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:
6/29/2020 This cache has been moved to the Park Office. It was originally on the Lake Michigan shoreline, down the Green Trail along the beach. With rising waters of Lake Huron, the Green Trail has become obliterated and the trek along the beach is no longer family friendly. We want to thank the folks who accepted the often wet challenge of reaching the cache in its previous location. For those of you who loved this challenge, we apologize, but the move was necessary for a Family Friendly tour. The last finder to brave the waters to sign the log was Fishongetthenet.
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 the log book and on a label inside the cache container to the appropriate box on the Ticket to Celebrate 100 form. See the instructions on the form to claim prizes.
This is a simple mystery gadget cache hidden at the posted coordinates. It will test your musical talent and your knowledge of the universe. You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.
Play this song. You can sing along if you like. It may help you, but you won't win any awards :)
Blue*2,
Red*2,
Purple*2,
Red
Orange*2,
Yellow*2,
Green*2,
Blue
Red*2,
Orange*2,
Yellow*2,
Green
Red*2,
Orange*2,
Yellow*2,
Green
Blue*2,
Red*2,
Purple*2,
Red
W*2, X*2, Y*2, Z !
W, X, Y, and Z equate to the colors of the xylophone. The first letter of each color will be required to open the cache. The last digit of the combination is an exclamation point (!)
Thank you
Pirate Sunflower & ORM3757
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Sunset over Duncan Bay
Cheboygan State Park:
Cheboygan State Park lies along the Huron Shores Heritage Route and is located near the tip of the Michigan Lower Peninsula with frontage along the shores of Lake Huron. The park is open year-round for a variety of activities. Elliot Creek flows through the park and is known for its trout. A carry-in boat launch provides access to Duncan Bay, where fishing is also plentiful. The shallow, clear water at the beach is ideal for children to enjoy splashing around.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Passing Freighter
There are two off shore lighthouses that can be seen from the park. The lighthouses mark the south channel through the Straits of Mackinac. This channel travels south of Bois Blanc Island. The Poe Reef Light can be seen six miles off shore and marks the northern end of this channel. The Fourteen Foot Shoal Light marks the southern end of this channel.
Photo courtesy of the US Coast Guard via lighthousefriends.com
Second Cheboygan lighthouse in 1904. The foundations are still visible.
History:
According to the site lighthousefriends.com, Alexander McLeod and J.W. Duncan built a sawmill on the southern shore of Duncan Bay, and established the community of Duncan. Duncan served as the first county seat and one of the busiest towns on the lake. In the 1880s, the federal government dredged the Cheboygan River, and Cheboygan started to surpass Duncan in importance. Today, Duncan no longer exists, while Cheboygan serves as the county seat.
Over the years, three lighthouses were constructed in the vacinity of Cheboygan. The first and second lights were built on Cheboygan Point. The first, built in 1851, suffered damage due to wave action and was replaced by a second in 1859. This light served to guide shipping through the South Channel between the mainland and Bois Blanc Island until 1930 when it was replaced by the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light that exists today. Materials from the second light and its supporting buildings were harvested or moved to be used for a garage in Cheboygan and in the construction of three houses.
On March 4, 1930 Congress transferred the forty-one-acre parcel containing the site of the first two lighthouses to the State of Michigan for the purposes of building a park, which marked the beginning of Cheboygan State Park.
Map courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
The park boasts of its 5 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and 6 miles of well-marked trails. The trails can be used for hiking, mountain biking or cross- country skiing. The day use area near Duncan Bay has a beautiful sandy beach. Four miles away is the campground with 76 sites. The park also has cabins for rent along the Lake Huron shore. The 1,250-acre park has a variety of terrain, ranging from forests to cedar swamps, including Lake Huron shoreline and dunes.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Cheboygan State Park.
Special thanks to
SAGeocachers
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Are You Geocacher Enough? Road Rally for the Northern Lower regional prize.
Resources: