UPDATE: 3/1/2024:
2019 was the 100th Anniversary of Michigan State Parks and we're still celebrating!. Join the Michigan Geocaching Organization (MiGO), the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Geocaching.com for the first official GeoTour in Michigan.
This tour was originally scheduled to run for three years, kicking off on Friday of Memorial Weekend in 2019 and continue through May 31, 2022. The success of this awesome tour has not gone unnoticed. On February 2, 2022, The DNR announced the extension of the GeoTour through September 24, 2024! Join us in making a final push to complete this very popular and very successful GeoTour before the sun sets on it.
Each geocache is in one of Michigan's state parks. The geocaches are arranged by MiGO Region, with twenty-five geocaches per region. The Ticket to Celebrate 100 is available for download from the DNR's Geocaching page. It explains how to qualify for prizes in each of the four regions and for the GeoTour as a whole.
Day use areas of state parks are open from 8AM to 10PM. Geocaching is limited to those hours. Entry into Michigan's State Parks requires a Michigan Recreation Passport. See the Resources section below for more information.
The sun will set on the MSPCGT at midnight Tuesday, September 24, 2024. The MSPCGT will go off the air as a GeoTour and the caches will disappear from the map. There is a lot of construction going on in our State Parks in 2024. Some of the GeoTour caches will have to be pulled earlier. The remaining geocaches in the tour will be archived October 1, 2024. Players will have until December 31, 2024 to claim any prize they have earned. Hiders will be contacted to request removal of the geocaches they hid unless they have made arrangements with park managers and have their own permit in place to keep the geocache in play, with a new GC Code.
Now for some good news: MiGO and the DNR are busy working on a new project that will kick off in the Spring of 2025, code named MSPGT 2.0. Are you interested in helping? Keep your MiGO Membership up to date and stay tuned to the website.
Cache:
This cache was hidden as part of the Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour, presented by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Geocaching Organization. Record the codeword printed on a label in the cache container and on the log book on the Ticket to Celebrate 100 form. See the instructions on the form to claim prizes. Parks in the upper peninsula don't tend to be readily accessible in the winter due to heavy snowfall.
This is a multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the location of the cache, go to the posted coordinates and answer the following questions with information there.
- You will find the final at: N 46° 0D.EFG' W 88° 2W.XYZ'
- The XZYDth Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked at Bewabic Park.
- The number of CCC participants from Michigan = EF2,814.
- G = the number of letters in the sixth word in the description under the picture of the structure you're standing in front of.
- Bewabic Park was purchased by the state of Michigan in 196W.
- Checksum: D+E+F+G+W+X+Y+Z=31
You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.
Thank you
2_UP_Geologists
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo by Lori Schultz © 2018, used with permission
Entrance to Bewabic State Park with CCC constructed stone wall.
Bewabic State Park:
Bewabic State Park is located on the shores of Fortune Lake, west of Crystal Falls, off Hwy 2 in Michigan′s Upper Peninsula.
The park boosts a 129-site campground that is situated in a shady, wooded site. Unlike many state park campgrounds, most of the sites have buffer strips between them to allow for privacy and most sites have electricity, a fire ring and a picnic table. Picnic areas, a hiking trail, two playgrounds, an excellent beach, and a boat launch to Fortune Lake are among the additional amenities at this park. Bewabic State Park is site #9 of the Iron County Heritage Trail System.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fortune Lake, Bewabic Park in the late 1930s or early 1040s
History:
Bewabic Park was created as a county park by Herbert F. Larson in 1923, when he purchased a 120-acre farmstead on Fortune Lake. The property included one of the last stands virgin timber in the area. The farmhouse was converted to the caretaker′s residence. A bathing beach, campground and picnic areas were also created. Serious improvements were not made until the mid 1930s.
Photo by Lori Schultz © 2018, used with permission
Bathhouse constructed by the CCC in 1935
Evidence of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) presence is very visible at the park. The CCC built many of the structures that are still in use. The log bathhouse was built in 1936 by the CCC. It was designed by architect Abraham Anderson and was a featured example in the National Park Service (NPS) publication Park and Recreation Structures of 1938. Two additional
CCC built objects, the outdoor stoves in the day use area and the large fireplace located on the island were also featured in the NPS publication Park Structures and Facilities of 1935. Additionally, the stone walls at the park entrance were constructed by the CCC.
The State of Michigan purchased Bewabic Park in 1966, added an additional forty acres and turned it into a State Park.
Map courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
Fortune Lake offers a little bit of everything to anglers, pan fish, bass, northern pike, and a few walleyes. The hiking trail that follows the shore of Fortune Lake, heads over hills and ridges, crosses a footbridge and loops into the campground. Unique to Bewabic is the fact that it is the only state park in Michigan to offer tennis courts.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Bewabic State Park.
Special thanks to
Red Rose
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cherry Capital Cachers for the Upper Peninsula regional prize.
Resources: