Can i geocache without a gps

You can only block another geocacher via the Message Center on our website. If you block another player, those messages will still appear in the mobile app but you will not receive any further messages from that player.

If you hide a conversation via the Message Center on our website, those messages will still appear in the mobile app. GeoTours are collections of geocaches that create self-guided, themed tours around historic sites, parks, cities, and more. GeoTours are often sponsored by local tourism boards, historical associations, or national park services.

Local experts pick out the best places to hide new geocaches. If you find percent of the caches on the GeoTour at that time, you will earn a GeoTour souvenir for your profile, and perhaps even a geocoin or other prizes. Keep in mind that the exact number of caches on a GeoTour may increase or decrease over time.

See the Premium vs. Basic membership features chart. Follow these steps to see the full GeoTour:. There are several ways to download geocache details to your GPS device.

Each GPS device is different, so instructions may vary. This functionality is available only to Premium members. Instructions how to use it can be found here. Premium members can download groups of up to geocaches via Pocket Query. If you download a cache via Pocket Query, 5 logs will be included.

Learn more about Pocket Queries. Tip : Follow the directions for your GPS device to locate the correct drafts file. Drafts files have a. Your device should be easy to use, accessible, and durable. Tip: Many geocachers use their smartphones instead of or in addition to GPS units.

Skip to navigation Skip to content. How can we help? Get started 1. Basic membership features chart 1. Navigate to a geocache 1. Add a photo or Favorite point 1. Draft logs 1. Add a waypoint 1. App settings 1. Log trackables 1. Create, edit, and delete Lists 1. Offline Lists 1. View cache owner and log photos 1. Web View 1. Message Center 1. Find a GeoTour 2. GPS 2. Download geocaches to GPS device 2. Upload drafts field notes 2.

Garmin Express 2. GPS buyer guide 2. GPS Help 2. Garmin Communicator Plugin no longer supported 1. Log your find Create a draft or log your cache find Log trackables Tip: Add a photo or Favorite point to your logs. Select Navigate. Orient yourself with your device to face the tracking line to the cache icon or select the compass icon in the top right to see the compass view. Track up vs.

To change the navigation to north up mode: Select More. Select Settings. Compass view To navigate to a geocache in compass view, follow the orange compass needle until the distance units are close to zero. Add a photo or Favorite point Add a photo to a log Write your log. There are various websites from which you can download coordinates, but geocaching. You have to go looking for them.

They may be hidden under or behind something, although you should never have to do anything too risky in order to find them. When downloading the coordinates, some people may have left photos or hints on how to find the caches, just to give you a helping hand.

Not a huge amount, to be honest. Now, this can be done either using your smartphone or through a specialist GPS device - Garmin are probably the best ones you can buy, although they can get a bit pricey, so it might be best sticking with your phone unless you get really serious about it. Sales pitch over. As well as their website, Geocaching.

An alternative is the c:geo app, which might not be quite as neat looking but still has pretty much all the information you need. These are the two you should probably start with. In theory, you can go geocaching without internet, a smartphone or GPS device, although it does make it a bit trickier. If you want to go really old-school, then you could check out the location of the caches at home and mark their location on a map.

You can indeed. However, it can be a little on the complicated side. This guide will tell you everything you need to know, including how to register the location online and what to put inside it. It's rambling with a purpose - a goal. It's using technology to get you out of the house and see stuff, find stuff, to walk or climb or just visit. It's secretive - you are 'in on a secret' and that's always fun. Do you have a smartphone?

Then give it a go - download the free app, look for a local geocache, read the description and go. Caches come in size micro, small, medium, large, or unidentified. Unidentified can mean it is a any size from nano to large, or the cache may be small but the container camo may be large, or for some reason the Cache Owner CO doesn't want you to know the size; unidentified regular caches tend to be tricky.

Micro-sized caches can be tricky to find, too, especially if they're actually "nano" size; you might want to start with a small or medium cache. When you're looking at the detail, you can click on the Name of the cache to bring up a page of details.

There you'll get all the clues the CO provided, plus a list of all the logs already recorded for that cache. Make sure the most recent logs are not frowning faces or Did Not Find DNF , or you may be looking for a missing or extremely hard-to-find cache. If you find yourself struggling in your search, click on the link to read ALL the logs for hints. Even though each geocacher may think they haven't given anything away, the combination of comments often gives extra hints beyond what the CO originally posted.

In that detailed description, you will find the latitude and longitude of the location of the cache. You'll need to enter these into your GPS, or paste them into Google Maps to find the location of the cache.

