Bushwalk Australia

Food drops sorry I meant geocaches

What is the feeling about geocaches? Are they OK to have in remote areas/national parks? Should they also only be in hardened locations?

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx

I have no issue with geocaches anywhere, just so long as they are well enough hidden so as to be impossible to notice or accidentally find. If I don't know it's there then I can't be annoyed by it.

Spot on sth.

ff

geocachers could lead to increased foot traffic to a specific site,more so perhaps than food drops as multiple cachers try to access them rather than those doing food drops.
Just a thought
c

corvus wrote:geocashes could lead to increased foot traffic to a specific site,more so perhaps than food drops as multiple cachers try to access them rather than those doing food drops.
Just a thought
c

A valid thought, so it really comes down to location.
Sort of comes down to the same line of mentioning off-track areas, like why the co-ordinates of the Pillinger plane wreck aren't advertised on this forum, for example.

Can't see any other issues.

My fiance and I have been Geocaching for years it's great fun but so far we have never really gone into National Parks / World Heritage areas to find them.
I was thinking about placing one at Oakleigh View Hut , putting it right under one of the board walks or under the Heli pad.
If you check the logs in the caches even some of more remote ones get at least 3-4 hits a month and some 100's.
There is a huge risk of creating new trails if they are placed off track, quite often I do the final location just by following others foot prints.

Lagaro wrote:There is a huge risk of creating new trails if they are placed off track, quite often I do the final location just by following others foot prints.

Exactly the concern, as Corvus raised.

Yep, afterall, it's not as if your going to be able to retrieve yer footprints

I may add that the geochases I have been to were on well used hard pads/tracks (I am not a geocachaser) and I am not being critical of those who do parcicipate in this worthwhile persute

Yeah - off track in sensitive areas isn't cool.

depending on remoteness, they may have the negative effect of increasing traffic, i do agree there. in saying that, the one at melaluca and the one at SW cape, i doubt that anyone is gunna go for the sole reason of getting the caches, so foot traffic is likely to remain the same, and only grabbed by those that are already walking in the area

The real concern, as mentioned, is the increase in traffic leading to new tracks being created. Perhaps they need to make a note on the particular geocache's webpage to make people aware of this? Other than that i think its cool, like a treasure hunt.