If you’ve ever been to Colorado Springs, Colorado, you know that visiting the Garden of the Gods is a must. I’ve been there many times with my family. It is magnificent and has a fantastic geologic history of over 300 million years of sediment deposits. It is known as one of the most amazing geological sites in North America.
The last visit I made to the Garden of the Gods predated my entry into the hobby of geocaching. Now I know that I have to go back because it has an EarthCache. Named the “Garden of the Gods EarthCache,” this geocache is 100% drivable. You don’t even have to get out of your car. At the time of this writing, the Garden of the Gods EarthCache has amassed 341 favorite points.
So, if you are new to geocaching, you might be wondering, “what is an EarthCache?”
What Is an EarthCache?
According to Geocaching.com, “an EarthCache is a special geological location people can visit to learn about a unique feature of the earth.” EarthCaches provide information about how the planet has been shaped over time by geological processes, how resources have been managed, and how scientists gather evidence. It is a type of geocache where you can learn about the geology of the area.
Like other types of geocaches, geocachers search for these sites using a GPS receiver. However, unlike other geocaches, these caches do not have a container holding a log or trinkets. Instead, the earth, or rather the geological structure, is the treasure. Geocachers must complete a geological-themed educational task to prove they found the cache. They can then log their find on the geocaching.com website.
Who Visits EarthCaches and Why?
Who visits EarthCaches, and what motivates them to find them? Well, the answer to that is easy. Just about all geocachers are interested in finding EarthCaches. However, individuals interested in science and geology will be most likely to visit.
An exploratory study conducted by the Center for STEM Research, Education, and Outreach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was conducted in 2013. The researchers sought to learn what motivates people to become involved in informal educational STEM activities. The study focused specifically on EarthCaching. They developed a survey to investigate who participated in EarthCaching activities and their reasons for doing so.
Findings demonstrated two main reasons individuals participated in EarthCaching: to see rare and unusual features of the earth and to see something new. Other reasons included seeing beautiful scenery, the opportunity for hiking or walking, and participating in an activity that wasn’t too physically demanding. The strongest motivator for why people continued to seek EarthCaches was to learn about the earth, followed by a desire to learn about geological topics and a yearning for the outdoors.
What Is the History Behind EarthCaches?
These types of geocaches were the result of a specific program developed and coordinated by the Geological Society of America (GSA). In fact, the name “EarthCache” is trademarked by the GSA.
The existence of EarthCaches began in 2003. At an annual GSA meeting, a GSA member mentioned that GSA should become involved in geocaching. Shortly after that, GSA partnered with Groundspeak, Inc., the company behind the world’s largest treasure hunting game known as geocaching.
The National Park Service created the first set of guidelines, and trial sites were set up in Australia and Colorado, USA. According to GSA, there are now more than 20,500 EarthCaches around our world that have been visited by more than 6.3 million people (as of 2016). They exist in over 170 countries.
What Types of Geological EarthCaches Are There?
Each EarthCache has to focus on the science of “the solid earth and the processes that shape it.” The Geocaching.com website has a list of accepted and unaccepted sciences.
For example, some of the accepted geological sciences that can be used include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Geological materials like rocks, minerals, fossils, sands, and soils.
- Geological processes that have caused erosion, weathering, deposition, volcanic activity, or glacial action
- Landform evolution examples such as glacial valleys, reverse topography due to rock properties, waterfalls with geological explanations, and the use of geological materials such as building stones
- Geological phenomena like impact craters, geysers and, mineral springs
Tools used by geologists also make the accepted list. Things like index fossils, rocks, and historical geology sites are accepted sciences for EarthCaches.
Many types of geological sciences can’t be used for EarthCaches. Things like rivers, mountains, and streams can’t be used unless there is something unique about the location, and it provides an appropriate geological science lesson. The Geocaching.com help center offers more information about what is not allowed.
How to Find and Log an EarthCache
To find an EarthCache, you first have to have an account at Geocaching.com.
- Create an account at www.geocaching.com.
2. Go to “play” and click search
3. Use filters to limit your search to only EarthCache geocaches
4. After clicking on “filters,” uncheck all of the geocache types except for Earthcache. This will provide you a list of EarthCaches near your location.
5. Visit the EarthCache
6. Complete tasks
7. Log your find
To log an EarthCache, a visitor has to provide answers to certain questions by observing the geological location. Every EarthCache will have a specific science lesson. The cache page on Geocaching.com will include specific tasks that must be done when logging the cache. These tasks contribute to the science lesson taught. Geocachers are required to complete the tasks before they log the cache as found.
The following are examples of tasks you might find at an EarthCache:
- Questions that can only be answered by visiting the site.
- Questions that allow geocachers to show what they have learned.
- Questions that ask the geocacher to compare geological features
In some cases, the task list may ask a geocacher to provide a photo of themselves as proof that they visited the site. While most geocachers like to take pictures with a cache, it is important to note that some people may not want to do this. Therefore, a photo task is acceptable only if it is an addition to another logging task and not as a substitution.
Share Your Find With The Geocaching Community
Finding the EarthCache is only part of the adventure. The experience continues when you share your find with the geocaching community. This can be done in two ways. First, you can share your EarthCache find in the Geocaching.com forums. These forums provide an enormous amount of information about EarthCaches, and the discussions help other members to learn. Another way to share with the geocaching community is to make a post to the EarthCaching Facebook Page.
Earn Awards and Buy SWAG
You can also be recognized by the community by adding badges to your profile. You can earn EarthCache achievements by both visiting and developing EarthCaches. You can apply for Master awards, Discovery awards, and get icons to add to your geocaching.com profile. GSA also has cool EarthCache SWAG like pins, patches, and tags.
International EarthCache Day
Just like other types of geocaches, EarthCaches can be found all over the world. Every year GSA celebrates an International EarthCache Day. It is scheduled on the first Sunday of Earth Science Week, a national and international event organized by the American Geosciences Institute to help the public understand and appreciate earth Sciences. The 2020 Earth Science Week was held from October 11-17, 2020.
On International EarthCache Day, GSA encourages geocachers worldwide to visit EarthCaches and host EarthCache-themed events and hikes. Of course, if you do this, you’ll want to make sure others know about it. You can post information about the hike or event in the Geocaching forums. You should also share it on social media and tag it with #EarthCache.
Geocaching.com provides a special souvenir to geocachers who log an EarthCache on the weekend of International EarthCache Day. For example, for the 2020 International EarthCache Day, Geocaching.com provided a new souvenir for people who logged their EarthCache finds on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11.
EarthCache Guidelines
There are specific guidelines applicable to EarthCaches, and they are updated periodically. The most current rules can be found on Geocaching.com’s help center. For example, there are specific rules for creating an EarthCache, accepted sciences that can be used, rules about tasks associated with logging finds, and limits on the type of EarthCaches.
Where to Find More Information
The GSA provides more information about experiences with EarthCaches. Anyone can join GSA or make a donation to support the organization.
Also, as mentioned above, both the Geocaching.com forums and the EarthCaching Facebook Page provide a wealth of information.
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