Each year NoVAGO honors some of the best caches that were placed in Northern Virginia. Nominations are an opportunity for you to recognize the efforts of your fellow NoVAGO cachers who have placed hides that you have enjoyed. This list is meant to help you think of some of the best geocaches you found last year.

For the 2025 NoVAGO Awards, nominations will be solicited for the following categories, which were approved by the NoVAGO Board. Some changes have been introduced from some of the 2024 categories. Make sure that you refresh your understanding of the categories before submitting your nominations. Also, please note that none of these categories are required to be awarded each year. Cache type awards may be combined after the nomination period.

 

2025 NoVAGO Cache Award Category Descriptions

Cache Type:

Best Traditional Cache – The familiar green box on the map, which one made the biggest impression on you?

Best Mystery/Puzzle Cache – Whether the puzzle or the mystery was remarkably creative, innovative, obscure, devious, difficult, head-banging hard, unbelievably easy in hindsight – or all of those, which mystery or puzzle cache are you still talking about? Typically bonus or challenge caches are not nominated in this category, even though those caches share an icon with mysteries and puzzles.

Best Multicache – Step by step, stage by stage – you had a great time figuring out how to go from the cache page and the journey along the way to getting your name on the final. Which of the year’s multicaches contributed to a great time for you this past year. Pick one or more to honor!

Best Letterbox Hybrid Cache – Did you focus on the stamp or signing the cache log? These cross-platform caches come in many forms, often including an interesting journey along the way.

Best Earthcache – Earthcaches bring science directly into the game, providing learning opportunities across the region. Excellence for these caches comes from a combination of great location and a great tutorial on the cache page.

Best Virtual – Our area was fortunate to gain many new virtual caches at locations that do not necessarily support a container placement. Whether it was the natural scenery or a man-made creation, a great virtual cache should bring you to a location that makes you say “Wow!”

(Note: The one eligible Earthcache and two eligible Virtual caches are being combined into a Best Other category for this year and nominations will not be collected.)

Best Wherigo – These technology driven caches offer interesting puzzles, a journey in reverse that leads to a container, or a creative journey to ground zero. You earn both a cache find and an unlock code when you complete the cache expectations.

Cache of the Year – From the moment you read the cache listing through making the find – and then telling all of your caching friends about how great the cache is, this is the cache that made the year the most memorable for you. Note that your vote and nominations should align with the caches you honored in the cache type categories.

Best Theme/Series (five or more caches in a series or that share a common theme) – The whole of the series was even greater than the sum of the parts. Which series – that started in 2024 and has at least five caches – did you absolutely have to finish and kept you waiting for the next cache to be published? (Note: Because NoVAGO sponsors the annual series, it is not eligible for this category – although the individual caches are eligible for the other categories.)

Best Adventure Lab (as long as it has a Bonus cache!) – You enjoyed the stops, the journey between stages, and/or the questions that were challenging and fun to answer. Now is the time to nominate one of the Adventure Lab series from 2025 – just make sure that it had a Bonus cache associated with it to push it over the top!

by Specialty:

Best Container – Whether an evil micro, an “in-plain-sight” regular or a stunning creation, which cache made you do a double-take or made you say wow? The focus in this category is on what was placed in the field.

Best Family Friendly/Children’s Cache – These are the caches that brought out your inner child – or made you bring a child with you! Either way, everything about this cache made you want to share it with the child cachers in your orbit. The page is fun, the approach to the cache is enjoyable, the container is attention-grabbing (in that “not too obvious if you’re not a cacher” way), and there was enough child-friendly swag to entertain through the log signing and container replacement.

Most Physically Challenging– Which cache made you push your limits to complete it? The game suggests that terrain ratings are the indicator of physical challenges. So look at those caches with Terrain ratings in the 4+ range.

Most Outstanding Location/Scenery – Everybody has different criteria for a great location, although the amazing smoothness of the parking lot paving is probably not it. Which cache took you on an outstanding journey or brought you to your best location?

Best Historical/Educational Cache – Many caches offer more than the satisfaction of the find by sharing some history of the area in the cache description, along the journey, or at ground zero. Some caches can teach you something you didn’t know. Which cache provided the best history or educational lesson last year?

Best Photo – Monthly last year, you had the opportunity to nominate and vote on a NoVAGO Photo of the Month. The winning photos will be placed on the ballot to select the Photo of the Year!

The People of NoVAGO:

Best Event/CITO Host – Whether you were gathering just for fun or were also giving back to the community, events offer opportunities for geocachers to enjoy each other’s company. Which caching events gave the best experiences for the attendees and participants? This year you have an opportunity to nominate the hosts who arrange locations, materials, event pages, and activities 

Cacher of the Year – Great finder, great hider, great host, great log-writer…the mix of these could be the foundation for Cacher of the Year. Who stood out to you as the epitome of “all-around cacher” this year?

Rookie/Newcomer of the Year – Every year thousands of people start geocaching and many of them are in NoVAGO’s area. What new name caught your attention in their logs or with their caches? Who did you see at events and welcome to the community? Check that person’s profile to see if the caching career started during 2025 (or within the last six months of 2024) and was still going strong at the end of the year.

Volunteer of the Year – Which NoVAGO volunteer (beyond the elected officers) contributed the best efforts in furthering the cause of our game? (Note: The NoVAGO Board of Directors and Officers will select the honoree for this category.)

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Cache Eligibility: