Geocache Open Areas

Geocache Open Areas v1.1

Find areas that are still wide open for hiding, or where you can squeeze one more cache.

If you live in a geocache rich area like a city, it can be great on the days when you want to go out finding, but hard when you get the itch to hide a new cache. Where are the empty spots that still could use a little more tupperware? Is the area I want to hide in too close to an existing cache? With Geocache Open Areas, it's a bit easier to find that perfect spot for a new hide.

This program will read in a GPX file of cache waypoints (such as a PQ file if you're a premium member of GC.com) and output a KML file containing 0.1 mile radius circles around each point, showing you the exclusion zones where new caches can't be placed. This can then be loaded into a program like Google Earth for viewing. In the registered version of the program, different cache types appear in different colours, you can assign your own colour preferences, and you can choose to exclude certain cache types from the output (such as virtual or event caches, which don't fall under the 0.1 mile rule).

Below you can see a screen shot of the registered program GUI.
To view a sample KML file, click here.

[Open Areas Screenshot]

The lite version of Geocache Open Areas is available for free.

Added features of the registered version:

Removes the pop-up 'About' window on program start-up
Complete flexibility over which cache types are included in the output
Ability to make changes to the program settings and save them as the start-up default
Ability to select multiple PQ files from a directory
KML output file will be opened automatically in Google Earth
Different cache types are shown in different colours, and colours can be changed by the user
The exclusion zone circles can be filled with crosshatching to make them more visible
The program auto-scrolls the status window

If you're interested in using registration codes as geocache swag, you can purchase licences in bulk at a discount and receive a PDF of printable certificates you can leave in caches.

If you have received a free registration certificate for this specific program, you can retrieve your registration code from the GcSoft Code database.