My Route

This page contains information specific to Geocaching Australia.

My Route is a function developed by Geocaching Australia to show you caches within a defined distance from a route you have chosen.

Creating a kml file to load as your My Route

GPSVisualizer

Note: You will need a Google Maps API key to process the route at the GPSVisualizer site.

• Go to Google Maps.
• Click on the Directions icon (blue diamond).
• Enter your start location on the first line. This can be as specific as a street number and name, the coordinates of a cache, or generic like a suburb / locality.
• Enter your end location on the second line. This can be as specific as a street number and name, the coordinates of a cache, or generic like a suburb / locality.
• Alternatively you can click on the map to set your start and end points.
• You can change any of the intermediate points of the route determined by Google by moving your mouse over the route line and dragging the line around until the route fits where you want to go.
• If you make a hash of a particular route it is easier to start again rather than try and fix the route.
• Try to keep routes to a reasonable distance. It is unlikely you will drive from Melbourne to Brisbane in one day, so make multiple routes based on where you will stop. Shorter routes will return caches along that route faster and will keep the load on the website reasonable.
• Once you are satisfied with your route, click on the URL field at the top of your browser (the entire string should be highlighted) and press Ctrl/C to copy to the clipboard. It will be a long string commencing "https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/..."
• Open a new tab in your browser and go to GPS Visualizer.
• Under General map parameters, change the Output file type from .kmz (zipped) to .kml (uncompressed) by clicking the drop down.
• In the field at the bottom of the form headed "Or provide the URL of data on the Web:", press Ctrl/V to paste the contents of the Google Maps URL you copied above.
• Leave all other fields on the form at their defaults & click the Create KML file.
• On the Google Earth output page click the the KML link and save the file to your computer in a location you can find again.
• Please do NOT edit the kml file. My Route expects the file to be as it is generated by GPS Visualizer and any interference with the file may cause the My Route loader to fail.

My Google Maps

• Go to Google My Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/
• Create a new map.
• Create a Route
  • Place a marker pin for start and end of route
  • Create a route between the markers by selecting the route icon and then clicking on each pin for start and finish
  • == OR ==
  • Click on the "Directions" icon (looks like a road fork)
  • Add your directions
• Remove any layers you are not using by clicking on the 3 vertical dots and "Delete this layer"
• Click on the three dots on the single remaining layer and select 'Export to KML/KMZ'
• In the next step make sure you have 'export as kml only' checked
• Save the route ONLY (don't select the pins or any other info)

Creating A My Route

Routes are private unless you choose to make the route public. If you make your route private, geocachers with an account at Geocaching Australia will be able to see your route, but not the route attributes and are able to copy your route for their own use. If you make your route public, everyone will be able to see your route and the attributes you have set for the route.

• Log in to Geocaching Australia.
• Go to My | Route (via the navigation tabs, hover over My then select Route).
• Click on Create New Route
• Enter a meaningful name for your route.
• Enter a meaningful description for your route.
• Enter a search radius for your route. Please note that the greater the radius, the longer the system will take to return caches. A radius of 5km is probably the maximum you would want to consider. For a shorter radius, use decimals. i.e. 0.25 for 250m. The minimum computed diatance between points in your kml route file is 250, so a radius of less than 125m may fail to return some caches along the route. A radius of 500m (0.5) to 5 (5km) will probably serve most people best.
• Click on the Browse button. This will open the files on your computer so you can select the kml route file you created at Google Maps. Find the file and then click Open. The full directory of where your kml route file exists will be populated into the KML file to upload box. You can also set cache selection criteria for your route.
• Click on Save Route
• All things being equal your route will load and be available for your use.
• If your route fails to load, please contact a site administrator via the forums.

Cache Selection Criteria

Your My Route allows you to set cache selection criteria for your route. You can do this either at the time you create your route or you can edit your criteria using the Edit link.

• Cache Type (To return caches of any type, leave all types unticked)

You have two criteria to select from Include Cache Types and Exclude Cache Types. If you select Include Cache Types, then the types of caches you select will be included. and everything else excluded. If you select Exclude Cache Types, then the types of caches you select will be excluded and everything else includes. Tick the cache type boxes for the cache types that you want to include or exclude.

• Cache Container (To return caches with any container, leave all containers unticked)

Make a selection of cache container sizes that you want included in your cache selection criteria.

• Difficulty range

Make a selection of the difficulty range that you want in your cache selection criteria. Numbers are inclusive, so if you select 1 and 5 the criteria will be greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 5. If you want to exclude difficulty 5, then select 4.5 which will then select all those caches which are greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 4.5, thus excluding 5.

• Terrain range

Make a selection of the terrain range that you want in your cache selection criteria. Numbers are inclusive, so if you select 1 and 5 the criteria will be greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 5. If you want to exclude terrain 5, then select 4.5 which will then select all those caches which are greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 4.5, thus excluding 5.

• I have found / I haven't found

Select the appropriate option. If you select I have found the cache selection criteria will return caches that you have found. If you select I haven't found the cache selection criteria will not show any of your found caches.

• I own / I don't own

Select the appropriate option. If you select I own the cache selection criteria will return caches that you own. If you select I don't own the cache selection criteria will not show any of your own caches.

• Is Available / Is Unavailable / Is Archived

Select the appropriate option. If you select Is Available only available caches are returned. If you select Is Unavailable only unavailable caches are returned. If you select Is Archived only archived caches are returned. To deselect a radio button (round button) double click INSIDE the radio button for that selection.

• Include GC Caches

If you tick the box the cache selection criteria will return GCA and GC caches. If you leave the box unticked, only GCA cache will be returned.

Using My Route

There are 6 actions which can be taken on your route.

Edit

Click on Edit to edit the name, description and radius and any of the cache selection criteria for your route. You cannot change the route itself. To change the route, delete the route and upload a new route using the instructions above.

Delete

Click on Delete to delete a route. You will be challenged a second time to confirm whetgher you really want to delete this route. Click the appropriate button. Deleting your route is irreversible.

Caches

Click on Caches to see the caches that appear along your route bounded by the radius you have set. To change the radius, click on Edit.

GMAP

Click on GMAP to see the caches that appear along your route, along with your route and the search area, coloured light grey, on a Google Map. While the best effort has been taken with regards to producing an accurate search area on the Google Map, due to pixel sizes and distances, some search area may not be cm perfect. Use the search area as a guide rather than a definitive area covered.

KML

Click on KM to load your route into Google Earth. Caches will not appear in Google Earth. If you want to see caches that maybe along the route with Google Earth, also load the Google Earth Dynamic Cache Loader which can be found on the front page at http://geocaching.com.au

View

There is no link marked view, but if you click on your route name, you will be taken to a page where you can see the route (no caches), your name, description and radius. You also have options to maintain your route from this page.

To Do

Phase 2 of My Route will allow you to select cache types, containers, difficulty and terrain to be shown on your listings. Phase 3 of My Route will allow you to export a GPX file for any Geocaching Australia caches that appear along your route.