Wild Texas Forums: Parks, Travel & Recreation - View Single Post - Geocaching

Alchemist2000 · 05-10-2005, 08:08 AM

Shannon, if you have some specific info, I would love to see it.

My experience with the state parks is that the rangers' reponses seem to cover the entire spectrum. The ranger in Ray Roberts State Park recently posted on each of the many geocaches in the park, asking that the owners contact him before placing a cache in the future. That included one of our caches. I called him immediately, since we HAD contacted the park management prior to placing our cache several years earlier. He was very friendly and nice. He updated our contact information and everything was fine. I subsequently worked with him to place a terracache in the park. Again, that went extremely smoothly. He just wanted to be informed of the location (I presume he would have vetoed the lcoation if he were unhappy about it!) and wanted to be sure there was nothing inappropriate in the cache. I think your term "register" may technically be correct. However, it is nothing particularly formal, like in some states that require a permit. I got the impression the ranger, at least in this park, just wanted to know what people were doing.

In some parks (Lake Tawakoni is a good example but there are many others) the rangers actually encourage geocaching because they know it helps bring more visitors to their park. On the other hand, there are some other parks (I won't mention names), where the rangers are very opposed to geocaches. Enchanted Rock may have been one of them, I don't know. It is usually in those cases that they confiscate the caches. With the exception of the relatively new terracache at ER, I think most of the caches were VERY old and likely did not go through the same approval process that would be expected with new caches. In any case, if people placing caches in state parks will work with the rangers, I believe most of the problems can likely be resolved.

I just hope the TPWD will come to realize the many low-maintenance (from their point of view) visits and extra annual pass sales geocaching is bringing to the park system. We are a good example of that. We were only vaguely aware of the state parks before geocaching and never had an annual pass. Now we have had one for several years and will be renewing it later this month for yet another year. That is common among the geocachers I know. Solely because of geocaching, we have now been to nearly half of the 120 Texas state parks. Yes, even I was stunned when I counted them all. Much of our free time, including vacations, is centered on visiting Texas state parks...primarily for geocaching. Needless to say, we love both geocaching/ terracaching and we are huge supporters of the Texas state park system. I know geocaching and the park system can and do benefit one another in many parks throughout the state. I hope irresponsible cache placers don't ruin what could be a really good thing for everyone involved.

05-10-2005, 08:08 AM	#4
Alchemist2000 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Posts: 73	Re: Geocaching - New TPWD Policy Shannon, if you have some specific info, I would love to see it. My experience with the state parks is that the rangers' reponses seem to cover the entire spectrum. The ranger in Ray Roberts State Park recently posted on each of the many geocaches in the park, asking that the owners contact him before placing a cache in the future. That included one of our caches. I called him immediately, since we HAD contacted the park management prior to placing our cache several years earlier. He was very friendly and nice. He updated our contact information and everything was fine. I subsequently worked with him to place a terracache in the park. Again, that went extremely smoothly. He just wanted to be informed of the location (I presume he would have vetoed the lcoation if he were unhappy about it!) and wanted to be sure there was nothing inappropriate in the cache. I think your term "register" may technically be correct. However, it is nothing particularly formal, like in some states that require a permit. I got the impression the ranger, at least in this park, just wanted to know what people were doing. In some parks (Lake Tawakoni is a good example but there are many others) the rangers actually encourage geocaching because they know it helps bring more visitors to their park. On the other hand, there are some other parks (I won't mention names), where the rangers are very opposed to geocaches. Enchanted Rock may have been one of them, I don't know. It is usually in those cases that they confiscate the caches. With the exception of the relatively new terracache at ER, I think most of the caches were VERY old and likely did not go through the same approval process that would be expected with new caches. In any case, if people placing caches in state parks will work with the rangers, I believe most of the problems can likely be resolved. I just hope the TPWD will come to realize the many low-maintenance (from their point of view) visits and extra annual pass sales geocaching is bringing to the park system. We are a good example of that. We were only vaguely aware of the state parks before geocaching and never had an annual pass. Now we have had one for several years and will be renewing it later this month for yet another year. That is common among the geocachers I know. Solely because of geocaching, we have now been to nearly half of the 120 Texas state parks. Yes, even I was stunned when I counted them all. Much of our free time, including vacations, is centered on visiting Texas state parks...primarily for geocaching. Needless to say, we love both geocaching/ terracaching and we are huge supporters of the Texas state park system. I know geocaching and the park system can and do benefit one another in many parks throughout the state. I hope irresponsible cache placers don't ruin what could be a really good thing for everyone involved. Last edited by Alchemist2000 : 05-10-2005 at 08:14 AM.