Table of Contents
1. Basic links
Majority of information you need to place or find a geocache you may find on help websites of Geocaching.com:
2. Community
You may find additional information about aspects of geocaching following the links below:
Website | Zawartosc |
|---|---|
A Polish-only website. Contains explanation of basic terms and definitions, stats, information regarding the Polish Tourist Organisation badge, logbooks’ templates, etc. | |
Geocaching.com Discussion Forum for Polish speaking geocachers. | |
Geocaching Poland Facebook fanpage. | |
Geocaching Poland Blog with articles like “Best Practice”, “Geocache of the Week” and many other. In Polish only. | |
Contains tutorials and instructions for beginners and short geocaching documentaries. |
3. Additional regulations
Geocaching.com Guidelines is valid in all countries all over the world, but in many of them there are additional regulations which come from local law and social and cultural factors..
3.1. Environmentally sensitive locations
In case of placing geocache in the environmentally sensitive locations, please follow guideline in the tables below. List of protected areas..
Even if you are going to place geocache along public and available for walkers footpath it’s recommended to request for permission from local authorities.
Location | Substantiation |
|---|---|
National Parks | In the National Parks potential location of the cache must be verified by the Park authorities prior to listing submission for review. While submitting a cache for review, please include name, job title and contact details of the person who granted the permission. The website with Parks’ info and internet addresses: http://www.parkinarodowe.edu.pl/ |
Nature Reserves | If the Nature Reserve is available for hikers (there are waymarked paths or trails), the container can be placed only on those paths or trails. If entrance to the Reserve is forbidden, geocaches are not allowed. All geocaches placed in Nature Reserves should be submitted for review with photos clearly showing hiding place and its distance from the trail. |
Nature Monuments | It is not allowed to place caches in close proximity of Nature Monuments, both animate and inanimate. |
Caves | Caches can be placed only in caves for which there is no entry restrictions. You need to remember that some caves are temporary unavailable due to, for example, bats’ wintering. For this time a geocache should be deactivated. |
Miedzyrzecz Fortification Region | Caches in facilities of MFR are allowed, unless entry to the facility hasn’t been restricted. Note, however, that since the beginning of November to the end of March, for the protection of species of bats entry to the undergrounds is forbidden. For this time geocache should be deactivated. |
3.2. Parks and Reserves in which cache hides are not allowed or limited
Park Name | Substantiation |
|---|---|
Kampinoski National Park | APPROVAL REQUIRED. Caches may be hidden only if accessable from hiking trail or on designated places where tourist are allowed to enter (parking places, camps). Approval has to be sent to reviewer Reviewing process may start only after proper approval is delivered to Reviewer. |
3.3. Locations in which cache hides are inappropriate
Location | Substantiation |
|---|---|
Railroads | Geocaches near active railroads are not allowed. According to the local regulations there is strictly restricted access to the railway area, trains and other rail vehicles and presence without permit on raceways, embankments, viaducts, bridges and tunnels is considered as unauthorized. |
Cemeteries | Active cemeteries’ regulations prohibit games and plays on their area therefore caches placed there will not be published. When submitting a geocache placed on inactive cemetery to be published, please remember that in Polish culture and mentality they are places of special respect and treatment so to avoid violating those feelings geocaches in close proximity of graves may not be published. |
Nurseries and schools | Placing caches in close proximity to children facilities, such as nurseries and playgrounds are considered to be inappropriate. The reason is the anxiety of parents and carers, which can be caused by geocachers whose behavior while searching may be considered suspicious. |
Airports and Seaports | Due to threat of terrorism, these places are under special protection. Ports and the area around them are areas of regular activity of patrols. Geocaches in inappropriate distance to the airports and sea ports may not be published. When placing the cache near these places use your common sense. |
Prisons, courts and military, police and government buildings | Although hiding a cache near these places may be easy, the search in areas being subject of special protection and constantly monitored causes suspicion and exposes geocachers troubles of unnecessary explanations. |
Railway and highway bridges, dams | Placing caches on strategic objects may be a cause of unnecessary anxiety and false bomb alarm. |
Electric and gas instalation, etc. | Caches should not be placed on the elements of electrical and gas lines such as switches, valves, meters, its bonnets and any other ones with electrocution warning and prohibiting approach. Imitations and fake elements of electrical and gas installations are allowed when they are clearly and visibly marked as a geocache and there are no doubts about their geocaching purpose. |
3.4. Commercial geocache
Information regarding listing a geocache in another geocaching website is not allowed.
