If, like many of us, you could do with some exercise but lack the incentive to get out of your chair then this could be for you.

Geocaching is a modern twist on the old game of treasure hunting. A 'cache' is a hiding place, often an army surplus ammunition box, which has been filled with goodies by the person who hid it.

A typical cache

Thousands of these caches are hidden all over the world and the challenge is to find them.

To do that you need a handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) and a set of co-ordinates, which are given on the geocaching website


GPS systems can be bought for under £100 or you could win one in our competition

It sounds easy - but it's not! The co-ordinates may lead you to the middle of nowhere and even though the GPS will get you to within a few metres of the cache you'll still have to look hard to find it.

Caches are never buried but some are very imaginatively hidden. Of course they could be discovered by accident, or vandalised, so each cache has a minder - usually the person who created it.

Using a GPS is kid's play

When you find a cache you take something out and you put something in. What you'll find is a complete mystery until you get there and what you leave is up to you, subject to a few rules.

There's usually a logbook so that you can write about the items you take and leave.

Then you hide the cache back where you found it, ready for the next geocacher to find.

Some caches contain information about the locality or give the co-ordinates of other nearby caches which are not listed on the website.

It's a fun way to spend a weekend outdoors and has become a popular activity since it began in May 2000. Some people have become completely hooked and a few will go to extremes to maximise the challenge.

Dan and Pid

Dan and Pid make it harder by going geocaching only at night.

This has been known to get them into difficulty - like the time they had to explain geocaching to a gang of gun wielding poachers who thought they were being rumbled!


Many people create their own caches and register them at the website, so the activity is growing all the time.

Fancy giving it a go? Chris Packham went geocaching and hid a special Inside Out cache in January 2003. See if you can find it!