing over to where you live.

 

if you put out more caches, i'll come back.

I liked this post. As someone who goes on long caching trips out of town, I've never written "I'll come back" in a log on a cache in Cleveland or Nashville or Seattle or Vegas. And I giggle too when I read logs that do. That is one of the reasons I started this thread.

 

But the other reason is that, for parks and other cool places you discover through geocaching in your home area, you can be thinking about returning to some of these spots. Do it when you're burned out from caching, or your kids don't want to go caching but just want to play on the cool playground with the big wooden boat near the XYZ cache.

[+AuntieWeasel]

At first, I promised myself I'd go back to the better ones. I love to hike, but I'd dash along the trail just far enough to do the cache, then dash out again. I finally realized at some point that I was never going back until I'd cached out my whole area, which won't be any time soon. So now, I spend the whole day at the ones in the good hiking parks. Like, spend four hours doing a diabolical multi, then hike the whole red trail on the way out. My numbers have slowed to a trickle, but I'm otherwise really loving it.

[+clearpath]

Yes, geocaching has opened up several areas to me that I had either forgotten or never knew existed. It's amazing how a person can live in a city (KC) for many years (almost 30) and not know there was a cave just down the street a ways ... I have returned to an area just to revisit.

[+GEO.JOE]

Cedar Creek by Lewy inspired me to explore the area along Cedar Creek 2 more times and place 2 caches in the area. I will be back to the area I have been told of two waterfalls and there is Indian rock art in the area to find.

One Horse Gap is another area I had never heard of before geocaching that I have returned to once, I have not made it back for a camping trip but it is still in the plans.

Many of the areas I have cached are places that I have visited at least once a year for the past 20 years. However, this year I have explored new parts of the sites that I never knew existed. Most of my exploring has been a result of me looking for new places to place caches. As a result I have discovered the largest sandstone cave in North America Sand Cave historical sites, underground railroad sites, Native American Rock Art, the best places to watch wildlife (even fox in the local cemetery) and some of the best places to hike in the country.

I still have 4 places I have cached that I said I will go back to that I plan to explore further-and I will. So much to see, So little time!