Guideline: Commercial geocaches are disallowed.
Cache listings perceived as commercial will not be published. A commercial cache listing has one or more of the following characteristics:
- It has overtones of advertising, marketing or promotion.
- It suggests or requires that the finder go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.
- It contains links to businesses, agencies, commercial advertisers, charities, or political or social agendas.
- It contains the logo of a business or organization, including non-profit organizations.
- It contains the name of a business or commercial product.
3.5. Event stacking
This phrase refers to holding multiple events that are close to each other or at similar times. Events are social gatherings of geocachers and having too many too close to each other diminishes their value to the community. Events are not just an excuse to get a 'smiley'. In the future, if an event is submitted and another event is either already published or also waiting review and they are too close to each other then the following guidance will apply:
Events will be published within a similar time period only if they are more than 8 km apart (as the crow flies). Events closer to each other than 8 km will only be published if the end time of the first is more than 2 hours before the start time of the next.
3.6. Containers attached to trees
Geocaches cannot be permanently attached to trees without the property owner’s explicit consent. If the container is attached to a tree, when sending a geocache for review, in the Reviewer Note provide the consent of the property owner for fixing the container or a photo showing the method of attachment.
4. Reviewers
4.1. Basic information
Geocaches are reviewed before publication. More about this process is written on the page http://support.groundspeak.com//index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=22 in points 1.4-1.8.
There are six volunteer reviewers in Poland: one deals with EarthCaches, five other deal with all caches which require containers and they also publish event caches. Each of these four has got a different part of Poland assigned, according to the image below. All requests (questions or problems) regarding caches should be addressed accordingly.
You can contact each of reviewers by e-mail on their profile page:
- Carpatia: lódzkie, slaskie, swietokrzyskie
- Galician Reviewer: lubelskie, malopolskie, podkarpackie
- Kashubian Reviewer: podlaskie, pomorskie, warminsko-mazurskie, zachodniopomorskie
- Silesian Reviewer: dolnoslaskie, lubuskie, opolskie
- Varsovian Reviewer: kujawsko-pomorskie, mazowieckie, wielkopolskie
Regarding Earthcaches: GeoawarePL2
“Reviewers strive to begin the review within 7 days of enabling your listing. You may experience longer than normal waiting time in the week following a holiday, or after a large geocaching event. We kindly ask for your patience. Please keep in mind that the reviewers are volunteers and sometimes things come up in their lives that delay geocache review.”
4.2. Appeals
If you do not agree with Reviewer’s decision or you want to comment his/her work you may write to another Polish Reviewer (from the list above) or to the Appeals team (in the form please chose "Appeals").
Please include:
- GC Code
- Geocache location (country)
- The Reviewer’s name
- Which guideline(s) did your reviewer say your cache currently does not follow?
- Please briefly explain why you feel your cache should be published in its current form.
As the volunteer reviewers, this is an ongoing learning process for us. We take no offense for you utilizing the appeals process. An unbiased review can often help bring clarity to a situation.
5. COVID-19 pandemic restrictions
Update 13/05/2021: Due to the lifting of restrictions by the government, we are restoring the possibility of organizing outdoor events from June 6, 2021. A meeting in a restaurant garden is not an outdoor event, so such events will not be published. Sanitary rules still apply to organizers and participants, so please follow them. We remind you that events should be submitted for review no later than two weeks before the scheduled date of the meeting.
Update 16/10/2020: The publication of geocaches in Poland is resumed on April 20, 2020. Due to the development of the pandemic and the introduction of restrictions on gatherings by the authorities, the publication of events in Poland are suspended from October 15, 2020 until further notice. In addition, regular events and CITOs scheduled from 17/10/2020 must be archived. CCE (Community Celebration Event) events will be retracted from publication and may be published at a later date.
Last update: 13th May 2021
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