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Legal/land managers

Legal information around geocache placement.

• 1. Report a geocache
  • 1.1. Report a geocache
• 2. Law Enforcement & Parks Professionals
  • 2.1. Premium membership for law enforcement & land managers
  • 2.2. Benefits of geocaching for land managers
  • 2.3. Examples of agency/geocaching partnerships
• 3. Usage Guidelines
  • 3.1. Logo usage and trademark information
  • 3.2. Claims of copyright infringement
  • 3.3. Image and text usage
• 4. Privacy Rights
  • 4.1. Privacy Rights
  • 4.2. Deletion request
  • 4.3. Do not sell my info
  • 4.4. GDPR request
  • 4.5. General

1. Report a geocache

1.1. Report a geocache

If a geocache has been found placed in an unsuitable location, please let us know.

• If you are law enforcement, call us at 206 971-0544.
• If you are a private citizen or business owner, email us.

Include information to identify the geocache

1. Geocache name.
2. GC code (GCXXXX).
3. Legible photo of the most recent logbook entries.
4. Nearest address or coordinates.

Find the coordinates of a location

1. Locate the area of the geocache on Google Maps.
2. Right-click the location on the map.
3. Select What’s here?
4. At the bottom, you’ll see a card with the coordinates.

Tip: The more information you can provide, the better.

2. Law Enforcement & Parks Professionals

2.1. Premium membership for law enforcement & land managers

Park systems and police departments are a welcome and integral part of the geocaching community. It is our goal to build and honor these partnerships by developing tools and distributing educational materials to enhance the awareness, understanding, and enjoyment of geocaching.

Official representatives of parks, land management organizations and law enforcement agencies are eligible for a free Premium membership. With the premium member status, you can

• Identify geocaches currently placed in your region
• Receive notifications when new geocaches in your area are placed
• Communicate with the geocachers in your area

Join the geocaching community

• Create a Geocaching.com account and profile for your organization. Choose a username that reflects your organization and provide your organization's official email address. See sample pages for law enforcement agencies.
• Contact us with your chosen username to receive a free Premium membership.

Learn about geocaching

• Our 2-page brochure is available in multiple languages
• Our Guide to Geocaching for Parks and Law Enforcement is available English or German
• Teach your coworkers about geocaching with our Introductory Presentation

2.2. Benefits of geocaching for land managers

Geocaching is an outdoor adventure game that anyone can play for free. Not only are there benefits for the players (aka geocachers), it also brings benefits for those who manage the land the game is played on.

About Geocachers

• There are over 9 million accounts on Geocaching.com.
• The Geocaching community is worldwide.
• Geocachers represent nearly every demographic, from retirees to teenagers and everywhere in between.
• Geocachers tend to be health-conscious hikers, according to a Texas A&M University study.
• The community appreciates the environment and works to keep it clean and well-maintained through initiatives like CITO, which includes litter clean-up, removal of invasive species and more.

How geocaching affects the local environment

Geocaching is a great way to encourage people to explore the world around them. From urban areas to parks and trails, geocaching takes people on an adventure — and generally creates no more impact than hiking. By bringing outdoor-minded individuals to less well-known trails and parks, geocaching often supports the goals of Park and Land Managers.

Each geocache is submitted through a review process that ensures geocache hiders follow all of the Geocache hiding guidelines. These guidelines were developed to protect not only geocachers, but also the lands on which geocaches are placed. Here are a sampling of guidelines that were created to make sure geocaching is beneficial for land managers:

1. All local laws and land management policies apply.
2. Get all necessary permissions from the landowner or land manager.
3. Do not bury geocaches, either partially or completely.
4. Do not damage property.
5. Do not harm plants, animals, or environment.
6. Do not place geocaches in restricted, prohibited, or otherwise inappropriate locations.

Get started

Land Managers and Law Enforcement can receive a free geocaching Premium account to monitor activity in their region and make sure it fits local guidelines. Examples of agency/geocaching partnerships.

2.3. Examples of agency/geocaching partnerships

Geocaching provides opportunities for land managers and police to engage with their communities and promote safe enjoyment of the land.

Promote geocaching

• Arizona State Land Department
• Brecon Beacons National Park, United Kingdom
• Florida State Parks
• Portland Police Bureau
• Tennessee State Parks
• Texas State Parks

Host Events

• The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and Tennessee State Parks partner with geocachers to host events to encourage people to geocache on park lands.
• The town of Seia, Portugal hosts an annual weekend of geocaching events to encourage tourism in the region.
• The Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau has hosted a coin challenge and hidden geocaches at Bureau locations throughout the city.

Host CITO Events (Cache In Trash Out)

• Geocachers appreciate the environment and work to keep it clean and well-maintained through initiatives like CITO, which includes litter clean-up, removal of invasive species and more.
• Boulder County, Colorado and local cachers have partnered for 11 years on CITOs. Since 2013, the geocaching organization "Geocaching Colorado" has won the Land Conservation Award from Boulder County.

