Around that corner, beneath that bench, in that alcove; treasures are hidden all around Mission Viejo if you just know where to look.
And a lot of geocachers know. They’ve been coming through town, on the hunt, for the past two years, since the city’s 2023 release of the Discover Mission Viejo GeoTour, a series of 27 hidden geocaches that players of an international treasure-hunting adventure game track down by using a phone app and their own wits.
Nadia Anderson, 17, of Phelan, uses clues on a geocaching app to figure out a lockbox combination containing a logbook. Mission Viejo introduced 31 new treasure-hunting sites on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in addition to 27 from 2023. The international game features geocaches ranging from smaller-than-a-dime, nanos, to ammo cans, and 5-gallon buckets. The larger the container, the more swag and trinkets it contains. Treaure hunters can take the items but are asked to put something back of equal or greater value.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Nico Stavros, 13, finds a geocach while using a phone app, during the Mission Viejo GeoTour on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. Stavros, of Laguna Niguel, whose geocach name is “Thegr8cacher, has been taking part in the international treasure-hunting game for a year. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Nico Stavros, 13, checks out a geocach phone app during the Mission Viejo GeoTour on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. The city released 31 new treasure-hunting sites in addition to the 27 launched in 2023. Nico, who has been geocaching for a year, was with his mother, Summer, dad, Nicholas, not pictured, sisters Callie, 8, Karris, 11, and brother Deacon, 13 months. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mission Viejo provides participants items to use in their geocach treasure-hunting game on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. The city launched 31 new sites, in addition to 27 previous sites,for cachers to locate around the city by using a geocach app.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A group of geocahers gather for a photo before spreading out in Mission Viejo to find 31 new treasure sites, or caches, during the city’s “GeoTour” on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Shawn and Audra Anderson of Phelan, check the Geocach app to help them locate a treasure site in Mission Viejo on..Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. They have been geocachers for 10 years after learning about the international treasure-hunting game when their daughter was a Girl Scout.( Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kaylie Chong, left, shares a laugh with new-found geocach buddy, Nadia Anderson in Mission Viejo on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. Chong is new to the international treasure-hunting game, but Anderson has been doing it with her family for ten years. The city launched 31 new sites for cachers to find. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Nico Stavros, 13, finds a geocach while using a phone app, during the Mission Viejo GeoTour on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. Stavros, of Laguna Niguel whose geocach name is “Thegr8cacher, has been taking part in the international treasure-hunting game for a year. He signs a logbook after locating the cache. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Nadia Anderson, 17, of Phelan, checks an alcove in Mission Viejo for a geocach during the city’s second GeoTour on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. Geocaching is a international treasure-hunting game and the city introduced 31 new locations for people to find throughout the city. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption1 of 9Nadia Anderson, 17, of Phelan, uses clues on a geocaching app to figure out a lockbox combination containing a logbook. Mission Viejo introduced 31 new treasure-hunting sites on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in addition to 27 from 2023. The international game features geocaches ranging from smaller-than-a-dime, nanos, to ammo cans, and 5-gallon buckets. The larger the container, the more swag and trinkets it contains. Treaure hunters can take the items but are asked to put something back of equal or greater value.(Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
ExpandOn Saturday, Jan. 25, the city released an “expansion pack” to the tour, adding another 28 hidden geocaches. They come in all shapes and sizes -– some as small as a capsule, others as large as a tub – and they are hidden throughout the city.
The original tour was centered around the stretch of Oso Creek Trail that winds through Mission Viejo, and some of the city’s many recreation facilities. Mark Nix, Mission Viejo’s director of recreation and community services, said the new locations extend further into the city.
Nix, it should be noted, is a geocacher, and he got the folks at City Hall on board with joining the craze.
“It’s a hobby of mine that I’ve done with my family,” he said.
Geocaching is free, and there are things geo-hidden in other parts of Orange County. But Mission Viejo is the only Southern California city that has created a whole, self-contained tour.
Some caches might offer a collection of trinkets as a booty, though in a take something, leave something fashion. And all include a log book where successful hunters get to sign their name.
“We encourage you to do it with others, it gets people outside,” Nix said.
“It is everywhere,” he added, referencing Mission Viejo’s geo-tour. “In shopping centers, parks, trails, under benches, light posts.”
The geocaches are found using the app, along with some shoe leather and a keen eye. Some involve questions that need to be answered or a puzzle to figure out how to open the container.
There are even “travel bugs,” which are items imbued with information that geocachers use to get to their next destination.
Each hidden cache has a ranking for how challenging it is considered; some you might walk right up and spot, especially if you know what you are looking for, Nix said. Some will take an investment of time.
For the city, the geo-tour has prompted more people to explore Mission Viejo, stopping at local restaurants or businesses. Nix said some hunters have even booked hotels for a weekend, something he knows because the geocaching app keeps track of people who have found a cache or at least tried.
“Based on the responses we’ve seen from people who have found our caches they have really enjoyed it,” he said.
On Saturday, as they waited for the city to release the expanded tour, newcomers took in some instruction on how to geocache while veterans mingled, showing each other travel bugs or special geocaching container designs.
Then, at 10 a.m., the new geocaches uploaded and the hunting began.
While supplies last, the city is offering a souvenir trackable GeoCoin to those who find at least 45 geocaches on the city’s tour.
Find out more about geocaching and the tour on the city’s website, cityofmissionviejo.org, and search geocaching.
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