Geocaching is a real-world treasure hunt. Someone hides a small container, posts its location online, and you use a GPS or your phone to find it. Lethbridge has caches in the coulees, along the river valley pathways and in city parks, so there’s almost certainly one within a short walk of you right now.
It’s a great way to get kids outside, learn real navigation, and see corners of the city you’d never notice otherwise. It’s also free to start.
How it works
- Find a cache online. The free Geocaching app (or geocaching.com) shows caches on a map near you. Each listing gives the coordinates, a difficulty rating, a terrain rating and a short description.
- Navigate to it. Your phone or GPS gets you close, usually within 5 to 10 metres. The last part is a search with your eyes and hands.
- Sign the log. Every cache has a small logbook. Write your name or team name and the date.
- Trade fairly, or just sign. Bigger caches hold small trinkets. If you take something, leave something of equal or greater value.
- Put it back exactly as you found it, then log your find online.
Find caches near Lethbridge
Head to Geocaching.com and sign up for a free account. That unlocks the map of caches around Lethbridge, the beginner guides and the free Geocaching app for your phone. On a phone, the app shows the caches around wherever you are standing.
Phone or GPS?
A phone is all most people need to start. It shows the map, the cache description and past visitors’ notes in one place. Download the area’s map before you go in case the signal drops in the river valley, and carry a small battery pack, because GPS use drains a phone quickly, especially in the cold.
A dedicated handheld GPS is tougher, works in rain and cold, runs for days on batteries, and doesn’t depend on cell signal. It’s the better choice for longer hikes, backcountry caches and anyone who wants to learn proper navigation. Many also show a compass and track where you’ve walked, so you can always retrace your steps.
Map and compass: the skill behind the gadget
Batteries die and screens crack, so it’s worth knowing the basics without electronics:
- Orient your map by turning it until north on the map points north in real life. Suddenly the roads and coulees line up with what you see.
- Take a bearing by pointing the compass’s direction-of-travel arrow at where you want to go, then turning the dial until the needle sits inside the north arrow. Walk that direction, picking a landmark ahead and walking to it.
- Allow for declination. A compass points to magnetic north, not true north. Around Lethbridge the difference is roughly 12 degrees east, and it changes a little every year. Natural Resources Canada has a free calculator for the exact current value.
- Practise in town first. A city park or the University of Lethbridge grounds is a perfect place to try it, where getting it wrong costs nothing.
Staying safe in the coulees
- Watch where you put your hands. Prairie rattlesnakes live in Lethbridge’s coulees. Never reach into holes, crevices or under rocks you can’t see into. Use a stick to look, and keep dogs leashed.
- Stay on the trails. Coulee slopes erode easily and can be steep and loose, especially after rain.
- Dress for the weather. Wind, sun and fast temperature changes are normal here. See our What to Wear guide, and bring water.
- Tell someone where you’re going, and turn back if the weather turns or the light is fading.
- Kids should cache with an adult, and the adult checks each hiding spot before little hands go in.
Leave it better than you found it
Geocachers have a motto: “Cache In, Trash Out.” Bring a small bag and pick up litter along the way. Don’t dig, move rocks or break branches to find a cache. Hiding spots never need it.
Want to hide your own cache?
Always get permission from the landowner first. In Alberta’s provincial parks, you need written approval from Alberta Parks before a cache can be listed, and caches aren’t allowed at all in ecological reserves, wilderness areas or heritage rangelands. Caches may never be buried, nailed or screwed to trees, or hold food. On City of Lethbridge land, check with the City before you place anything, and keep caches well away from sensitive coulee habitat.
More to explore
- Get Outdoors: more ways to enjoy Lethbridge’s big skies and river valley
- Camping and Bushcraft: take your navigation skills further
- Family Adventures: more low-cost outings with the kids
- APRS on VE6DOK: how ham radio operators share GPS positions over the air
Sources: Alberta Parks geocache guidelines, Geocaching.com, Natural Resources Canada magnetic declination calculator.