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Written by SLAGA Board

Published: August 22 2014

Last Updated: September 12 2018

Hits: 10528

Mission Statement

The St. Louis Area Geocachers Association exists to promote and improve the family-oriented activity of geocaching.  It serves as a resource for those interested in the activity, through educational means such as leading classes and workshops, while encouraging responsible stewardship of public lands in cooperation with land managers.

About SLAGA

SLAGA stands for the St. Louis Area Geocachers Association. The purpose of SLAGA is to enhance the geocaching experience for people in the St. Louis area. This is done through the organization through membership training and training of the general public, group cache hunts, picnics.

Over time, SLAGA has become the driving force behind maintaining a positive relationship between the group and land managers who are responsible for city, county and state parks in Missouri and Illinois. SLAGA is often asked to help educate children and adults on the use of GPS receivers and how to increase their enjoyment of the hobby of geocaching.

SLAGA was loosely formed in 2001 by a group of geocachers in the St. Louis area. Every year officers are elected to help direct the purpose of SLAGA and facilitate the calendar of events. In 2007, SLAGA obtained its 501(c)(7) recreational organizations non-profit status.

Membership to SLAGA is free. However, to help the group pay for administrative and training expenses, event supplies and web hosting fees - donations are welcome. We also have a once-per-year payment plan called 'Premium Dues', which is a nominal fee to help defray organization expenses. There are perks to becoming a Premium Member.

This web site is a central point of information regarding upcoming SLAGA events. You can get access to multi-media files (audio, still images, videos) that document past events in the Caching adventures area. This is where you find out about the activities and milestone of our members, as well as sign up to become a member. We present general news stories, useful information and internet links related to the geocaching.

Here is a list of puplic service activities the SLAGA organization has participated in over the years to promote geocaching and educate the public.

For a complete history of SLAGA, view the article online at SLAGA History

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Written by David DeWitt

Published: June 22 2014

Last Updated: August 25 2014

Hits: 1997

A group of us was involved in the national parks’ "Get Outdoors Under the Arch" event.  Several families and individuals got to learn what geocaching is via direct, hands-on play. This event also served as the first test run of our organization's new GPSr units – with interfaces foreign to some old-time cachers… but second nature to the kids used to touch screens.  Special thanks to the SLAGA members who came out to help. After spending some time training new (future) geocachers, we decided it was time to have a little fun.   

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Written by David DeWitt

Published: May 29 2014

Last Updated: January 08 2015

Hits: 2138

Last Update: December 1, 2014

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Written by Team_State

Published: January 31 2014

Last Updated: August 25 2014

Hits: 2408

Here are the final results of the 2013 SLAGA Travel Bug Race

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Written by Denmother

Published: October 31 2011

Last Updated: August 25 2014

Hits: 3768

Want to play a game that involves searching for hidden objects, but that avoids the task of log-writing, worrying about trading up or even, and is virtually maintenance-free? Do you own a smartphone? Then you may be ready to start playing Munzee, a game that could satisfy your inner numbers hound!

What is Munzee?
Munzee is a scavenger-hunt game where items are found in the real world and captured using your smartphone. You then level up and gain rank based on your score. Points are obtained by capturing other people's munzees or when your deployed munzees are captured by someone else. Munzee is based off of the fundamentals of geocaching and adds another layer of fun to the hunt. Badges can be earned by unlocking specific achievements.

What do munzees look like?
Munzees come in any size or shape but all must contain a QR-code style barcode. The barcode combined with your GPS coordinates are the essential gameplay elements of Munzee.

Munzees can be hidden in containers, camouflaged or even in plain view.

What Do I Need to Play?
Munzee is currently supported on some iPhone, iOS and Android platforms.

Scoring System
Currently, players earn points in many different ways.

1.Find and capture (scan) an existing munzee hide = 5 points
2.Hide a munzee (deploy) for others to find = 5 points
3.Have your munzee captured by someone else = 3 points

So, for example - if you hide two munzees and each of those munzees is found by 6 players, your total score would be:

2 * 5 = 10 (deploy)

2 * 6 * 3 = 36 (scans)

Total = 46 points!


Business Munzee: Capture a business munzee = 1 point (can be done once every 24 hours)

Bonus: Munzee GOLD (or pumpkin!) = 50 pts bonus per capture (can be captured regardless of if you have captured it before. Also get standard 5pts for the capture)

Where did the name come from?
When the game was originally being brainstormed in 2008, the first idea included using poker chips with unique serial numbers on them. At the same time they were trying to come up with a clever name that people wouldn't forget. While searching for available domain names they came across the German word for coin which is 'munze'. Adding an extra 'e' to the end left them with a catchy name that also was available as a domain name.

Check it out at www.munzee.com.