San Francisco Geocaching

San Francisco is always one of our favorite trips, going all the way back to the ’80s when I brought Carole on a surprise trip (she thought we were visiting Minneapolis). Not even the flight crew would identify to her where the plane was headed. The Sea Lions at Pier 39, the walk up Nob Hill and the bike ride across the windy Golden Gate Bridge are all special memories. But now, we’ve added Geocaching and at least one of our most favorite caches worldwide.

Being the big city that it is, San Francisco is home to plenty of virtuals and lots of challenges with GPS readings amidst the tall buildings. Our typical trip involves staying downtown and doing lots of walking, or renting bikes and riding out to Golden Gate Park or over the bridge to Marin County.

There are tons of Geocaches you can research at Geocaching.com. Here’s just a few we recommend putting on your ‘must find’ list.

Lombard Street
This is a pretty clever little micro hidden in a high traffic area. And everyone has to see Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. We’ve visited this cache several times but only recently learned that it was a hide from Team Alamo. If you aren’t familiar, this will be depressing for you. Team Alamo, at last count, had over 24,000 finds in all 50 states. Yes, their occupation is professional Geocachers.

Watermelon Hill
This is another pretty good micro just a short distance away. This is the famous hill used by Dave Letterman to roll all sorts of objects, including watermelons, down the hill.

At the Pier
This is a webcam cache that also accepts photos when the cam is down. We include it because it’s our very favorite San Francisco stop, joining our ever growing number of LOUD friends. Check it out.

Cable Car Barn
OK, we’re including this one even though we didn’t find it. This is a clever hide next to a really cool museum in the Nob Hill area. It attracted us as it’s just a half block from our favorite restaurant, Venticello. Make it an evening and have dinner. You’ll need to be a bit clever on this one. This is the cache that’s going to draw us back to San Fran.

Union Square
This is probably our all-time favorite. In fact, we’ve adopted it into our Geocaching classes here in Park City. It’s the best lesson on how important it is to read everything in the description and think. Then read it again. It took us about an hour, but then the light went on (no, that’s not really a clue … or maybe it is).

High Five and Clueless
Well, this isn’t quite in San Fran — Palo Alto, actually. But you could easily hop the train and get to this cache just a few blocks from the Palo Alto station. I was just bummed as it seems to be a super clever hide, but I couldn’t find it. Check it out and let me know.

There are tons more caches in San Francisco. And it’s the perfect way to spend the day.

What are your favorites?