Mall of America Geocaching

One of the things about geocaching that makes it so enjoyable of a hobby is that it can be done just about anywhere, and can make any trip more interesting. Not that it wouldn’t be an interesting trip in itself, even for those that do not enjoy shopping, but a trip to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is a good example. While there are plenty of things to do for people with carrying interests, there is a challenge waiting to be had for those that know about geocaching.

One of the most popular geocaches in Minnesota lays in wait for the geocacher willing to take on the challenge.  The Mall of America III Cache is located inside the mall, where the cacher has to use clues given by the cache owner to locate the container. There is no GPS needed, all you need to do is find an entrance to the mall and start searching. Rather than solving the clues to get final coordinates like one would do with a regular Puzzle cache or multi-cache, the cacher is searching for the unique store address on the mall directory map. The cache owner did a wonderful job of using the Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park as well as other parts of the Mall.

This geocache can be done solo or with a group, making it perfect to suit many situations. Do it while the family shops or plays in the theme park, travel as a pack, or split up to find the various clues.  However you do it, you will be happy that you made it a part of your trip to the Mall of America!

GO GET IT! 

GC7B09: Mall of America Cache III

The Parks and Recreation Department in Woodbury, Minnesota has wrapped it’s third summer of a kid’s geocaching camp. What a great idea! We know that groups such as the Boy Scouts have integrated geocaching into activities, but for a city to take the step to offer a camp for kids specifically focused on geocaching is exciting. Tell me that wouldn’t be a fun summer job to have!

The camp introduces 9- to 14-year-olds to geocaching by teaching them the basic guidelines and allowing them to go outside and find geocaches located in Woodbury on their own with the aid of an instructor. The camp is now in its third year.

Anyone else heard of camps like this in your area?

Source: Woodbury Bulletin

While it has gained steam and is becoming more of a household name, geocaching still has some hurdles to overcome. One of those hurdles is the fact that those not playing don’t always know a game is being played. It is understandable that with a game that often requires stealth so the cache is not discovered by those not playing, that those that don’t use a sufficient amount of stealth are going to be pretty dang suspicious.

This happened to myself recently when attempting to locate a cache at a new park. The park sat literally in the backyards of some houses in a new development. While searching we were being watched by a lady in her back yard. She came over to ask what we were looking for as she had seen a couple of other groups there earlier. Guessing this would happen more, we fessed up and she understood.When leaving though she asked us to notify the police that it was there as there had been some burglaries recently and the neighbors have wondered what people were searching for in the park. We let the cache owner know and it was moved.

Last week this led to the police being called in  Baxter, Minnesota. Read the rest of this entry

Hey there! Welcome to the blog for Midwest geocaching! A look at the high-tech treasure hunting game from the midwest, including Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Nebraska. We will have a look at geocaching in the news as well as talk about some of the best caches in the midwest.