No geocaching in MN State Parks

[merkong]

Too bad for us but in MN there is no geocaching allowed... Our kids love to treasure hunt so we place small temporary caches that do not require any geomachine and are placed in areas where normal foot traffic is expected to occur.  I sympathize w/ the MN DNR regarding bushwacking and destructive forces although it is the opinion of this cacher that true cachers would never think of doing damage to the areas where looking takes place.  We camp exclusively in MN SP's so the temporary treasures still provide our kids with a nice activity while we are out in the wild.

merkong

2005 Fleetwood Bayside
TV's 2003 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer; 2006 Ford F150 XLT
Days camped 2006: 14

[Kelly]

We've only geocached with friends ...

Just wanted to welcome another MN member ... we are few and far between.

We'll be at Itasca next weekend (June 23-25) and have trips scheduled for Jay Cooke and Forestville later in the season.

Maybe we'll run into each other ....[/FONT]

[merkong]

Cool, and thanks.  Geocaching is fun.  Its a real family deal at our house.  I do admit though we have not done it "for real" since the camping season has begun.  Stop by for a game of ladder golf... Good Luck.

merkong
(ken)

[AustinBoston]

Just wanted to welcome another MN member ... we are few and far between.[/FONT]

This actually amazes me, knowing how many pop-ups I see here in central Minnesota, either on the road or parked in diveways and lawns.  Sure are a lot more than in Massachusetts when I lived there.

People take their toys and their recreation more seriously here.

Austin

[Azusateach]

... although it is the opinion of this cacher that true cachers would never think of doing damage to the areas where looking takes place.  

Unfortunately that isn't always the case.  Just down the street from me someone thought it would be "fun" to place a microcache under some bark of a pine tree.  It's obvious that the bark had to be physically removed in order to place the log.  Made me angry that the approving powers-that-be thought it was acceptable to take apart part of a tree.

I think you'll find that it's not too uncommon to see geocaching disallowed in parks -- national ones in particular.  Virtual caches are much more acceptable, and sometimes even more fun/challenging.  Guess you have to get over (or explain to the kids) that sometimes the fun lies not in finding goodies but in finding the "find".

[fritz_monroe]

It's frustrating to see caches hidden in sensitive areas.  I've actually mentioned problems with caches and had the owner basically told me to mind my own business.

Here in Maryland, we have a very active society, the MDGPS.  This organization was created a couple years ago to open a forum with the state to try our hardest to keep geocaching legal in MD.  It started because of caches blown up by the bomb squad.  The organization has been pretty good at this.

The problem I see is that people think "how can I put a cache here" when they should more often ask "should I place a cache here."  If more hiders would think about the consequences, there would be fewer problems.

[merkong]

Too bad for us but in MN there is no geocaching allowed... Our kids love to treasure hunt so we place small temporary caches that do not require any geomachine and are placed in areas where normal foot traffic is expected to occur.  I sympathize w/ the MN DNR regarding bushwacking and destructive forces although it is the opinion of this cacher that true cachers would never think of doing damage to the areas where looking takes place.  We camp exclusively in MN SP's so the temporary treasures still provide our kids with a nice activity while we are out in the wild.

merkonG

I could not agree more with everyone.  We love the virtual cache and have prepared a few for the kids (beats throwing something out like you would for a bird dog) and the kids love them.  Incorporating information from the park map pertinent to the history of the park is a real cool time.

Having only about 15 well-hidden and environmentally friendly caches hidden in the Twin Cities area, I can still say that the onus is on the hider, "use your head", as well as on the seeker, "use your" head.  In MN we have the //www.mngca.org that is maintaining dialouge with our DNR for possible caches in areas presently forbidden with a registration process.  Many couty parks in our state operate under similar circumstances.  

merkong
(and we do take our outdoor stuff pretty sertiously in MN,. huh)