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Revision as of 21:29, 26 May 2008

The Algorithm, as shown in xkcd comic #426.

Use this tool to find geohashing coordinates for a given area/date.

NoTerminal and Drache at the February 19, 2008 coordinates for Portland, Oregon

Welcome to the Geohashing Community Wiki. Geohashing is a Spontaneous Adventure Generator, brought to you by the xkcd webcomic.

What is this?

xkcd comic #426, published on May 21, 2008, contains an algorithm that generates random coordinates around the world¹ every day. Everyone in a given region gets the same set of coordinates. As such, these coordinates can be used as destinations for adventures, à la Geocaching, or for local meetups.

For a little more interactive discussion, consider joining the #geohashing IRC channel on Foonetic.

1. For time zone issues in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, see 30W Time Zone Rule for an addendum to the algorithm rules.

How it works

Play with the coordinate calculator at http://xkcd.com/geohashing. All coordinates refer to the WGS84 datum.

Every day, the algorithm generates a new set of coordinates for each 1°×1° latitude/longitude zone (known as a graticule) in the world. They are randomly placed -- they could be in the forest, in a city, on a mountain, or even in the middle of a lake! You can use this wiki to document the daily coordinates (geohashes) you've been to.

Unless you can accurately predict the stock market down to the penny, you can't figure out what the coordinates will be ahead of time. You can first calculate a weekday's coordinates at about 9:30am ET, and on Friday morning you can calculate the coordinates for each day that weekend (sometimes even through Monday when there is a US holiday).

When visiting geohash locations, please respect the area you are visiting. Absolutely do not litter or otherwise disturb the natural integrity of the area. However, if possible, creating some kind of a marker out of nearby materials (i.e. cairn of stones, blair-witch-style 'stick figures', etc.) is encouraged.

Disclaimer: When any coordinates generated by the Geohashing algorithm fall within a dangerous area, are inaccessible, or would require illegal trespass, DO NOT attempt to reach them. Please research each potential location before attempting to access it. You are expected to use proper judgment in all cases and are solely responsible for your own actions. See more guidelines.

Official xkcd meetups

Official xkcd meetups happen every Saturday afternoon at that day's normal geohash coordinates. All meetups start at 4:00pm (local destination time). If you go at these times, you might encounter other readers of xkcd. Bring games!

In such cases when it is unwise to attempt to access the generated coordinates, the Saturday meetup is postponed until a day when the algorithm provides a more suitable location. Alternatively, when the coordinates fall within a body of water, you can rent a boat and win the Water Geohash achievement.

Active Graticules

Want to find geohashers in your local area? See Active Graticules for a list of graticules with active users in them.

An interactive map is available for [Google Earth] or on [Google Maps].

Implementations

A full list of reference and practical implementations can be found on the Implementations page.

Recent and Upcoming Expeditions

The coordinates for the Saturday meetups on 16 November 2024 are now available. The coordinates for the next Saturday meetups, scheduled for 23 November 2024, will be based on the Dow’s opening price published at 09:30 EST (14:30 UTC) on Friday 22 November. See timeanddate.com to convert this time to your local time zone. Template:30w

Tuesday 27 May 2008

The first day the 30W Time Zone Rule is in effect.

West of -30°: The coordinates will be announced at 9:30am ET on Tuesday, May 27.
East of -30°: The coordinates for Tuesday, May 27 are available. They were available early by combination of a Dow holiday (Memorial Day) on Monday, May 26 and the new 30W Time Zone Rule.

Monday 26 May 2008

The coordinates for Monday, May 26 are available. They were available early due to a Dow holiday (Memorial Day) on Monday, May 26.

2008-05-26 Salt Lake City, Utah - Successfully reached by Tsen.
2008-05-26 Richmond, Virginia - Successfully reached by stepol.

Sunday 25 May 2008

The coordinates for Sunday, May 25 are available.

2008-05-25 Sydney (East), Australia - Successfully reached by Middlerun.
2008-05-25 Hamilton, New Zealand - Successfully reached by InvaluableKiwi. Point was in the middle of a river, so went by kayak.
2008-05-25 Boston - (Somewhat) successfully reached by Shrewd and siblings. Point was private property, so pictures were taken from the road.
2008-05-25 Copenhagen, Denmark - Successfully reached by SolidHydrogen. Teenagers with automatic weapons and bulletproof vests were encountered en route!
2008-05-25 Cardiff, Wales, UK - Successfully reached by Darocia. Very wet!
2008-05-25 Aurora, Illinois -Successfully Viewed by Spider reached by various sea gulls, Point was in a lake, located in the West Branch Forest Preserve
2008-05-25 SW Minneapolis, Minnesota - Successfully reached by Erica, Abi, Ford, and Chris. The point was on the sidewalk of an intersection in Saint Paul. Since all of us converged on the point at approximately 5 PM, a spontaneous meet-up occurred. However, we were chased away by a sudden storm after about half an hour. (The same storm that spawned the tornadoes across Minnesota and Iowa - we got off easy where we were.)

Saturday 24 May 2008 - Saturday meetup

The first Saturday meetup day since Geohashing publicly launched.

