This cache, one of Michigan's oldest, is located in eastern Jackson County in a beautiful part of the 20,000 acre Waterloo State Recreation Area, along the Potawatami Trail. At 1128 feet elevation, Sackrider Hill is the highest point in the area. The hill itself is a glacial deposit (I’d guess a kame) from the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. This area sat between two lobes of the retreating glacier, and sand, gravel and rocks that washed or melted out of the glacier were deposited in the dramatic hills and ridges and that cover this area. Remnant chunks of glacier that were buried in this glacial debris melted and produced "kettle lakes" that can still be seen scattered amidst the hills and ridges. (See this web site for details about the geology and biology of the area).
The Waterloo Recreation Area was created from sub-marginal farms that failed and were abandoned during the 1930’s and 40’s. Seeing the steep terrain, one wonders how this area was ever farmed at all, but the piles of gathered field stones bear testimony that people tried to eke out a living here. Of course, the very features that made farming so difficult are what make the land so beautiful.
There is a state parking area (N 42° 18.190', W 84° 12.445') on Mt. Hope Road a mile north of I-94 (exit 150). From the parking lot, take the trail on the left up the hill, not the marked on on the righ that goes downhill. The hill itself is quite close and has a small lookout tower from which you can see the surrounding countryside. The village of Grass lake is about 3.5 miles south-west, Chelsea is about 9 miles east, and Jackson about 10 miles west.
There is also a state survey control marker disk on the summit about 12' west of the cross. Its actual coordinates (I checked) are N 42° 18.126', W 84° 12.544', 1127 feet elevation. (See this web site if you'd like to find information on other survey markers or find ones near you). Place your GPS receiver on it and see how close you get. :-) (this seems to have been removed as of 5/9/18) Then set off on the trail, and you’ll soon find it hard to remember that you are so close to civilization as you are immersed in beautiful nature.
The cache is about 0.8 mile west of the summit as the crow flies, but a bit more than a mile walking, a little off the trail, which mostly follows ridges but drops down one steep hill and back up again. As you come in from the east, look at the drop-off to your right at the top of the hill 0.32 miles from the cache, and then the drop-off to both sides 0.31 miles from it. The most dramatic drop-off is on the right 0.11 miles from the cache, where the ridge is perhaps as much as 80 feet above the flat forest bottom below. I don't know of more dramatic terrain in the southern part of Michigan.
When scouting the area originally, I came upon a big tom turkey that was strutting and gobbling to attract his harem. It was near there I placed the cache.
The new cache (5/9/18) is an olive drab .50 cal metal ammo box. Please sign the log book and feel free to exchange trinkets or leave a travel bug. I hope you'll post a photo or two of your visit on the web log.
I hope you enjoy one of my favorite hikes in the area.