Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunt that uses GPS and navigation skills. You'll learn how GPS works, practice with map and compass, and find and hide caches. It's a fun way to explore and share the outdoors.
Why it's worth it
There are hidden containers in parks, on trails, and maybe a few blocks from your house, waiting for someone who knows how to find them. Geocaching turns navigation into a game. You'll learn how satellites tell your phone where you are, how to back it up with a map and compass when the battery dies, and how to lead younger Scouts on a hunt of your own. Those same skills are used in search and rescue, surveying, and mapping.
Start this week
- With a parent, look at a geocaching map for your area and pick three easy caches in a public park.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Geocaching counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Mark a waypoint at your front door with a phone or GPS, walk a block away with a parent, and navigate back to it.
- Dust off a compass and practice taking a bearing to something you can see, like a tree or a light pole.
Stay safe
- Go with a buddy and an adult, stay on trails, and never reach blindly into holes or under rocks; use a stick to look first.
- Don't share your home address or photos of yourself on cache logs, and don't message strangers you meet through geocaching sites.
Requirements · 9
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Safety and planning
Tips for this section: Plan for weather, terrain, and water, and always tell someone where you're going. Go with a buddy and an adult.
Example for this section: Plan a hunt like a trip leader: check the weather, pick caches on public land, pack water and the Scout Basic Essentials, tell someone at home where you're going, and know where the nearest road is.
- Requirement 1a
Explain to your counselor the hazards you're most likely to face while geocaching and how to anticipate, prevent, reduce, and respond to them
- Requirement 1b
Discuss preventing and giving first aid for geocaching injuries and illnesses: cuts, scrapes, snakebite, insect stings, tick bites, poisonous plants, sunburn, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, hypothermia, and dehydration
- Requirement 1c
Discuss how to plan a GPS outing well: use the buddy system, tell others your plan, and think about weather, route, and the right clothing
- Requirement 2
Caching rules and etiquette
Tips for this section: Learn the rules for hiding and finding caches and how to leave places as you found them.
- Requirement 2a
Discuss with your counselor why a cache must never be buried
- Requirement 2b
Discuss good etiquette when hiding or looking for a cache, and how to hide, post, maintain, and take down a geocache the right way
- Requirement 2c
Discuss how the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Seven Principles apply when you go geocaching
- Requirement 3
Explain these geocaching terms: cache, waypoint, log, accuracy, trackable, attributes, and difficulty and terrain ratings. Then choose 5 more terms and explain them to your counselor
Tip: Look at a few cache pages online and make flash cards for any new terms you come across.
- Requirement 4
Explain how GPS works. Then use Scouting's EDGE to show your counselor how to use a GPS unit: mark a waypoint and edit it, change the field functions, and switch the coordinate system
Tip: Learn how a GPS uses satellites to find your location, then practice teaching it with EDGE on a family member before you show your counselor.
For example: Use EDGE with your counselor: explain why the GPS needs a clear view of the sky, demonstrate marking a waypoint and renaming it, guide your counselor as they change a data field and switch the coordinate format, then enable them to do it on their own.
- Requirement 5
Map, compass, and GPS
Tips for this section: Find the same spot with a map and compass and with a GPS, and compare which was easier and more accurate.
Example for this section: Find the same park bench twice: once with a map and compass from a known starting point, and once with GPS coordinates. Compare how long each took and how close each got you.
- Requirement 5a
Show that you can navigate with a map and compass, and tell why that skill is important in geocaching
- Requirement 5b
Explain how GPS navigation and regular map reading are alike and different, and describe what each one is good for
- Requirement 6
Describe to your counselor the 4 steps for finding a first cache, then mark a waypoint and edit it
Tip: Practice marking a waypoint at home and then navigating back to it from down the street.
- Requirement 7
With a parent's or guardian's permission (and help setting up a free account), look up public geocaches near you on geocaching.com. Share the posted details of 3 with your counselor, then find 1 of them
Tip: Read cache descriptions and recent logs before you go. Pick an easy one for your first find.
For example: Read three cache pages and compare them: the difficulty and terrain ratings, the size, the hint, and the last few logs. Pick the one with recent finds for your first try so you know it's still there.
- Requirement 8
Geocaching project. Choose 1 of 4
Tips for this section: Choose the option that fits your troop, like a Cache In Trash Out cleanup event that also helps your community.
Example for this section: A Cache In Trash Out event could be a park cleanup with your patrol: bring gloves and bags, pick up litter along the trails, and log what you collected.
- Requirement 8a
If your council has a Cache to Eagle® series, visit at least 3 of its sites. Describe the project each one features and explain how the program shows the public Scouting's service
- Requirement 8b
Make a Scouting-themed Travel Bug® that promotes a Scouting value and release it in a public cache. With a parent's or guardian's permission, track it online for 30 days, logging its moves, and share the log with your counselor
- Requirement 8c
Following the pamphlet's guidelines, hide a public geocache. First share a 3-month maintenance plan you'll personally carry out. With permission, read its online logs for 30 days, then show them to your counselor. Archive it when you stop maintaining it
- Requirement 8d
Explain Cache In Trash Out (CITO) and describe how you've practiced it at public caches or a CITO event. Then either build CITO containers to place at public caches, or run a CITO event for your unit or the public
- Requirement 9
Plan a geohunt for a youth group (your troop, a nearby pack, a school, or a place of worship): pick a theme, set a course of at least 4 waypoints, teach players to use GPS, and play. Tell your counselor how it went and share your materials
Tip: Hide small items in a park with permission, make clue cards with coordinates, and let younger Scouts hunt.
For example: For a Cub Scout pack geohunt, hide six numbered tokens in a park with permission, write the coordinates on clue cards, pair each Cub with an adult, and have a prize at the last stop.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A state park or nature center
Many parks have rules for caches on their land, and some run geocaching programs or have GPS units to borrow.
How: Have an adult call the park office and ask about their geocaching rules and any programs a Scout group could join.
Where it can lead
- SurveyorMeasures land and sets property lines using GPS and precise instruments.
- GIS analystBuilds digital maps that help cities, utilities, and emergency services make decisions.
- CartographerDesigns maps for print and screens, from hiking maps to navigation apps.
- Search and rescue team memberUses navigation skills to find lost people; many teams are volunteers with special training.
Ask yourself
- Do you trust a GPS or a map and compass more, and why?
- What was the trickiest cache you looked for, and what helped you finally find it or decide to stop?
- How did it feel to teach someone else to use a GPS?
- What new places did geocaching take you that you'd never been before?
- What did running a geohunt teach you about planning for other people?
Good questions to ask your counselor or an experienced geocacher
- What makes a geocache fun to find instead of frustrating?
- How do you decide when to stop looking and log it as not found?
- What's the most interesting place a cache has taken you?
- What permissions do you need before you hide a cache?
- How do you use a map and compass when the GPS isn't working well?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Plan a geohunt for a Cub Scout pack so older Scouts can teach and lead.
- Borrow GPS units or use phones with offline maps, and teach map and compass alongside.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- Geocaching.com (opens in a new tab) — Find caches near you and learn the rules of the game.
- GPS.gov (opens in a new tab) — Explains how the Global Positioning System works.
- Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics (opens in a new tab) — Principles for caring for the places you explore.
- USGS Topographic Maps (opens in a new tab) — Free topo maps you can print or download to practice map and compass.
- NOAA National Geodetic Survey (opens in a new tab) — The agency that keeps track of survey markers and precise positions across the country.
- National Weather Service Safety (opens in a new tab) — How to prepare for heat, cold, lightning, and storms before a hunt.
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.