On May 2nd of 2000 the U.S. Government flipped the “Blue Switch” and made high-accuracy GPS available to everyone. As all cachers know – the very next day Dave Ulmer hid a bucket in the woods near Portland, OR and posted the coordinates online becoming the first ever Cache Owner (CO). Three days later Mike Teague found the bucket and scored the first – FTF and geocaching was created. For 25 years the game has grown and changed and so it only seems fair to celebrate 25 years of Geocaching! This year’s version of the Texas Challenge will be EXTRA special.

We are going to pull out all of the stops and create a multi-day extravaganza of caching events that combine the elements that you all love around Texas Challenge (The friendship, the fellowship, the caching, and competition) and fold in elements of what we hope to be Geocaching’s biggest birthday party ever!

We are still working on the details of our activities – we will refresh this page with more information as things develop – but we can share some of the details below. We are planning our activities/events to keep cachers of every age busy ALL day long and all activities are free!  (With the exception of the build a cache).

The Texas Challenge – The cornerstone of Texas Challenge has always been the team competition. This event is a competition to see which team can find the most caches in the allotted time and win the coveted “Golden Ammo Can”. This year we are looking to expand the competition to include teams from outside of Texas. (Texans – you will continue to compete by region). 

Non-Texans – start getting your teams together.  We will have the link up for registration in the coming weeks.  You don’t need anything special just a team that can work together (minimum of 5 people).  The organizing team will help put people together in teams if you want to compete but can’t get a team together. 

Geocaching 25th Birthday Party – We are planning a huge Birthday Party to celebrate the 25th birthday of geocaching. We will share more details in the coming weeks/months but you can expect something big and Texas style including cake and all of the traditional birthday elements.

Challenge within a Challenge – If competition is not your thing – now worries. One of the newest additions to the Texas Challenge Lineup is an activity we call Challenge within a Challenge. Each participant gets a scorecard and earns points for completing caching related activities (e.g., finding caches, attending events, etc.). The first 200 to complete and turn in their scorecard receives a free trackable coin.

GPS Goober Games – Floresville is the “Peanut Capitol of Texas”. We are planning a series of caching themed games and activities that wll let our cachers test their caching skills and earn prizes and raffle tickets for our raffle.

Night Cache Trail – El Camino Real de los Tejas is a national historic trail that was a major thoroughfare from the 18th century Spanish colonial era in Spanish Texas.  The trail was instrumental in the settlement, development and history of Texas.  Our team will be utilizing this trail to create a special night cache trail.

GeoArt Installations – The host team is actively putting together multiple geocaching art installations on the country roads near Floresville TX our host city. These Art Installations will celebrate local Texas history and our theme – 25th Geocaching Birthday Bash.

Gadget Caches – At this year’s Challenge we will have a series of Gadget caches dployed in the area showcasing the talents of multiple builders throughout the State.

Exhibits/Presentations – We will have presentations by local cachers – we will exploere topics such as  – How to create an Earthcache, Snakes in Texas, and Building a Gadget Cache.  We will also have a number of special geocaching exhibits including our mini Barney Smith Toilet Seat Museum, the Texas Challenge Quilt 

Photo Competition – Do you have a great picture from your geocaching  adventures?  Why not enter it in the photo contest?  

Build a Cache – Do you want to create your own cache?  We will have a session that allows you to create your own cache and take home with you!  (Fee Required to cover costs).  

Vendors – We have several vendors lined up to attend our event – Space Coast Geocaching and Arted and Crafted will be present and sharing their wares.

Food Trucks – We will have several different food trucks available to keep everyone fueled and ready to go.

Trackable Trading Table – Bring your trackables and trade them and help them along on their journey.

SWAG and Raffle Table – Come check out all of the TXGA branded SWAG that we will be selling and the different items available for Raffle at our Raflle Table. 

In addition to these events we will have a series of side events starting on Tuesday and going through Sunday. Including the Famous Texas County Challenge Finisher Event where all of the cachers that have completed the Original Texas County Challenge and the brand-new Texas Two Step County Challenge.

Over the coming weeks we will continue to update the plans with more details and information.

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