Geocaching Greene

Looking for something to do in Greene County that’s affordable and fun? Then look no further. There’s something you can do in Greene County that will get you out and about and requires minimal equipment. Geocaching. It’s a great way to explore the area.

Geocaching is an outdoor activity that can take the participant anywhere but specifically directs them somewhere. Using a GPS receiver or their phone, along with other navigational techniques, they look for hidden containers – called geocaches or caches – at locations marked by specific coordinates. These caches have been hidden by someone else – a “geocacher.”

Using coordinates and details for the cache, other geocachers begin the hunt. Once they find the cache, they sign the logbook with their cache code name and date and put it back. If there are items for trade, the geocacher takes one and replaces it with something of similar value. Caches should be placed back exactly where they’re found for the next person. Sometimes, geocachers work in teams.

“When people say there is nothing to do here in Greene County they obviously haven’t looked too hard. The geocaching community is alive and active in our region of PA,” said ClayHands (Andrew Heisey). “I have been geocaching for almost 3 years and during that time I have discovered so many hidden gems in our county. Most people know about their tiny part of Greene County but when geocachers from these little communities hide caches to honor these special spots it opens the doors for others to find these treasured locations.”

Caches can come in all types. Virtual caches are coordinates for a location; once found these types of caches usually involves emailing or posting a picture from the location. Multi-caches consist of multiple discoveries of one or more intermediate points containing the coordinates for the next stage – the final stage has the logbook. Other cache types include night caches, puzzles, mystery, events, USB cache, and geodashing.

“I find the puzzle caches rewarding because that is something I have always enjoyed, a good puzzle or mystery to solve. I also love to plan out the caches, the routes we will take and then navigating us through our day,” said PcSueD, a Greene County geocacher.

To start geocaching all you need is a GPS device or a GPS-enabled phone. That’s it! If you prefer to use your phone, there are apps to help you out. It’s not a bad idea to add in some supplies and dress appropriately if you are going to be in the woods or covering more difficult terrain. It’s like hiking – keep in mind where you’re going to be, dress appropriately, have basic supplies suitable for your adventure and head out!

“Geocaching is something that both I and my husband equally enjoy doing. It is budget friendly, gets us outdoors, and gives us a challenge.,” added PcSueD.

Locally, Greene County Department of Recreation has geocaching locations located around the county. Their “Cache Me If You Can” program takes participants from Greensboro’s Mon View Park to Carmichaels’ Wana B Park, then up into Rices Landing at the Greene River Trail and finally into Waynesburg, with stops at the airport, tennis courts, fairgrounds, and water park. Coordinates for each event can be found on their flyer and their website www.co.greene.pa.us (search for “geocache”).

A quick visit to geocaching.com yields a variety of cool cache sites around Greene County to check out. Some are part of a series – like “The Bridges of Greene County”. “Township Tour of Greene County, PA”, “Washington & Waynesburg RR” – and others are stand-alone caches. These cache series are a great way to get out there and explore parts of Greene County that you may not have ever visited.

“This past Spring I decided to add a new experience to my geocaching fun. I hid my first set of geocaches. Most cachers usually start with hiding 1 cache. I made the decision to hide 20 caches in Greene County. I placed one cache in each of the 20 townships that make up Greene County,” said susanc14, an avid Greene County geocacher. susanc14 started geocaching in June 2016 after retiring as a public school teacher and has found over 1700 caches.

“I did not grow up here but due to geocaching I probably know Greene County better than most natives of the county. There are so many quiet little nooks of Greene County that I would never have discovered if it wasn’t for the small road trips/hikes we have gone on to find a geocache. I’ve even taken to hiding some of my own geocaches in our area to bring more people to special locations. I have a cache I just finished making that I plan to hide here in Waynesburg in the next few weeks,” added ClayHands.

You can chat with fellow cachers on geocaching.com or you can join Pittsburgh Area Geocaching Association (PAGA) on Facebook. “I enjoy going out and searching for caches but I also enjoy reading about the adventures others have when they search for my cache’s. Then I log on line so that I can read about their adventure but so can other geocachers,” susanc14 shared.

FDolfi62 said, “I enjoy geocaching because it gets me outdoors and gives my wife and I something to do that is affordable and enjoyable. I love the new places it takes us and the hidden out of the way places we discover.” He added, “It breaks up a long drive when we have to travel and it doesn’t have to take a long time to do it. It also helps keep us active both mentally and physically.”

It’s a fun, challenging, affordable outdoor activity that’s perfect for the whole family… So what are you waiting for? Head out there and start geocaching!

Published in September 2018 GreeneScene Magazine.