Have you ever seen someone suspiciously lurking by a tree or bush or park bench, phone in hand, and when you stare at them, they try to look like they are doing something legitimate?
Well, you may just be catching a geocacher in the act.
What is a geocacher, you ask?
In some ways, they are a treasure hunter. Geocaches are containers placed around the world for people to find through a GPS coordinate. The containers can be large or small, some even micro, most containing a log that the cacher signs, and some with a place to put a trinket to share or a travel bug – a dog tag with a code and a desired travel destination, so a cacher can move it along to another cache.
Geocaching became popular in 2000, but it really gained traction during Covid, because it was mostly outdoors and was a great family activity. It has continued to gain popularity as it’s a way to allow kids to be on a screen while also being outside and being active.
It often takes you to places in your local area that you would not normally explore, and sometimes places you don’t even know exist. And, of course, you want to be a bit covert in your search so others don’t find the cache by just watching you.
There are scads of caches in Lunenburg County, some in parks and on trails, some in town, even some on islands you have to paddle to. On the website www.geocaching.com, you can search by geographic area.
Each cache lists the GPS coordinate, a level of difficulty, accessibility, and will provide a hint if you think you need one. There are also the logs of those who have found it. It is always a good idea to see the latest found date to make sure the cache is still viable. You can either join for free or become a premium member. And, if you get really serious, there are local and national meet-ups and events.
We have a cache on our property on King Street in Lunenburg. We love to meet the people looking for it (it has a particularly esoteric hint just to make it more fun) because they are often from all over the world – just in the past week, cachers from Germany, the Netherlands, California, Quebec, Australia, and Scotland.
We also have a travel bug out there that we placed in a cache in Delaware in 2007. It has travelled across the U.S. nine times, has been to the Netherlands, the U.K., Germany, and landed in Nova Scotia this past year. Its desired destination is Cape Breton, and we hope it gets there soon. It has been a delight to watch it travel the world.
Looking for some pure, honest joy in your life? Try geocaching. Honest fun, fresh air, a challenge, no cost, and a great way to spend time with friends or your kids.
Saturday August 16, 2025 is World Geocaching Day. Remember to obey all provincial wildfire prevention measures when on the hunt!
