SEATTLE, March 9  -- Over the weekend, Geocaching.com - the world's most popular site for geocachers - published its one-millionth active geocache listing. With more than 3 million high-tech treasure hunters in more than 150 countries, geocaching is the most popular location-based game on Earth.

"Ten years ago, we never imagined geocaching would be enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world," said Jeremy Irish, founder and president of Geocaching.com. "The sport's combination of technology and outdoor recreation has become a great conduit for providing people with real-world, location-based adventures."

Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure and socializing online and in person. Anyone can hide a geocache - or treasure box - almost anywhere in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology, and then share the geocache's existence and location online. Other geocachers obtain geocache coordinates at Geocaching.com, load them onto their GPS or GPS-enabled mobile device, and head outdoors to find the hidden treasure. With more than one million individual geocaches available, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

"The one-millionth active cache is a major milestone for Geocaching and geocachers everywhere. As a community-based activity, each geocache owner, seeker, volunteer cache reviewer, forum participant, and event coordinator is responsible for the continued success and rapid growth of this real-world activity," said Geocaching.com co-founder Bryan Roth. "At Groundspeak, it's a huge honor for us to be getting people outside, playing with technology, and developing an appreciation for the outdoors and outdoor recreation!"

Geocaches can be hidden in public places such as state and community parks, or in exotic locations such as shipwrecks, beaches or mountaintops. Geocaching is one of the world's fastest growing, live, recreational, location-based social media activities.

Geocaching.com started almost 10 years ago when there were 75 known caches hidden in the world. The web site published its 500,000th active hidden cache on New Year's Eve, 2007. It has taken just over two years to double the number of active geocaches in the world to reach the one millionth geocache.

About Geocaching.com

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment. Geocaching.com is the world's #1 location-based, outdoor recreation portal, handling more than 1.2 billion page views and 82.6 million site visits in 2009. Geocaching.com is owned by Groundspeak Inc., a privately held corporation in Seattle, Washington, USA.

http://www.geocaching.com/