The popular outdoor adventure game known as geocaching connects participants around the world with a modern treasure hunting expedition. Members of the geocaching community hide caches of treasures in abstract places for other geocachers to find. Using a smartphone app connecting to a GPS, geocachers can track down the location of the secret treasure cache. With new local geocaches added frequently, San Diego State has developed a collection of on- campus geocaches, which has drawn the attention of new and old geocachers alike.

According to The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site, geocaches vary in size and appearance and usually contain a logbook and variety of different items, depending on what visitors leave in the cache. If a person removes something from the cache, an object of equal or greater value must be left in its place.

Hilary Gerth, liberal studies junior Hilary Gerth first learned about geocaching while on an airplane to Florida. Not long after, her whole family started to search for geocaches.

“The strangest spot I’ve found a geocache was in a fake pipe attached to a telephone pole. It looked like it was a part of the pole. I tried to pull at it and it wouldn’t come off of the pole, but I knew it was a cache,” Gerth said.

Among the many geocaches scattered around San Diego, geocaches on the SDSU campus are located near Hepner Hall, Scripps Cottage and Parking Structure 5. Hidden in secret and unsuspected places, students walk past the caches everyday not even realizing the treasures surrounding them.

“My favorite thing about going geocaching is the adventure. Running around, trying to find the geocaches makes me feel like a little kid again. I think the best spot to hide a geocache box would be inside of a mall because of how big and complex it is,” honors student Marissa Brown said.

For a complete list of geocache locations, visit geocaching.com or download the geocaching app available for most smartphones.