Geocaching Your Watershed

Welcome to Geocaching Your Watershed. Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure by following GPS coordinates. In its simplest form, a cache contains a logbook. The logbook contains information from the owner of the cache, notes from visitors and can contain much valuable, rewarding, and entertaining information. Larger caches may contain a logbook and any number of more or less valuable items. These items turn the cache into a true treasure hunt. You never know what the owner or other visitors of the cache may have left there for you to enjoy. Visits to caches are also logged on a geocache web site along with coordinates and descriptions of other caches.

The Maine Watershed Geocache

A watershed is all the land that drains into a particular water body. Our geocaching adventure will take you on a quest through a watershed to discover the mysteries and beauties that it holds. Visiting a Watershed Geocache site is a great way to learn more about our wonderful world. It can take you to many places that you would not normally visit, and teach you about why those places are special or unique. When you log on to one of our Cache locations you will be given information about the area or phenomenon at that site. At each site you will be asked to document your visit. You must complete all the sites in one watershed to receive a coin.

These activities can be done as an ongoing activity or as one-time events for local camps and watershed groups.

What You Need to Play

1) A GPS Receiver and access to the Internet.
2) A desire to spend time with family and friends.
3) A log-in name at geocaching.com (off-site) where our cache sites are hosted. Here you can create a new account. It is FREE and only takes a few minutes. You will need to think of a unique caching name and a password.

The Game's Objective

Discover your watershed by finding a series of caches. Uncover the mysteries and wonders of all caches in the watershed and you will earn one of our unique Geo coins! When there are more than 10 choices for cache requirements, you will be able to skip some of them. What you choose to skip is entirely up to you.

Playing The Game

You must actually visit the cache, and complete the instructions, then post the requirement listed to get credit for the find. The caching requirements can be done in any order and you can find more than one per day. Each time you find a cache, don't forget to log it to get credit.

Logging a Cache Requirement

Once you've completed a cache, return to geocache.com and log in. Click on 'Log a Cache' (off-site) then click on the name that represents the cache you've completed. A screen will prompt you to enter the Cache Name - The GC Number of the Cache - and any comments you would like to share about your adventure.* Please Note: If within your household there are several geocachers who live together and you are all playing the quest, to qualify to receive more than one coin per household you must have individual caching names and accounts established - each player must log the requirements under their own caching identity on the site at geocaching.com.

Guidelines

This game is meant for folks to have some fun and get to know their watershed. While it in’t our intent to set up and to enforce hard-set rules, the guidelines we have set up keep the quest on track and fair . So we hope players will respect these guidelines when they log in…. and have fun!

Prizes

(Front) (Back)

A special Participation Wooden Nickel (the "coin") has been made to commemorate this Watershed Earth Cache Quest. You are NOT required to complete the entire quest - anyone can play - and compete any number of caches. If you choose to complete all locations in one watershed, then you earn the coin.

Participating Watersheds

Using geocache as an outreach activity

You can use gecaching as a one time at camps, lake associations, or other events. The most exciting way to learn about the environment is to get into the outdoors and experience it first-hand. This type of activity uses technology and science to develop a far reaching platform for both residents and visitors to our state.

Geocaching is something that the whole family can enjoy. Kids can be enticed away from video games and TV by a ‘treasure hunt”. Young children may not be all that excited about the “death march” up to the scenic vista, but they will hike for miles without complaining to find a hidden treasure. Young techies enjoy the gadgets. Families and coworkers enjoy the friendly competition with one another to discover who can find the most caches. An important feature is the potential to engage broad cross section of the population in a directed learning experience. Creating your own GeoCache event can be done in a day. Set up 4 or 5 sites within a limited area and encouraged participants to to visit each of the sites. Each site should contain information or an activity about the environment.

You can find information to create your environmental caches here.

Maine Wildlife

Lake Information and Plants

Birds

Vernal Pools

 

 

Additional Links Off-site