The coordinates for Saturday, May 24 are available. Convenient city graticules in the U.S. include: Madison, San Antonio, Cleveland, Portland, Rochester and Baltimore.

Gallery (see more at the 2008-05-24 meetup page):

Multi-group meetups with pictures (so far)
Boston, Massachusetts
Denver, Colorado
San Jose, California
Houston, Texas
Carlisle, UK
Baltimore, Maryland
London West, UK
San Luis Obispo, California
Los Angeles, California
Portland, Oregon
Rochester, New York
Cincinnati, Ohio

2008-05-24 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - 7 total, 3 groups reached location (the Erlman farm) had cookies!
2008-05-24 Denver, Colorado, USA - 4 Achievements earned! Eleven total made it to the spot in two groups. Elevation-9,610 ft. Snow-plentiful.
San Jose, California -- Not quite reachable, it was still on the beach of a lake, and multiple groups met up and had a very enjoyable picnic.
2008-05-24 Boston, Massachusetts, USA - Huge success! About 40 people, despite bad suburban location found park, played Frisbee, went for pizza, played various games, stayed until after sundown. Many pictures!
2008-05-24 Chicago, Illinois, USA - Only one person made it, to a farm 60 miles south of Chicago... perhaps the graticule shift would bring in more people.
2008-05-24 Ithaca, New York, USA - Three of us got as close as we could by car, didn't have a handheld GPS receiver. Arrived slightly after 4:00 pm EST, saw no one else. We saw evidence of someone perhaps arriving (and pulling over where we pulled over) not long before us, and apparently someone showed up after us! Ithaca people need more patience, I guess, as we left at about 4:15 feeling strange that we were sitting on the side of a highway.
2008-05-24 San Luis Obispo, California, USA -- bigbadbyte reached geohash with 2 associates. Met another group of 3 people. All successfully reached geohash. Details available at San Luis Obispo graticule.
2008-05-24 Shaumburg, Illinois, USA -- DavidEGrayson and cousin Noah reached the point, meeting Shakedown, Katie, and Bill.
2008-05-24 Zug, Switzerland -- Adi Reached at about 16.20 local time.
2008-05-24 Christchurch, New Zealand -- Phire Failed to reach this geohash, and had to be rescued by the police.
2008-05-24 Canberra (West), Australia -- Missed by miles by Psud (Adam) and Chris. Psud trying again another day. Brewing beer 2008-05-25.
2008-05-24 Adelaide (South), Australia -- Successfully reached suburban location.
2008-05-24 Brisbane (Southwest), Australia -- Successfully reached.
2008-05-24 Eelde, The Netherlands -- Successfully reached after grueling hike of about 200 metres through a meadow.
2008-05-24 London West, United Kingdom - Kira reached this point with Oliver, Kit and James. Updating wiki from actual spot :)
2008-05-24 Helsinki, Finland -- Successfully reached.
2008-05-24 Munich, Germany -- Split-double-wrong achievement!
2008-05-24 Birmingham East, United Kingdom - Successfully reached field of cows.
2008-05-24 Carlisle, United Kingdom - Three groups met up while independently reaching another field of cows.
2008-05-24 Middlesbrough, United Kingdom - Ajtag got as close as possible without realising then got lost.
2008-05-24 Hazerswoude, The Netherlands - Reached.
2008-05-24 Paris, France - Actually a failure; only pre-30W Friday's location was reached... but it was still fun!
2008-05-24 Baltimore, Maryland, USA - Nearly reached by Avagara and four others, but location was in a private home and access was not allowed by homeowner.
2008-05-24 Frederick, Maryland, USA - Successfully reached by Dan, Kyle, David, and Jillian.
2008-05-24 Berlin, Germany - Missed - one person tried and messed something up with the geography...
2008-05-24 Sheffield, UK - Successfully reached on 55 mile cycle trip.
2008-05-24 Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA - Reached, but alone.
2008-05-24 Creedmore, North Carolina, USA - Got close at 16:30; thwarted by forest; ate pie instead.
2008-05-24 Vienna, Austria - Meeting point was inside the airport territory. Had to stop 50m away.
2008-05-24 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada - Reached, sat under a shelterbelt tree for half an hour all by myself.
2008-05-24 Lockport, New York, USA - Reached the roadside 500 feet from the area; it was someone's back lawn. Waited 'till 4:30 listening to Dethklok, but nobody else showed.
2008-05-24 Rochester, New York, USA - Meet point within city limits; 6 people showed up (4 on time) :)
2008-05-24 Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA - Reached
2008-05-24 Eugene, Corvallis, Monmouth, and West Salem, Oregon, USA -Stood alone on a mountain top.
2008-05-24 Des Moines, Iowa, USA - Nearly reached, alone
2008-05-24 Houston, Texas, USA - Sucessfully Reached, 4 People showed up.
2008-05-24 Atlanta, Geogia, USA -- Monica Reached this spot at about 4:30 EST with Andy and Eric with only minimal trespassing upon a logging/hunting ground involved. Subsequently met a very nice guy named Chris.
2008-05-24 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA - Meeting point was well inside private farmland with no direct access. Nfomi settled for a drive-by.
2008-05-24 Sacramento, California, USA - Meeting point was well inside private farmland, and I decided to be good too. Settled for a picture. Another group also stopped at the "no trespassing" sign and visited a nearby TV tower, one of the tallest structures in the world at 2049 feet.
2008-05-24 Ithaca, New York, USA - Two of us got as close as we could by car, didn't have a handheld GPS receiver. Arrived ~4:15 pm EST, saw no one else, but had a lovely drive and bought some delicious strawberry rhubarb pie at a farmstand.
2008-05-24 Los Angeles, California, USA - Darcy (with mother and dog in tow), Lauren, Zarah, Ryka, and four others (who can add their own names if desired) got within about 250 feet of the meeting point by a bit after 5pm and took pictures.
2008-05-24 Aurora, Illinois, USA - Side of a road, no one there. Took pictures.
2008-05-24 Atibaia, São Paulo, Brazil - We two almost reached the spot. Was in a private property. Talked to owners but did not enter. Played chess. Placed xkcd signs. Took very geek photos (coming soon)
2008-05-24 Nashville, Tennessee, USA - Got close. Location was in a fenced-in field. Went and saw the new Indy movie at a nearby theater.
2008-05-24 Bellingham, Washington, USA - The actual coordinates were .75mi off shore from an out-of-the-way public beach.
2008-05-24 Montgomery, Alabama, USA - Mission successful. Ashley and her pet duck frolicked in the woods about an hour southwest of Montgomery. No one else was there, but they had lots of fun anyway.
2008-05-24 Surrey, British Columbia, Canada - Reached by at least nine people (between 15h30 and 16h30). This included four separate groups, one of which included Queerasmoi, Jakke and Naturalnumber. The site was just behind someone's backyard, but the owners were super friendly and took our pictures.
2008-05-24 Phoenix, Arizona, USA - Mission disastrous. Two of us got lost several times and ended up being an hour and a half late. Area appeared to be inaccessible, no one else was around. Still took pictures, ate pizza, had fun.
2008-05-24 Saskatoon, Sasktachewan, Canada -- Successfully reached by 2. In the middle of someone's farm, no one else around we could see the spot from about 15 mins away so even though we were late we know no one else made it.
Chico, California — The exact point was reachable, but only one person reached it at the designated time.
Albuquerque/Santa Fe, New Mexico Successfully reached, made chalk art, but no one showed up.
2008-05-24 Lafayette, Indiana - Two of us got there and ate cheese.
2008-05-24 Lansing, Michigan - Three of us went together, played some harmonica and proceeded to go out for ice cream.
2008-05-24 NW Minneapolis, Minnesota - The actual coordinates fell within a fenced farmfield.

Friday 23 May 2008

The coordinates for Friday, May 23 are available.

2008-05-23 Schaumburg, Illinois -- First reached by Virginia.
2008-05-23 Boston, Massachusetts -- First reached by Randall, davean, and Tesia.
2008-05-23 Austin, Texas -- Reached by Sigma.
2008-05-23 Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Reached by Niels.

Thursday 22 May 2008

The coordinates for Thursday, May 22 are available.

2008-05-22 Denver, Colorado -- This geohash has been reached by Akedrou.
2008-05-22 San Diego, California -- This coordinate was reached by Somnivore.
2008-05-22 Stoughton, Wisconsin -- This geohash was reached by Alric.
2008-05-22 Lincoln, Nebraska -- This geohash was reached by Spike and crew.
2008-05-22 Southern Minneapolis, Minnesota -- This geohash was reached by Chris and Abi.

Older Events

View expedition archives for: November 2024 | October 2024 | September 2024 | More...

Known Issues

Several known issues are presented at Known Issues. There is an ongoing discussion on these and other issues at Talk:Main Page.

FAQ

Q: Where is the FAQ page so I can ask a Question?

A: ?

Q: I tried to use the md5sum from my unix/linux command line and the hash was not the same as the comic. What is the correct command line?

A: You probably forgot the "-n" (echo without a newline). Try this to match the example:

 echo -n 2005-05-26-10458.68 | md5sum

The md5sum command may be called md5 instead.

@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 * [[2008-05-24_52_-1|2008-05-24 Birmingham East, United Kingdom]] - Successfully reached field of cows.
 * [[2008-05-24_54_-2|2008-05-24 Carlisle, United Kingdom]] - Three groups met up while independently reaching another field of cows.
-* [[2008-05-24_54_-1|2008-05-24 Middlesbrough, United Kingdom]] - Ajtag Missed, getting close then gps ran out of batteries.
+* [[2008-05-24_54_-1|2008-05-24 Middlesbrough, United Kingdom]] - Ajtag got as close as possible without realising then got lost.
 * [[2008-05-24 52 4|2008-05-24 Hazerswoude, The Netherlands]] - Reached.
 * [[2008-05-24 48 2|2008-05-24 Paris, France]] - Actually a failure; only pre-30W Friday's location was reached... but it was still fun!