Geocaching & Letterboxing

Geocaching is welcome throughout MOST of the Mark Twain National Forest, but not everywhere. If you are not familiar with this activity, go to www.geocaching.com for more information. The forest does require that geocachers provide forest managers with detailed information about proposed geocaches and obtain permission to place a cache before it is placed. There are also some general guidelines to follow when considering placement of a geocache.

If you are Geocaching on the forest, remember that caching comes with etiquette, and one practice is derived from geocachers' love of preserving the environment. CITO -- Cache In, Trash Out -- is where cachers take along a trash bag and clean up the environment as they are looking for a cache, packing the trash out. Respecting the environment, taking care of the resources you encounter, and cleaning up after others can help to preserve the future opportunities on the forest for Geocaching with minimal regulation.

• Follow the guidelines provided at www.geocaching.com for placement of a cache.
• Select your proposed location carefully; Avoid proposals to place a cache in a sensitive area, such as wet areas, near fragile plant populations, in highly erosive soils, in or adjacent to caves or historical sites, or similar areas, since these are likely to be disapproved.
• Avoid locations where searchers will be likely to endanger themselves or the nearby resources, even if they are searching after dark. Be sure the cache is really on National Forest lands, not on private land located within the National Forest Boundary.
• Prepare a request, provide the information about the proposed geocaching site, including location and a brief description of the setting and the resources found there, and how to get to the site. Consider taking a couple of digital photos of the area.
• Consider the management objectives of the area and the other activities planned for that location when placing a geocache – since Wilderness is supposed to be primitive, where humans and their belongings do not remain, physical caches will not be approved there. If there is evidence of an upcoming timber sale in the immediate area, the cache and geocachers may be at risk in that area.
• Decide what you will place at the cache, and what information you will provide other geocachers about the site. Draft your write-up prior to seeking permission to actually place the cache, so that the approving official will see the info you intend to provide. In your write-up, consider including information about the national forest, and/or about the individual area where the cache will be located (especially if it is a historical site), as well as providing encouragement to other geocachers to take care of the resources, keep motor vehicles on the designated routes, pay the day use fees if parking in a developed site, etc.
• Make sure that your geocache will be readily identifiable as a geocache – ie, mark it or label it on the outside “GEOCACHE”. Unmarked containers may be misidentified, and may cause undue trouble and expense before they are removed and/or destroyed.
• Contact a forest officer at the district where you would like to place the cache. Provide the information that will be necessary for evaluating your request, including a copy of your draft write-up, your contact information, and possibly photos or a description of the area.
• If you have not heard back from the forest within 15 days of your request, follow up with another e-mail or phone call.
• Geocaches placed on the forest need to be maintained. If you see ANY indication of resource damage or the beginning of a trail that might be caused by persons searching for your cache, archive it immediately, and remove it as soon as practical.