Have you ever heard of and/or been GeoCaching? Since the first time I heard of GeoCaching I’ve wanted to go, and to take my son. However, I wasn’t really sure how to go about it. My introduction to GeoCaching was through TV (either CSI or Law & Order, I can’t remember which.) It sounded like a treasure hunt and I knew my son would love that. I was under the impression that GeoCaching only happened in larger areas, cities mostly.
Boy was I wrong!
What is GeoCaching?
After some Googling I found GeoCaching.com which allowed me to input my zip code and find caches (treasure troves) nearby. Now, I live in a very remote location in a very rural area. “Civilization” is over an hour away. I found more than 100 caches within 25 miles of my zip code! This made me even more eager to start GeoCaching.There was 1 problem though. How were we going to find these geocaches while we were out? Sure, we could print out the hints or coordinates, but I would get lost in a heartbeat. I don’t know how to follow coordinates! I knew there had to be an easier way, I just wasn’t sure what that was. After more reading I found out that there were GPS units specific to GeoCaching. There were several of these, in fact, and I was a bit overwhelmed thinking about them.
Then it was like someone read my mind because we received an e-mail from Magellan about the eXplorist GC. This is a portable, handheld GPS unit for GeoCaching. It comes pre-loaded with thousands of the geocaches. While it didn’t have geocaches directly in my area pre-loaded, there were several in surrounding areas. I was able to easily send the cache coordinates from the GeoCaching.com website to the eXplorist GC. 
Powering the unit is 2 AA batteries. Setting up the Magellan eXplorist GC was quick, easy and painless. That’s how I like in my gadgets! It did take a little getting use to the joystick type directional pad, but I was eventually able to navigate the unit with ease. Once we had some local geocaches in the unit we were eager to start our treasure hunt. We started out with a few beginner caches, just to get a feel for GeoCaching. After the first 2 we were hooked. The Magellan eXplorist GC GPS really made it fun and easy to find the caches. It has some really amazing features. Probably one of the best things about the Magellan eXplorist GC GPS is that it’s easy to use. My 10 year old son was able to take charge and navigate after only a little while. And like most parents, if he’s happy – I’m happy.
Magellan eXplorist GC GPS Features
- Seamless Connection to Geocaching.com User Community - Easily connect to the #1 user community for geocaching and perform “Send to GPS”, create and sync Pocket Queries, and upload Field Notes
- Free 30 Day Premium Membership to Geocaching.com - Download GPX files, create your own Pocket Queries, and get tons of other premium membership features.
- Pre-Loaded with the Most Popular Geocaches - These caches have been found more than any others! Get a complete out-of-the-box experience by searching and finding the top geocaches in your region!
- Paperless Geocaching - Download and view more than 20 unique characteristics of each cache and view, search, filter on the device. Details include name, location, description, hider, size, difficulty, terrain, hint, spoilers, and last 20 user logs among a number of other details
- Easy to Navigate Menus and Rich Graphics - A dedicated device means there is no nonsense to by-pass to get to your geocaches. A simply main menu, intuitive contextual menus, and vibrant graphics make this device easy to use
- Brilliant, sunlight readable color screen - A vibrant 2.2″ color transflective screen provides the best readability in direct sunlight
- Store up to 10,000 geocaches on the device - That is a total of 20 Pocket Queries! Load a new GPX file for each trip or all the locations you love to geocache so you’ll have data on board when you need it
- Geocache Awards - Keep track of all your finds and receive special awards based on number of finds, types of finds, and other interesting combinations of actions. The more you find, the more you are rewarded!
- Rugged and waterproof to IPX- Focus on the adventure not protecting the device
- High-sensitivity SiRFstarIII GPS with 3-5 meter accuracy - Most smart phones provide 20-30 meter GPS accuracy, which will get you close to the geocaching, but will it really help your find it? 3-5 meter GPS accuracy will put you on top of the cache and make the find that much easier
- Trip Summary - Start your journey with one-click and keep tabs on useful statistics such as distance traveled average speed, elevation gain and descent, and average time to find
Too many electronics and gadgets today are designed to be enjoyed indoors. Video games, computers, iPads etc… they’re all fine in moderation, but what I want is to get my kids outside. GeoCaching is the perfect way to do this. It’s a non-stop adventure that leaves them fulfilled (and with some fun little trinkets too.) It’s great watching them have fun – and it’s even better when we can get in on the fun too.
This is our first GeoCaching GPS unit so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I can’t imagine a better first GeoCaching experience. We had a blast hunting down hidden treasures and we even hid some of our own. It feels awesome to be a part of a new community and this is definitely something we will continue to do. I can definitely recommend the Magellan eXplorist GC GPS to anyone thinking of getting into GeoCaching.Shop & Connect with Magellan
You can buy the Magellan eXplorist GC GPS or other GeoCaching products on the Magellan website. You can also connect with Magellan GPS on Facebook and on Twitter.
Win it!
If you want to join in on the Geocaching fun, you’re in luck! We’re giving one of you a Magellan eXplorist GC GPS of your own, just enter below!
About Amber Killmon
Newbie, but excited to learn more!
We love geocaching. Have been doing it for a couple of years, but last summer our gps broke. This one looks great.
I’m a newbie but it seems like so much fun!
newbie
definitely a newbie
I’m a newbie
newbie here
newbie for sure… but it sounds fun.
I have not tried it, but have heard of it and it sounds like a lot of fun for the family !
I’ve never tried it! I’ve heard a bit about it and it looks like it would be a lot of fun. I would love to try it one day. :D
I don’t know about geocaching but I know how to use a gps.
We’re definite noobs and have only made a couple of attempts. I’d like to try again.
im a newbie willing and wanting to learn