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.
The large amount of construction in the park in 2024 may impact access at times to the Geotour cache.
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 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 traditional cache hidden at the posted coordinates. You are looking for a Regular size container. You will need a tool of the trade to get at the container. Do you need a hint? Please return everything as good or better than you found it.
Thank you
Goldfinch
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Logging big wheel at Interlochen State Park
Interlochen State Park:
Interlochen State Park is located just 15 miles southwest of Traverse City and is situated between two well-known fishing and swimming lakes: Green Lake and Duck Lake.
Charles Conn Michigan Railroad Collection, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
Pine Park Station, formerly Wylie's Station.
History:
The park was established as Michigan's first state park by the Michigan Legislature in 1917, which paid $60,000 for the land. The name of the park was originally Pine Park, a 200-acre public park created to preserve the virgin pine stand for the people of Michigan. Just north of the park there was once a sawmill and its supporting settlement named Wylies. The settlement and mill had a small station on the Manistee & Northeastern Railroad. When the park was created, the name of the station was changed to Pine Park. The grade for that rail line passes through the park, between the lakes. Parts of it can be hiked. In 1928, the National Music Camp was established on the former saw mill and settlement property, adjoining the northern boundary of the park.
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
Popular activities at the park include boating, swimming, fishing and paddling. Kayaks are available for rent at Duck Lake Landing, the park concession store. While you are here, go find a related cache that is part of a reward trail: GC7NAQ4. There are several caches in the tRails Meandering North~Easterly reward trail within two miles of the park.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Interlochen State Park.
Special thanks to
Silent Whistles
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Are You Geocacher Enough? Road Rally for the Northern Lower regional prize.
Resources: