Plan Your Trail
- Know the Trail munzee requirements, as this will determine what you can do with Trails:
- Each stop MUST be deployed within a 5-mile radius of the starting point.
- Each stop MUST be deployed at least 500 ft from other Trail Munzees.
- Each stop MUST also obey the usual proximity requirements of other munzees within the same map layer.
- Decide whether you want to deploy a Physical Trail or Virtual Trail:
- Physical Trails can only have 5 stops -- no more, and no less. You must also physically go to the locations where you wish to deploy -- though this may improve your trail design, as you'll be testing it out and have a better feel for how walkable it is!
- Virtual Trails can have anywhere from 5 to 10 stops. You can also deploy it entirely from the Munzee Website, which makes it easy to adjust the location for each stop.
- Plan your Trail route, keeping the requirements above in mind. Some key things to determine:
- Where do you want your Trail to start and end?
- Where are some good places to stop between those points?
How to Deploy a Physical Trail
Prepare your Physical Trail Munzees
- Make sure you have 5 Greenies in your Undeployed List.
- NOTE: these munzees MUST have 0 captures on them.
- Convert each munzee into a Physical Trail munzee (see #2 in "FAQ" below).
Print your QR Codes...
- See How to Print a Munzee to learn how to print the code directly from the Munzee Website OR head to the CuppaZee Sticker Studio (as shown in the screenshot below, using the "Plain QR With Label" design) if you want to make them fancy!
- If the QR Codes aren't already labeled so that you know which corresponds to each trail stop, you may want to write the munzee name yourself near the code or on the back of it (making sure not to obstruct the code when you do this).
- Of course, if you forget to do this you can always use the Test Scan tool to verify which code corresponds to which munzee BEFORE deploying.
...or Link your Generic Stickers (see #4 in "FAQ" below)
- Make sure you have 5 unused Generic Stickers you can use to deploy the trail.
- Navigate to your Undeployed List on the Munzee Website (if you aren't already there).
- Click on the first Physical Trail Munzee you converted.
- Click on [Edit Munzee].
- Test Scan one of your Generic Stickers.
- The result should show that the type is a Greenie and that it was Never deployed-- otherwise you won't be able to use that sticker.
- The result should also contain a URL in the format "http://www.munzee.com/g/XXXXXX" where the X's are a unique 6-digit alphanumeric code (depending on how many munzees have been generated, the number of digits may have increased since this article's time of writing).
- Enter that code into the textbox under "Replace Missing Munzee" and click [Link Generic].
- If you Test Scan the sticker again, the result should now show that it is a Trail Munzee, and the status should have changed to Undeployed.
- Head back to your Undeployed list and click on the next Physical Trail Munzee.
- Repeat steps #4-10 until all Generic Stickers have been linked.
| BEFORE linking Generic as shown above | AFTER linking Generic as shown above |
Deploy Your Physical Trail Munzees
- Before you head out, make sure you've packed all the munzees you prepared in the previous section!
- Travel to the first location where you'd like to deploy.
- Launch the Munzee app.
- Tap on the large green pin button at the bottom of the main map screen to pull up the scanner.
- Scan the corresponding QR Code to deploy!
- Depending on how close you are to other Physical Munzees, you may need to walk around a bit and try scanning again until you find a spot that will allow your deploy to go through. Hopefully you've planned your trail so this isn't a concern!
- If needed, make any edits to the Name and/or Notes.
- If needed, you can tap and drag the Physical Trail pin on the map to fine-tune the location.
- Continue through the deploy process in the app, making adjustments as needed, until you see the deploy confirmation popup.
- Travel to the next location where you'd like to deploy.
- Repeat steps #3-10 until all 5 stops have been deployed.
How to Deploy a Virtual Trail
Prepare your Virtual Trail Munzees
- Make sure you have 5 to 10 Virtual Whites (depending on the number of stops you decided on) in your Undeployed List.
- NOTE: these munzees MUST have 0 captures on them.
- Convert each munzee into a Virtual Trail munzee (see #2 in "FAQ" below).
Deploy Your Virtual Trail Munzees
- Navigate to your Undeployed List on the Munzee Website (if you aren't already there).
- Click on the first Virtual Trail Munzee you converted.
- Click on [Edit Location].
- Enter in your desired coordinates, then click [Update].
- If needed, you can click and drag the Virtual Trail pin on the map to fine-tune the location -- it will update the coordinates in the boxes below. Remember to click [Update]!
- Once you are ready, click on [Edit Munzee].
- If needed, make any edits to the Name and/or Notes and click [Update].
- Then click [Deploy]!
- Head back to your Undeployed list and click on the next Virtual Trail Munzee.
- Repeat steps #3-9 until all trail stops have been deployed.
- Lastly, if your trail has less than 10 stops: while still on the "Edit Your Munzee" screen of the last trail stop, scroll down and click [Close] to close your trail.
- Otherwise, if your trail has 10 stops, it will close automatically!
FAQ
- Can I use Greenies or Virtual Whites that I've already deployed as part of a trail? Yes, you may use munzees that you've deployed before as long as they have 0 captures, BUT you may find that you aren't able to move them to exactly where you would like, which is why we recommend using "fresh" munzees that haven't been deployed before.
- Can I deploy Greenies or Virtual Whites BEFORE converting to a Physical / Virtual Trail? Yes, it IS possible to deploy munzees as Greenies or Virtuals first and THEN convert into a Physical Trail / Virtual Trail. However, we don't recommend doing this as you may find that the coordinates where you deployed the Greenie / Virtual do not meet the Trail requirements listed above. In that case, the app will NOT allow you to convert it into a Physical Trail / Virtual Trail munzee and you'll have to deploy your trail stop somewhere else.
- When should I Close my Trail? As mentioned above, if you are deploying a Physical Trail, you don't have to worry about this as it happens automatically after the 5th stop is converted from a Greenie. However, if you are deploying a Virtual Trail with less than 10 stops, you should do so ASAP -- once you're sure you've converted all the munzees you've planned to include in your trail. Since trails are programmed to automatically link their respective munzees together, if you don't close it ASAP, you may unintentionally add another stop to it. Otherwise, if your Virtual Trail does have 10 stops, then it will close automatically as well.
- Why should I link my Generic Stickers to my Physical Trail munzees? Doing this has the benefit of saving you time when you're out in the field. If your Generic Stickers are already linked to your munzee, then all you have to do to deploy it is scan it. If your stickers are not already linked, you would first need to navigate to your Undeployed Munzees list in the app, tap on the munzee, and then tap the [Deploy] button. If you tried to just scan the Generic Sticker from the main map screen, it would just deploy it as a regular Greenie (unless you used the Convert option to turn it to something else, or unless you are doing the opposite of what we recommend as mentioned in #2 of this FAQ).
Here's a Blast from the Past Video!
NOTE: some things, such as the distance requirements, have changed since Trail munzees were launched. However, the process of deploying Trails is still largely the same -- so if you want to have Rob walk you through it, check out the video below!