North Dakota

Owned by Carleen Coulter (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Mar 16, 2023 by Chuck Vanlue
3 min read

North Dakota State Parks

Effective January 2011, the geocaching policy in all North Dakota State Parks is that the park manager or designated park employee owns and manages the geocaches within that particular State Park.  Individual geocache ownership is not allowed.  Here is a link to that geocaching policy.

National Park Service Lands

Properties operated by the National Park Service do not allow physical geocaches. This includes all monuments and areas operated by the National Park Service.

National Wildlife Refuges

Geocaching is banned in National Wildlife Refuges AND Waterfowl Production Areas, lands managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Maps of these areas (for the entire US System) may be found here:  https://gis-fws.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/fws::fws-national-realty-tracts-simplified/about

North Dakota Wildlife Management Areas

North Dakota recently banned caches in all of its Wildlife Management Areas, lands managed by the North Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks. Here is a link to that rule. (PDF file)

Cemeteries

At this time there is no prohibition concerning geocaching within cemeteries in the state of North Dakota. There are some municipal cemeteries that specifically ban any recreational activities within the cemetery grounds.  It is the cache owner's responsibility to verify those regulations before placing a geocache within any cemetery.  Geocaches must be respectfully placed around the perimeter away from any graves or markers.

Army Corps of Engineer managed properties

Geocaching is allowed on CoE managed property but require are subject to specific permitting processes prior to placement.

Native American Lands

Geocaching is allowed / not allowed on Native Lands per the following conditions:

  • Cache is within a public park in town - allowed
  • Cache is along along an established county or state road ROW (maintained by State or county DOT) - allowed
  • Caches are NOT allowed on BIA named or numbered roads are off limits, or other off road areas without specific, verifiable permission from the reservation land manager.

Cemeteries

At this time there is no prohibition concerning geocaching within cemeteries in the state of North Dakota. There are some municipal cemeteries that specifically ban any recreational activities within the cemetery grounds.  It is the cache owner's responsibility to verify those regulations before placing a geocache within any cemetery.  Geocaches must be respectfully placed around the perimeter away from any graves or markers.

School Grounds and Proximity

The guidelines specifically state "a geocache is problematic due to its proximity to a public structure. Examples include highway bridges, major roadways, dams, government buildings, schools, military installations, hospitals, airports and other areas defined in the Regional Geocaching Policies Wiki."

Generally - should some one seeking a cache be visible from the school buildings, parking areas, and/or playing fields - I consider the cache to be "too close".

This restriction applies even with verifiable permission - as this permission can not be clearly communicated to all "stakeholders" of the school - including the administration, teachers, students, staff, and parents.

Tree Climbing

Caches will not be listed if ladders, special equipment, or climbing is required to reach the cache.  These will require specific, verifiable permission.  All caches in city parks must be reachable from the ground, or be placed under the tree.

Additional Map Resources




We will not publish caches that are on or adjacent to school grounds or school property without express written permission on file from that school administrator. A statement of permission must be placed on the cache page, along with any restrictions for that location.

North Dakota Reviewers

GeoCrater

About This Guide

The local laws and guidelines for geocaching placement vary from place to place. As community reviewers learn geocache placement policies for a certain location, they can add it here. This site may not be a complete or accurate list of land policies. These policies are made by the land owner or manager, they are neither the reviewer’s nor Geocaching HQ’s. This guide is just for reference, if no policies for the area you’re looking for are listed, that doesn't mean no policies exist. You must still obtain permission to place your geocache from the landowner or land manager,comply with all applicable laws, and follow the Geocaching Listing Requirements.

If you have an update, email the community reviewer(s) listed.

This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

 If you contribute to this wiki, you agree to provide permission to others under this license.

If you share information from this site, you must mention "These regional land policies came from the Geocaching.com Public Wiki and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No-Derivatives 4.0 International License."

 And, you agree to keep content current by checking back regularly for updates.