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Edition 2026Active Merit Badge
Geocaching
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Geocaching blends outdoor wilderness navigation, GPS technology, and high-tech treasure hunting. You will examine outdoor safety hazards and GPS planning, explore cache etiquette and Leave No Trace principles, master GPS constellation theory and EDGE unit operation, integrate map and compass skills, locate online public caches and find a physical cache in the field, explore Cache to Eagle / Travel Bugs / CITO projects, and design and execute a multi-waypoint geohunt event.
Key Requirements Covered:
- GPS Receiver Operation & Coordinates
- Geocache Navigation & Etiquette
- Cache In Trash Out (CITO) Stewardship
- Hiding & Maintaining an Original Cache
8Printable Pages
9Requirements
2019Reqs Revised
What is on the worksheet: Geocaching Requirements
Every requirement for the Geocaching merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
1Hazards, First Aid, and GPS Activity Planning
Do the following:
- a Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may encounter while participating in geocaching activities, and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards.
- b Discuss first aid and prevention for the types of injuries or illnesses that could occur while participating in geocaching activities, including cuts, scrapes, snakebite, insect stings, tick bites, exposure to poisonous plants, heat and cold reactions (sunburn, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, hypothermia), and dehydration.
- c Discuss how to properly plan an activity that uses GPS, including using the buddy system, sharing your plan with others, and considering the weather, route, and proper attire.
2Geocaching Etiquette and Outdoor Ethics
Discuss the following with your counselor:
- a Why you should never bury a cache
- b How to use proper geocaching etiquette when hiding or seeking a cache, and how to properly hide, post, maintain, and dismantle a geocache
- c The Leave No Trace Seven Principles and the Outdoor Code as they apply to geocaching
3Geocaching Terminology
Explain the following terms used in geocaching: waypoint, log, cache, accuracy, difficulty and terrain ratings, attributes, and trackable. Choose five additional terms to explain to your counselor.
4GPS Operation and EDGE Demonstration
Explain how the Global Positioning System (GPS) works. Then, using Scouting's EDGE, demonstrate to your counselor the use of a GPS unit. Include marking and editing a waypoint, changing field functions, and changing the coordinate system in the unit.
5Map & Compass vs. GPS Navigation
Do the following:
- a Show you know how to use a map and compass and explain why this is important for geocaching.
- b Explain the similarities and differences between GPS navigation and standard map-reading skills and describe the benefits of each.
6Four Steps to Finding a Cache and Waypoint Marking
Describe to your counselor the four steps to finding your first cache. Then mark and edit a waypoint.
7Locate 3 Caches Online and Find One Cache
With your parent or guardian's permission, go to www.geocaching.com. Type in your city and state to locate public geocaches in your area. Share with your counselor the posted information about three of those geocaches. Then, pick one of the three and find the cache.Note: To fulfill this requirement, you will need to set up a free user account with www.Geocaching.com. Before doing so, ask your parent or guardian for permission and help.
8Cache to Eagle, Travel Bug, Hiding a Cache, or CITO
Do ONE of the following:
- a If a Cache to Eagle® series exists in your council, visit at least three of the locations in the series. Describe the projects that each cache you visit highlights, and explain how the Cache to Eagle® program helps share our Scouting service with the public.
- b Create a Scouting-related Travel Bug® that promotes one of the values of Scouting. Release your Travel Bug into a public geocache and, with your parent or guardian's permission, monitor its progress at www.geocaching.com for 30 days. Keep a log, and share this with your counselor at the end of the 30-day period.
- c Set up and hide a public geocache, following the guidelines in the Geocaching merit badge pamphlet. Before doing so, share with your counselor a three-month maintenance plan for the geocache where you are personally responsible for those three months. After setting up the geocache, with your parent or guardian's permission, follow the logs online for 30 days and share them with your counselor. You must archive the geocache when you are no longer maintaining it.
- d Explain what Cache In Trash Out (CITO) means, and describe how you have practiced CITO at public geocaches or at a CITO event. Then, either create CITO containers to leave at public caches, or host a CITO event for your unit or for the public.
9Design and Host a Geohunt Event
Plan a geohunt for a youth group such as your troop or a neighboring pack, at school, or your place of worship. Choose a theme, set up a course with at least four waypoints, teach the players how to use a GPS unit, and play the game. Tell your counselor about your experience, and share the materials you used and developed for this event.
Two dates, two different things
Requirements Revision vs. Worksheet Date
Scouting America last revised the Geocaching requirements in 2019. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
Verbatim Fidelity & Verification
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/geocaching/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
Spotted a discrepancy on this sheet? Tell us and we will re-check it against the official requirements.
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