The llamas are wrangled: Geodashing is back

[Lucien Van Elsen]

Hello fellow dashers,

I am writing to you today simply as a humble llama, hoping to help keep Geodashing alive for a new generation of players.

Like many of you, I followed Geodashing from its very early days and managed to participate in a few games back then. However, the usual demands of work and family ultimately kept me from playing as much as I would have liked. I had always promised myself that I would dive back into the game and play more once I retired.

That day has finally come, but alas, the original Geodashing site is no more. Since I am a software engineer by trade, I decided that reimplementing the game from the ground up with current web technology would be the perfect project to kick off my retirement.

I want to be fully transparent with the community: I did not have access to any of Scout's original code, the database, or even a working copy of the site to reference. I have rebuilt the engine entirely from scratch based on the rules and mechanics as we all remember them. Because of this, if you notice anything different in the dashpoint generation algorithms or the scoring rules from the original implementation, it is purely due to my own interpretation.

I did, however, reach out to Scout recently to share this project with him. I am thrilled to report that he has given the new site his blessing, and he even mentioned that he might participate in a future game! He was also kind enough to take a look at earlier beta versions of the site and offer some excellent suggestions that I have already integrated into this release.

The new site is currently up and running at https://geodashing.org . I have also set up a new email list specifically for players to connect, coordinate, and discuss the game. You can reach it at das...@geodashing.org .  A few intrepid cachers have already stumbled across the site on their own, and I thank them for their patience in waiting for this announcement.

I would be absolutely thrilled if you would take a look, explore the new interface, and perhaps even log a dash. I would deeply appreciate any and all feedback, especially from the veteran players who know the nuances of the game best. My goal is to recreate the experience as faithfully and respectfully as possible so that we can all keep dashing.

Thank you, and happy navigating,

Lucien

[Peter Little]

Wow! That's great news. I hope that I will be able to contribute to the game again after so many years.

Dashing greetings

Peter [cincol]

*******************************************************
Peter R Little

118 Nutmeg Avenue

Newlands

PRETORIA, 0181

Gauteng, South Africa

+27 82 086 0441 [Mobile]

cinc...@gmail.com
*******************************************************

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[Kelly Markwell]

Holy cow - this is exciting!!! We had moved from the Chicago suburbs to Maryland in February 2020, and a month later the world shut down. I had been looking to have Geodashing help in exploring the new area in which we lived. My last dash was in the last game in 2021.

Since then, my family has moved to south east New Hampshire - a new area to explore again. But with no new dashpoints, I considered having a game each month for the next 20 years by reusing a month’s worth of points from the old sets that I have downloaded in zip files.

But with the new release of this new version of the site, I’ll definitely find myself on the grid again!

Markwell

Formerly of Chicago suburbs

Formerly exactly 10 miles from the White House

Now near Dover, NH

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geodashing/CAJKMosVm5GVPHZ-HJoLPOVkk50cLQGf49FBZQr%2BXqRKZn3ytLQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[SHAWN FLEMING]

Simply Outstanding!  Ready to keep going!

Wisk

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 14, 2026, at 7:41 PM, Kelly Markwell <kelly.m...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geodashing/CAHa%3DGbYxq3Qy%3D0eXmmZJV4vWY_x1FxG9sEVW82PaqPgrqqZqpQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Ian Kelly]

Hi all! 

Great news that GeoDashing is back. This is Madam Dash writing on behalf of Ian, Dashingdogmac. We spent many happy times chasing dash points around Australia and the world. 

Unfortunately Ian is no longer able to geodash due to his advanced Parkinson’s Disease but I’m still happy to capture points within range of Melbourne Australia. 

Cheers

Trish

Sent from my iPhone

On 15 Apr 2026, at 13:18, 'SHAWN FLEMING' via Geodashing <geoda...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Simply Outstanding!  Ready to keep going!

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geodashing/EF11C501-4A94-4784-8CEE-2A6ACCC50D41%40aol.com.

[David Ackrill]

Hi everyone,

I'm pleased that geodashing is back again, I have missed it over the last few years.

Just logged my first dashpoint, which I hope will be the first of many more to come.

_ _ ...  ... _ _
Morseman

[AquaDyne]

Wow, this is awesome!   Thanks for bringing this back, Lucien, and thanks Scout for giving your blessing!

Lucien: please inform the llamas that I live near Dash Point, Washington, and they really need to visit. ;)

I see one point I might be able to hit near the end of the month... 

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[Lucien Van Elsen]

Thanks all!  I'm enthused that so many of you have created accounts and started to use the new site and log finds.  One really good suggestion several of you made was to send out an email whenever a dashpoint was found.  I'm working on that now, and hopefully will have it done in the next day or two.  I'll make sure the logs of the already-visited points get sent out as well.

If you're playing the new version, please do consider signing up for the new mailing list at https://groups.google.com/a/geodashing.org/g/dashers - it's where the logs will be sent.

Enjoy!

Lucien

[Kelly Markwell]

In the game from 2001 through 2021, geodashers were able to log ATTEMPTS at a dashpoint, even if we didn't hit it. About 16% of the dashes I attempted were not scored. I still have the exported 21,571 dashpoint "hits" with their associated points, and I'm not alone in logging all of my attempts:
* 3 points: 18,031 (83.59%)
* 2 points: 1,160 (5.38%)
* 1 points: 127 (0.59%)
* 0 points: 2,253 (10.44%)

I was just trying to log GD001-AKYG, but I was stopped at the entrance to the campground more than 1383 meters from the point.  However, when I attempted to log my failure, with entering the closest coordinates, I received an error message "Too far away. You are 1383.3m from the dashpoint. You must be within 100m."

I'm not trying to claim any points for the visit, but I used to be able to tell my story and upload pictures, even if the attempt resulted in a failure.  Can the coding be altered so that rather than "prohibiting" the log, it marks the visit as an "attempt" instead of a "hit" and doesn't total any points?

Hopefully,

Markwell

[Lucien Van Elsen]

That sounds like a good idea, too!  I'll work on adding that shortly.

[Lucien Van Elsen]

Hi-

  I've added the 'attempt' feature - please give it a try!  There should be a checkbox to mark a log as an attempt (and disable the range checking) when you click on a dashpoint to log it.