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Earthcaches

The activity known as Geocaching has been described as ‘using billion-pound technology to look for Tupperware boxes in the woods.

 It started in the year 2000 when accurate positioning using a GPS receiver became available to the general public. There are now more than 3 million geocaches worldwide, published on the geocaching.com website, and probably three times as many geocachers involved in searching for ones local to them.  These are people who are regularly out and about in town and country, but many have little knowledge of geology and geomorphology. That is where Earthcaching comes in.

Earthcaches are a subgroup of geocaches, where there is no box to be found at the location, but instead there are aspects of geology to explore.  The person setting the cache writes a brief description of the geology, together with a few questions that the finder is required to answer at the location. The idea is that these should combine to provide a short earth science lesson for an adult with no previous knowledge of geology. Photographs and diagrams can be included in the description, but diagrams and text need to be kept simple, remembering that many cachers will be reading the material on the screen of their smartphone or GPS, not on a computer screen. Finders subsequently contact the cache owner with their answers and can then log the cache as a ‘find’ on the geocaching website. Many earthcaches are at conventional geological outcrops, others relate to building stones, and some look at geomorphological features such as modern dunes or glacial moraines.


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Identifying an ammonite for an earthcache at Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset

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An earthcache at one of Cumbria GeoConservation Local Geological Sites, exploring structures in Triassic sandstones.

All geocaches are graded according to their difficulty and terrain, on a 9-point scale running in half units, from 1 to 5. In general, earthcaches would have a low difficulty rating since the questions should be relatively straightforward to answer. The terrain rating will depend on how tricky it is to get to the cache site. One near the summit of a Lakeland fell might have a terrain rating of 4 or 4.5, while one looking at polished stones in a shopping centre, accessible to a cacher who uses a wheelchair or with a child in a buggy, would have a terrain rating of 1.

Before an earthcache can be published on the geocaching website, it is submitted to be checked by a reviewer with a geological background, who satisfies themselves that the geological information provided is accurate and the questions appropriate. They also must be confident that relevant permissions have been obtained if the cache is on private land, or land owned by organisations such as the National Trust. For this, the government sponsored MAGIC map (Multi Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside) is invaluable and most landowners are happy to give permission.


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Monolith and Shadow - the site of an earthcache outside University College Hospital, Euston Road, London, where cachers answer questions about the types of rock present in this fascinating sculpture.


The number of visitors to an earthcache will, of course, depend on its location. One of ours in central London is currently getting about 20 visits a month, while another, at one of Cumbria GeoConservation’s Local Geological sites, on the west coast near St Bees, has had about 20 visits in the last year. But that’s 20 people, or groups of people, who have now had an introduction to features in Triassic sandstones who might previously have never given these lovely rocks a second glance, as they walked along the coastal path.

List of current Earthcache sites at/near Cumbrian LGS sites.

Earthcaches are a great way to encourage non-geologists to learn a bit more about our fascinating subject.  There are already earthcaches at Land’s End and John O’Groats but choose somewhere between and you can set your own!

Audrey Brown (Cumbria GeoConservation)

Earthcache blog


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Exploring clints and grikes on the Gait Barrows NNR, Arnside and Silverdale AONB, for an earthcache concerning the development of limestone pavements.

Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle keeps wildlife information for the county of Cumbria. Tullie House Museum, in its role as a local natural history museum, has collected and disseminated records of wildlife in Cumbria since its inception in 1893. From the early 1990s the Museum has developed a computerised database of species and habitat records in Cumbria and has taken the central role in providing a local biodiversity data service for the county. This role was restyled as Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre (CBDC) in 2010, a not-for-profit organisation hosted by Tullie House Museum and advised by local stakeholders.
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreMonday, June 30th, 2025 at 1:47am
We're looking for a Seasonal Field Officer to join the County Wildlife Sites Project team - could this be you?
Applications must be received by 9am tomorrow (1st July).

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/about-us/job-vacancies/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreSunday, June 29th, 2025 at 9:35pm
Thank you to everyone who took part in Cumbria Wild Watch 2025! Without records from individual recorders, our understanding of the wildlife of Cumbria would be far less complete.

#CumbriaWildWatch #Cumbria #30dayswild
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreSaturday, June 28th, 2025 at 9:12pm
Fourth and final day of Cumbria Wild Watch - so if you haven't recorded anything yet - now is the time!
Wherever you are in Cumbria, please record (and submit your records) the wildlife around you.
CBDC will join Wild for Wigton at Throstle Park in Wigton from 10am to record the park and to share information on wildlife recording so do come along!

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/

#CumbriaWildWatch #Cumbria #30dayswild
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreFriday, June 27th, 2025 at 9:31pm
Third day of Cumbria Wild Watch!
CBDC are out and about in Cumbria today - at Whitehaven Coastal Cliffs and at the Festival of the Lake at the Jetty Museum in Bowness-on-Windermere so please do come and see us. There are other events taking place too - such as Celebrating Swifts at the Swifts Nature Reserve in Carlisle.

Or take part in your own bit of Cumbria by recording wildlife on your doorstep...

https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/

#CumbriaWildWatch #Cumbria #30dayswild
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreThursday, June 26th, 2025 at 9:05pm
Day 2 of Cumbria Wild Watch!
Join us today at Elizabeth's Wood in the centre of Keswick to help us record the plants, animals and fungi we find. CBDC will be onsite from 10am till mid afternoon so do come along and try some recording - if you can brave the rain...
If you are elsewhere in Cumbria, please do take five minutes to record any trees, flowering plants, birds, insects etc. that you see.
More information: https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/

#CumbriaWildWatch #Cumbria #30dayswild
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, June 25th, 2025 at 9:00pm
The first day of Cumbria Wild Watch - an opportunity to contribute to establishing a biodiversity baseline for Cumbria. Please record any and all wildlife you see - plants, animals, fungi - while you are out and about today and until 29th June.
If you would like more information on how to take part, please see:
https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/