COVID-19 Information

Rhode Island geocaching is using state regulations and past history to determine how/when geocaches should be reviewed and published.

Currently, all non-event geocaches are being reviewed and published if they meet Geocaching HQ guidelines.

For events, we are following the Governor's orders are gathering size. You can read the latest orders at:

https://covid.ri.gov/

For traditional events and CITOs to be reviewed and published, the state must allow at least 50 people to gather.  That number was determined from event attendance in 2019.

In a similar fashion, for Community Celebration, Mega, and Giga Events to be reviewed, the state must allow for 200, 500, and 5000 people to gather, correspondingly.

When the state is allowing these numbers, you must still meet the related guidelines, which may include social distancing, requiring masks, and contact tracing. These requirements must be included in the geocache description.

Currently, only outdoor traditional and CITO events are being reviewed and published if they meet guidelines.

Thanks,

Jenn (ma.reviewer@gmail.com)
Eric (massquerade.reviewer@gmail.com)

Last Updated: April 5, 2021

Table of Contents

Audubon Society of Rhode Island

The Audubon Society of Rhode Island does not permit geocaching on their lands. Please see their web site here:

https://asri.org/hike/wildliferefuges/

Blaze Orange Requirements

10.5.8 All other users of State Management areas and underdeveloped State Parks, including but not limited to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders, are required to wear two hundred (200) square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange from the second Saturday in September to the last day of February, and the third Saturday in April to the last day in May, annually.

10.5.5 Five hundred (500) square inches by all hunters and other users (including archers) during shotgun deer seasons. (1.2.3 Shotgun: December 1 to December 16 and December 26 to January 2 1.2.3.2 December 26 to January 2, Statewide-Private Property, Antlerless Deer only)

Cemeteries - Active

Updated: August 25, 2015 - Source: Colin Parkhurst

Geocaching in active and privately owned cemeteries is discouraged. However, geocaches placed away from headstones and similar markers, as well as away from stone walls, may be published if permission is obtained from a party with authority to grant permission. The Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries can typically provide contact information for these cemeteries upon request (http://www.rihistoriccemeteries.org/members.aspx). The name and contact information for the person granting permission should be placed in a reviewer note before the cache page is submitted for review.

Cemeteries - Designated Historical Cemeteries

Updated: August 25, 2015 - Source: Colin Parkhurst

Per the wishes of the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries (RIACHC), all geocaches must be approved by an appropriate representative of the commission (http://www.rihistoriccemeteries.org/members.aspx) prior to publication. There is no guarantee that a geocache may be approved at any cemetery, especially those that would be impacted negatively by increased traffic and that are not easily accessible to the public. However, to have the best chance of being granted permission from the commission, it is recommended that you follow the hiding standards listed below.

As chair of the RIACHC and of the Warwick Historical Cemetery Commission, Ms. Pegee Malcolm has expressed general approval to geocaches located at cemeteries in the town of Warwick only, so long as they meet the agreed upon standards for placement, which are listed below. Permission for Warwick cemetery geocaches can also be granted from Colin Parkhurst, a member of the Warwick Historical Cemetery Commission (colineparkhurst@gmail.com).

The basic standards for placement are as follows:

-       In requesting permission for geocache placement at a historical cemetery, please provide the cemetery number (if known) or description of the cemetery’s location, a detailed explanation of where the geocache will be placed and how it will be hidden, and a description of the current condition of the cemetery. This would include the condition of the walls, stones, sign, and grounds. It is also advised that photos of the proposed location and its immediate surroundings are included so that an informed decision can be made.

-       No geocaches shall be placed within 2 feet of grave markers or monuments.

-       No geocaches shall be placed within any stone walls or in a location that will promote the dismantling or unintended damage or destruction of stone walls. Geocaches must be placed a minimum distance of 2 feet of any loose stone wall and may be placed in closer proximity to mortared or concrete walls so long as they are in a condition that would resist any inadvertent damage.

-       No geocaches should be placed in a manner that may contribute to the damage or wear of cemetery signage. Only magnetic containers may be placed on the sign post.

Dutch Island

Closed to the Public

See this article http://www.dem.ri.gov/news/2000/pr/1122001.htm which remained in force as of September 19, 2006.

Lincoln Woods State Park - Zone "A"

Zone "A" shall be used exclusively for equestrian use.

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Note the map link on this page

The KMZ file linked below can be opened with Google Earth to see caches in the park. Zone "A" is in the upper left.

Lincoln Woods.kmz

Melody Hill Country Club

The Melody Hill Country Club management has advised Groundspeak that they have had to request geocachers to leave their property and have stated that the property is strictly off limits, including use of their parking lot to cache in nearby areas. Parked cars will probably be towed.

Narragansett Tribal Lands in Rhode Island

There are a few areas designated as Narragansett Tribal Lands where trespassing (and therefore geocaching) is not allowed. A small map is linked here to indicate the general area of the lands and a link is provided to a larger map. It is the geocacher's responsibility to assess the ownership of property on which they are hiding a cache, and if it is found to be tribal land they should relocate the cache immediately.

Narragansett Tribal Lands RI small.png

Narragansett Tribal Lands and Camp Davis - zoom-able map:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=zt1A9zRYgZig.kFGiQ85D0kQg&hl=en_US

Rhode Island Shoreline

The RI shoreline up to the mean high tide mark (In Rhode Island, mean high tide is “the arithmetic average of high-water heights observed over an 18.6-year Metonic cycle") is public access, starting from legal shoreline public access points.

Westerly Land Trust

A permit from the Westerly Land Trust is required and permits are only available to Westerly Land Trust members ri trekker and flintandfrizzen.

The Grills Preserve is closed from October 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017 to all activities including hunting and hiking.

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