Geocaching Fact Sheet

In the Beginning

Geocaching is a term – coined in 2000 – that describes the enthusiast hobby of locating a treasure somewhere in

the world with the help of a GPS-enabled device and GPS coordinates that are listed online.

Geocaching combines location-based gaming, social networking, treasure hunting, GPS navigation, and outdoor

recreation. The hobby was started in 2000 by a GPS enthusiast, Dave Ulmer, seeking to test the accuracy of the

improved GPS signal available to civilians. Ulmer shared the coordinates of his first hidden geocache online. Mike

Teague found this geocache and shared his experience online. The online chats spread, and soon, 75 other caches

were hidden around the world. One was found in July by Jeremy Irish, who shortly thereafter, founded Geocaching.

com as the first portal for the hobby.

Dozens of press articles and millions of online conversations later, Geocaching.com is the world’s largest locationbased

gaming portal.

Geocaching around the World

Today, more than 1.4 million geocaches have been hidden, and found by more than 4 million people worldwide.

More specifically, the United States and Germany lead the world in this activity, with the Czech Republic, Canada and

the United Kingdom following.

Geocaching continues to grow in popularity across the United States from California and Texas to New York and

Florida. Some of the cities with the highest geocaching activity (based on visits to the Geocaching.com website)

include Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

The Rules of Geocaching

1. If you take something from the cache, leave something of equal or greater value.

2. Write about your find in the cache logbook.

3. Log your experience at www.geocaching.com.

The Contents of a Geocache

A geocache always contains a logbook or logsheet for finders to sign.

Larger geocaches may also contain items for trade. These are generally small trinkets. If someone takes an item, he

should leave something of equal or greater value in its place for the next geocacher to find.

A geocache may also contain Trackable items. Trackables are geocaching “game pieces” bearing a tracking

number - a unique series of letters and numbers – that allows geocachers to follow the items’ real-world travels on

Geocaching.com. Some of the most popular trackable items are “Geocoins” and “Travel Bugs

®.”