• Home
  • DIY
    • DIY
    • crafts
    • Christmas
    • sewing projects
    • Weekend Projects
    • Frugal Finds
  • Fall
  • Spring
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Saving 4 Six

  • Family/Marriage
    • Marriage
    • Family
    • Homeschool
  • Recipes/Cook for a Month
    • Recipes
    • Cook For A Month
    • Freezer Meals
    • Think Tank Thursday
    • Make Ahead
  • Organization
Home » Geocaching 101 – A Frugal Fun
This blog contains affiliate links.

June 19, 2012 · 10 Comments

Geocaching 101 – A Frugal Fun

Frugal Find

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin16
16 Shares

Yesterday we spent the afternoon geocaching.  We have really enjoyed geocaching and seeing many new sights while doing it.  I shared with you last fall about the Wordless Bracelets we make for geocaching and thought I would try to answer a few questions about how we geocache.
What is geocaching?
Geocaching is when you use coordinates on a GPS to find a hidden treasure (cache).  This is usually a bottle or box with a log book in it and possibly a trinket that you can exchange for one that you have brought with you.
What do you need for geocaching?
The main item you need for geocaching is a GPS.  We have been blessed with a Garmin GPS that we use.  Many of the smart phones have a GPS app available.  As long as you are searching for geocaches in your phone’s service area, your phone will work just fine. Some other items to take along with you are: a pen, trinkets to trade, and basic hiking and first aid supplies.
How to begin geocaching?
Before we go geocaching, we visit geocaching.com . You will need to create an account.  A basic account is free.  If you want the extras…like hints to be downloaded to your GPS, you will want to get the Premium membership.  It’s $30 for the year.  This website will give you a listing of the available geocaches in the area and from there you will be able to download the coordinates directly to your GPS.

What do you do to prepare for a day of geocaching?
As I said above, we go to geocaching.com.  We have already created an account so we signed into it.

, Saving 4 Six
geocaching.com

At the top of the page you will see a tab marked “play”.  On the drop down menu click “Hide and Seek a Cache”.
This will open the next page that asks you to enter the location you would like to geocache.  We were going to a park, so we entered the address of the park.

, Saving 4 Six
geocaching.com

After you enter your location, the website will pull up the geocaches and the distance from your location.  You can click on the ones you would like to download to your GPS device.  We choose ones within just a few miles.

, Saving 4 Six
geocaching.com

Then we download each of them to our GPS device.  The website will tell you the size of a cache, how hard it is to find, the last time it was found, and so on.
What does a day of geocaching look like?
Once you have the geocaches loaded to your device, you are ready to go on a treasure hunt.  We headed to the park and pulled out our GPS.  We directed it to show us the “closest” cache.

, Saving 4 Six

It told us it was 170 feet in this particular direction and so we headed in that direction.  The closer we got the less distance it was showing on the GPS until we got near a tree (this particular one was a tree…we have found them in trees, by grave stones, on guard rails, in electrical boxes…).

, Saving 4 Six

We looked around the tree for any rocks or bark or things that just shouldn’t be there and…

, Saving 4 Six

…we found the cache.  This one was a “micro” cache and it only had a log book it in.

, Saving 4 Six

, Saving 4 Six

We signed our name and date and put the cache back exactly where we found it.  We marked that cache found on our GPS and headed to the next one.

, Saving 4 Six

, Saving 4 Six

This one was found just a little off a path at the park.

, Saving 4 Six

, Saving 4 Six

It was a bigger cache and we were able to take a trinket and leave one of our wordless bracelets.
After that we found about 3 more caches.  We had to get in the car and travel up the road a bit to a cemetery.  Geocaches are often in cemeteries, ball fields, parking lots, and parks.
We have geocached in our town, all over our state, and in other states as well.  I bet there are some in your town!!  Its a great way to get the kids outside and is a really fun treasure hunt.  It can also be a very inexpensive hobby and enjoyable for the whole family!  Give it a try…I’m almost certain you will like it.  Don’t be disappointed if you can’t find the cache on your first try.  We have a few we can’t seem to locate, but we keep going back to look from a different perspective!

Blessings,
, Saving 4 Six

 

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin16
16 Shares
Previous Post: « Pink Lemonade Pound Cake
Next Post: Easy Back Seat Bags for the Mini Van »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. KCoake says

    June 19, 2012 at 2:08 PM

    We used to geo-cache all the time. It can be so fun! We got out of the habit when I got injured and we couldn’t, but I bet we will get back to it. Have fun!

    Reply
  2. labbie1 says

    June 20, 2012 at 12:21 AM

    How fun! I wish we had known about this when our son was growing up, but it looks like fun even for adults. What’s more fun than a treasure hunt???? 🙂

    Reply
  3. Jeanne says

    June 20, 2012 at 3:03 AM

    Same here…I have 160+ finds and then I injured my knee and we stopped going. I plan to pick it up again in the fall when the weather is nicer here in Florida. We cached when we traveled and at home. Now we have retired to a new state and we have new wildlife to learn about and watch out for. Loved your post!

    Reply
  4. Pam - @diy Design Fanatic says

    June 20, 2012 at 12:55 PM

    Sounds like a lot of fun! Would be a great activity to do with kids, as well. Stopping by from Someday Crafts.

    Reply
  5. Missy says

    June 20, 2012 at 3:52 PM

    My friend was talking about how fun this is the other day! I might have to give it a try!

    Missy @ http://gracefullittlehoneybee.blogspot.com

    Reply
  6. Simply Sweet Sunday says

    June 22, 2012 at 2:58 PM

    We love geocaching! It’s fun for the whole family : )
    …great pictures too!
    Katherine @ http://simplysweetsunday.blogspot.com

    Reply
  7. femmefrugality says

    June 22, 2012 at 8:27 PM

    Absolutely love geocaching! I’m not a big fan of the micros. I don’t know why, but I love being able to switch out “prizes.” The first one I ever did we happened upon by accident when I was at camp. We read the rules and thought it was so cool. Now I have my very own GPS. Though I think it may be a few generations older than the one I see here! 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 10 Inexpensive Things To Do This Summer » Saving 4 Six says:
    October 4, 2013 at 10:51 PM

    […] – I’ve talked about this before.  You can see all the details of how to geocache here, and you can see how we share our faith while geocaching […]

    Reply
  2. Camping Tips from a Woman’s Perspective | Saving 4 Six says:
    June 26, 2014 at 7:01 PM

    […]  Make use of the campground’s amenities.  The campground we stayed at had nighttime geocaching, free wifi, a really fun campstore, a nice playground with a basketball court, corn hole to rent, […]

    Reply
  3. 10 Inexpensive Things To Do This Summer says:
    June 28, 2017 at 12:43 PM

    […] – I’ve talked about this before.  You can see all the details of how to geocache here, and you can see how we share our faith while geocaching […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Me

https://saving4six.com/

Welcome to Saving 4 Six! I'm Carrie, a wife and frugal mother of four. This is my soap box, where I share money saving ideas, tips, and projects. Stick around...I hope you'll be inspired to save too.

Pinterest

Categories

7 Ways I Encourage My Husband

7 ways I encourage my husband

10 Ways I Love On My Man

10 Ways I Love On My Man
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy and Disclosures
  • Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023 · Captivating Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT