Allegan County Heritage
Trail Tour
The Allegan County Tourist Council has
developed a self-guided tour so that people can discover and have
adventures into the history, sights and sounds of Allegan
County. This tour will
allow people to see historic villages and towns as well as
bountiful farmlands and orchards which were and still are the
backbone of this rural county. More information on the Heritage
Trail Tour can be found at www.allegancounty.org/heritagetrail/. This
tour has numerous stops, but it is not necessary to do them
in order, they can be completed in any order.
We plan to place caches at each historic
stop along this tour.
Our goal with this series is to have fun, but also to enjoy the
beautiful sites of Allegan County. We also hope that we can bring
some history of the area to people who are
interested. Now
let’s get on with our journey.
River Bluff
Park
For a short walk/hike through a wooden
ravine that leads to a scenic view of the Kalamazoo River, stop
here and enjoy a nature break.
Look at the historic site marker by the road and you will see that
you are driving on the
Old Allegan Road
. When
Allegan
County
was organized in 1835, the only road from the interior to
Lake Michigan
followed an Indian trail along the
Kalamazoo
River
. In 1838, Ralph Mann
of
Connecticut
was supervising improvements at the short-lived town of
Richmond
. He and two men
widened the trail eight miles from
Richmond
toward Allegan.
Beginning in the 1840’s stagecoaches traveled this road used by
settlers, traders, and trappers. The
Allegan Road
provided an important link between the county seat and the
lake.
You will be looking for a small lock-n-lock
container. There
could be some GPS accuracy issues due to tree
cover. Have
Fun!!
The FTF prize is a
Signal Bouncer geocoin.
Congratulations to GVSU4MSU on the
unoffical FTF.
(He e-mailed the area where this
would be hidden on May 25, 2008)