Google Maps is a great way to get started and to find caches located in the city, near the edges of parks, and other locations that are open to the sky. But you won't be able to find a cache in the woods without a GPS device.

Don't give up if you don't have a handheld GPS; many portable automobile GPS devices have a way to enter coordinates, and a battery so you can take the GPS with you into the woods. When you get to Ground Zero GZ , the coordinates of the cache location, you'll need to use the hints found in the name and description of the cache to locate the actual cache container. For another perspective, check out the video from Geocaching. Selecting and Finding Your First Geocache! Sometimes caches are hard to find; sometimes they are missing.

The first thing to do when you can't find a cache is to go back and check the cache description page. Have the last 5 loggers found the cache? Was the last one recent? If not, the cache may or may not be missing. If the cache was last found, reread the description.

What hints are in the description? Be aware that GPS devices tend to be a bit skittish in the woods, under power lines, or in between tall city buildings. The best thing to do is find a vaguely clear spot and put the device down for a few minutes - literally. Then check your location again. Once your GPS settles down, we find we weren't where we thought we were, and it's much easier to find the cache when we go where we thought we were before Sometimes the GPS doesn't want to settle down and give a solid reading.

In these cases, a good old-fashioned compass and triangulation are your best tools. Walk away from the place you suspect, and get about feet away. Then take a reading on your GPS, and use your compass to locate the line that goes in the direction specified. You'll need to make a note of where that line goes; we often do this by having our caching partner stand in a line with several obvious trees or landmarks.

Walk around a ways, and take a second reading, and see where those two lines cross. That's the most likely place for the cache to be located. In this age of Google and Google Maps , we sometimes opt for a Google Maps sighting rather than compass triangulation. Go back to your computer and type the latitude and longitude of the cache into Google Maps. Then zoom in as far as you can, to get an idea where the cache is located from the map. This sometimes tells us that, in spite of triangulation, the readings our GPS is getting here under the wooded canopy are just too erratic and the cache is really Hints to remember: looking for a geocache in a parking lot?

Those things lift up! Yes, the "skirt" around the base of the light pole lifts up. Magnetic Key Holders MKH or film canisters or camo'ed prescription bottles hide well in these tight quarters. Looking for a Nano? These are tiny, usually black, metal cylinders about the size of the tip of a child's pinkie. The log is screwed tightly inside, occasionally requiring a "removal tool. Note: whenever you put a log back into a cache, be sure to place the log in the small end of the nano, bison tube or other container usually the lid so that you won't tear up the paper while you screw the base back on.

Geo-piles are a popular way to hide a cache, whether they're piles of sticks or stones. Caches are also likely to be hidden inside tree stumps or other tree hollows. And "regular" sized caches aren't always ammo cans - sometimes they're peanut butter or mayo or fluff jars, or various sizes of Tupperware or Lock-n-Lock containers.

Often these containers are well-camouflaged. We've found peanut butter jars coated in decoupage to look like thick sticks, and Lock-n-Lock containers covered in camo-patterned duct tape or spray-painted to match the ground or tree or bush they're hidden in.

One of our favorites is in a container with a rubber sheet glued to the top, and then mulch or other natural material glued to that Go home, and come back another day. You might gain new insight by being away, or you might take that break to contact the Cache Owner CO for a clue. Either way, a little sleep and fresh eyes or fresh clues sometimes makes finding the cache a whole lot easier. With cache in hand, be sure to sign the log sheet or log book in the cache, and rehide it as well as you found it, or better if it seems to be out of place.

Then when you get back to your computer, visit the Geocaching. Then look around the site, and pick another cache to find! Here are a few things I wish I knew when I was searching for those first few caches. At the simplest level, you will need a GPS device for which you can easily enter waypoints. A device should also be easy to use, accessible, and durable. Although geocaching has traditionally been played with a GPS device built for outdoor use, an increasing number of mobile phone manufacturers are now supporting GPS chips.

Many of these new phones can support geocaching via Geocaching Live-enabled Applications. Real-time access to Geocaching. You can usually find GPS units at electronic, camping and boat supply stores or online. Still cannot decide what device to buy? Ask geocachers what they use in the Groundspeak Forums.

In the forums, you can search latest news, post product related questions and even browse for used devices for sale! Advertising with Us. Geocaching Using a Mobile Phone Although geocaching has traditionally been played with a GPS device built for outdoor use, an increasing number of mobile phone manufacturers are now supporting GPS chips. Visit gpsinformation. Buy and compare online at Shop Geocaching , Amazon.