Over the river and through the woods: grab your GPS, and be FTF (that's "First To Find" for all you novices) out about a new park hobby called geocaching.

Technology continues its influence in outdoor recreation and a relative newcomer, geocaching, is advancing quickly. Although several activities have recently emerged on park and recreation lands, such as mud bogging (extreme off-road riding), paragliding (a paraglider is a controllable parachute with cords and a harness to hold the rider upright), municycling (mountain unicycling) and mountainboarding (a hybrid of a snowboard and a mountain bike), not one has taken off like geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing--like cashing a check). How big is it? According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, people in 111 countries participate in this sport, and since this account, the geocaching.com Web site lists participants in 197 countries. According to Time magazine, there are more than 50,000 caches and 100,000 participants worldwide.

What is Geocaching All About?

Geocaching is a scavenger-hunt adventure game for Global Positioning System (GPS) users. A combination of geography and hide-and-seek, the idea is to place caches, or hidden stashes, all over the world; share their location coordinates on the Internet; and have others search and find them. The rules of geocaching are simple: take something from the cache, leave something in the cache, and write about it in the logbook at the cache. The Web site www.geocacher.com, the primary source for geocachers, provides information and guidelines for participating in the activity.

Caches take many forms. In its simplest form, a geocache is a small, waterproof container with a logbook. The logbook contains information from the cache hider and notes from its finders. A logbook could contain information about nearby attractions, coordinates to other unpublished (not posted on the Internet) caches, and even jokes. Those who take information from the logbook then leave some information too, at least providing the date and time visited.

More often, caches contain items besides a logbook. Many people use plastic containers or some other watertight container and fill it with items such as marbles, pencils and flags. Other people leave maps, books, software, CDs, games, tickets (to attractions or sporting events), money or costume jewelry. Some are themed caches, for example one might contain flags or stars and be considered a patriotic cache. Others are packaged in small containers (called micro caches). Some caches (called multi-caches) simply lead finders to other hidden spots by clues or riddles.

Others are off-set caches, typically historical monuments and such, where the cache hunter must look around and find information on a plaque of sign that will then lead them to the site of the actual cache. Sometimes cache hunters take photos of themselves at these places and post these with their messages to the cache owner on the Internet. Still others are virtual caches, usually involving a tombstone or statue, where the cache hunter has to respond to a question about the site as proof of finding the cache.

There are also items known as "hitchhikers" placed in the cache--in this case, the owner wants the hunter to take the item and place it in another cache. Some hitchhikers have traveled within the United States, while others have been international travelers.

There is no limit to what is put into a cache, except that it must fit into the container and should be individually wrapped in a clear zipped bag. However, guidelines for cache content do exist. Geocaching Web sites suggest using common sense. Explosives, ammunition, knives, drugs and alcohol should never be placed in a cache. They also suggest respecting local laws and remind cache builders that people of all ages seek caches. Food should always never be stored in caches.

Hiding of placing caches should also follow suggested guidelines recommended by the geocaching Web site. Specifically, caches should be above ground and retain the area's natural and cultural integrity. Caches that are buried of placed in inappropriate locations, such as under bridges, near railroad tracks and near archaeological sites are not allowed to be included on www.geocaching.com. Those hoping to place caches on private land should seek permission before placing the cache, and if the cache is to be placed on public lands then the participant is asked to contact the managing agency.

Before caches get posted for the public on the Web site, volunteers check to be sure there are no inaccuracies on the page, the coordinates make sense, and they evaluate the appropriateness of the cache. Also a cache owner provides a nickname for the cache, information about the difficulty of finding the cache (1-5, 5 being the hardest), and a terrain rating (1-5, 5 means the need for climbing of diving gear).

To find caches, participants might use maps of GPS units. GPS units can determine approximate locations by providing longitude and latitude coordinates. Hunters note that geocaching is deceptively easy--it is one thing to see where an item is on the GPS unit, it is a different story to get there. Cache hunters drive to cache locations (either by car of off-road vehicle), while others bike or hike. Sometimes finding the cache requires rock climbing, tree climbing of scuba diving.

After finding the cache, participants are asked to place it back where they found it and like they found it (for example, if it was covered by rocks then cover it back up). After returning home the cache finder posts an e-mail to the cache owner to let them know the cache was found and comments on the condition of the cache.

Emerging Management Issues

As wonderful as it is to have another activity group in parks and recreation areas, management issues might arise. Unique aspects to geocaching include its year-round availability and possible resource disturbance because the caches and people are sometimes off-trail. Other management issues associated with geocaching include possible visitor conflicts.

Thus, considering the social and resource implications of the activity is important. Taking inventory and monitoring use of all activities, including geocaching, can provide information for immediate and long-term management of social, natural and cultural resources.

Geocachers and other visitor groups will likely meet one another on and off-trails. Sometimes visitors who have historically frequented an area will adversely react to new use. This is often the case when technology enhanced activities are introduced.

Management Strategies

All the basic recreation management strategies (direct, indirect, collaboration/bridge building) have been applied to this new activity. Direct management has been employed through registration requirements, permitting processes and exclusion of the sport. For example, Ramsey County Parks, Minn., requires geocachers to register their caches and prohibits their placement in environmentally sensitive areas. Going further, the city of Ann Arbor, Mich., requires a permit to place a cache, requires their location to be moved annually and mandates their location at least 200 feet from a preserve area. Several organizations exclude physical geocaching. Geocachers are excluded from leaving physical caches at the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service areas. However, virtual caches in these areas exist.

Indirect management approaches, with information and education, have been undertaken by several organizations. For instance, the Huron-Manistee National Forest (Michigan) allows geocaching activity, provided the caches are maintained and limited to within 30 feet of the trail boundary. Proactive managers, like John Moriarty of Ramsey County, Minn., and Gene Zimmerman of the San Bernardino National Forest, Calif., have been working with local geocachers to develop mutually acceptable policies and enhance their experience. Many areas of the country now have local geocaching organizations that work with land managers to develop land-use strategies regarding geocaching. These local organizations can often be a good place to begin to learn about the hobby itself.

Understanding optimal management to enhance geocaching opportunities while protecting natural resources at our city, county, state and federal lands will be increasingly important as the activity grows.

Think your park and red recreation area is off the geocaching map? Think again. Better yet, find out by simply entering your zip code at www.geocaching.com. Once you set how many caches are in of near your recreation area, you'll realize that it's time to evaluate the hobby and plan for its use in your area. Technology has infiltrated recreation through this new hobby of geocaching, and it's probably hiding right around the corner.

Deborah Chavez is a Research Social Scientists with the USDA Forest Service, conducting research on outdoor recreation activities on public lands. Rich Courtright runs the Southern California Geocachers community Web site and is a volunteer approver with geocaching.com. Ingrid Schneider is director of the University of Minnesota Tourism Center and Research Associate in the Department of Forest Resources.