This cache is part of the Emmet County History Quest Geo-Trail. When discovering the historic places in Emmet County as you travel from cache to cache, you will need to answer a specific question on your passport. Information and the passport can be downloaded from the Emmet County web site http://www.emmetcounty.org/geocache/
Once you have completed 20 of the caches in this tour, take your passport to Emmet County Building, Suite 178 or mail the passport to Beth Piehl, Emmet County Building, Suite 178, 200 Division St., Petoskey, MI 49770 to receive a collectable souvenir tag for this series.
The Headlands recreation area comprises roughly 600 forested acres, four miles of trails, two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, and was designated as an International Dark Sky Park in May 2011 – at that time one of 6 in the U.S. and 9 in the world.
Chicago industrialist Roger McCormick established the Headlands in the late 1950s.
It remained in his hands until his death in 1968, when the property was assumed by the McCormick Foundation and eventually obtained by Emmet County.
Geographic landmarks like St. Helena Island and the Upper Peninsula are visible from the shore, while several shipwrecks rest beneath the waters. The land supports numerous deciduous and conifer trees, along with fruit trees, black walnut trees and approximately 300 species of wildflowers and plants. Piping plovers, bald eagles, osprey, and terns live at the Headlands, which is also in the north/south migratory pattern for many bird species, particularly raptors.