Educate about responsible geocaching

• Nationalpark Eifel shares a humorous video (German) explaining their geocaching rules.
• German police in Koblenz embrace Geocaching by hosting events and launching trackables to help educate the community about why it's not good to hide caches around railroad tracks. They also have a police helicopter with a trackable code.
• See an interview with Brian Burket of Jacksonville, Florida's Department of Parks and Recreation. He reviews geocaches and makes sure they fit local guidelines.

Hide geocaches

• To celebrate Washington's great outdoors and help the community enjoy as many state parks as possible, the Washington State Parks hosted the Washington State Parks GeoTour, which features 103 geocaches hidden in state parks across Washington.
• UK police officers hide geocaches that include useful crime prevention messages.

Increase Tourism

• Land managers have worked with Geocaching HQ to create award-winning experiences called GeoTours. A GeoTour is a collection of geocaches that lead geocachers through your area.
• The Florida State Parks GeoTour takes geocachers through Florida's 171 state parks and trails to inspire residents and visitors with recreation opportunities and scenic beauty, which helps to strengthen families, educate children, and foster community pride.
• GeoTour geocaches average over 150 finds each. For all GeoTour geocaches, there have been almost 300,000 finds in the 2.5 years since the program began.
• Read how geocaching supports the economy in a rural town along the "ET Highway" in Nevada.

Get Started

Land Managers and Law Enforcement can receive a free geocaching Premium account to monitor activity in their region and make sure it fits local guidelines.

3. Usage Guidelines

3.1. Logo usage and trademark information

Many geocachers want to use our logos for various geocaching-related things and we love that! But before you do, keep in mind that the name Cache In Trash Out and CITO logo are our trademarks and the Geocaching logo is our registered trademark in the United States and many other countries around the world. Trademark law requires us to set a few ground rules that you must agree to before using our logos.

Read our Logo Usage Guidelines.

There is also a public domain logo which was independently produced. We do not manage this at all. It is used widely and is often seen with some small variation such as color, or a graphic background. More information on the public domain logo.

3.2. Claims of copyright infringement

Groundspeak, Inc. respects the intellectual property rights of others and asks all users of our websites do the same.

If you believe your work has been published on any of our websites in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, the fastest way to request that the infringing work is taken down is by filling out the form provided here.

In the alternative, you can contact us using one of the means below and providing all of the following:

• Identification of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed. Include a copy of the work and/or link if applicable, noting which portion you believe is being infringed.
• Identification of the material that you claim is infringing.  Include a description and a link to where the material is located on our site.
• Provide your contact information (e.g. address, email, phone number), so that we can contact you about your complaint.
• Include a statement that: you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• Include a statement by you that: under penalty of perjury, the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
• Sign your statement either with an electronic signature (typing your full name at the bottom of the notice) or with a physical signature that has been emailed, faxed or mailed to us.

If you choose not to use the form provided, your copyright infringement claim should be sent to the attention of Copyright Agent, by any of the following means:

• By email
• By fax: 206.374.8161
• By phone: 206-302-7721 ext. 3
• By mail: 837 N 34th Street, Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98103 Attn: Copyright Agent

Another method of addressing infringement is to contact the individual who published the material to our website directly and request that they remove the content. More often than not, these individuals will comply with requests. In order to do this, please follow these steps:

• Sign up for a free account on our website (if you do not have one already).
• Visit the webpage where the content is located.
• Click on the username for the individual associated with the page (e.g., "a cache by"). This will take you to the user's profile page.
• Click on the "Send Message" link next to their email address and write them a note about the issue.

This policy is also available in our Terms of Use.

3.3. Image and text usage

Most images and text on cache pages are user-generated content. Contact a cache owner to request permission to reuse content.

4. Privacy Rights

4.1. Privacy Rights

Your privacy rights are important to us. We strive to comply with applicable data privacy laws. For more information about the data we collect, how we use it, and your rights, please see our Privacy Policy.

To exercise the right to account deletion, please follow these instructions. You may also write to us to exercise any of your rights under applicable privacy laws. 

You can adjust the information shared with Geocaching Authorized Developers in Account Settings at any time.

4.2. Deletion request

Data privacy laws provide certain rights, including personal data deletion, to individuals who reside in those locations.

In order for you to exercise your right to have your data deleted, we must be able to verify that you have a right to make this request. If you are unable to provide such verification, we may refuse to comply with your request.

Please be aware that once deletion has occurred, it is permanent. We will not be able to retrieve the deleted information if you change your mind.

To delete your geocaching.com account, please follow these instructions.

4.3. Do not sell my info

California privacy law provides certain rights to its residents. For information about the personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights, please see our Privacy Policy.

If you are a California resident, clicking on the "do not sell my info" link on our site and apps will take you to information that will help you to opt-out of advertising cookies placed by the ads on our site and sharing with Geocaching Authorized Developers. You can also access these opt-outs through your Account Settings.

4.4. GDPR request

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides certain rights to individuals who reside in European Union countries, including the right to personal data deletion. 

To delete your geocaching.com account and certain associated personal data, please follow these instructions. To exercise your other rights under the GDPR, the best and fastest way to contact us is through our Help Center form.

For more information about the data we collect, how we use it, and your rights and how to exercise them, please see our Privacy Policy.

4.5. General

For more information about the data we collect, how we use it, and your rights, please see our Privacy Policy.