MSPCGT:Meridian-Baseline SP Traditional Cache

Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour (GT93)

UPDATE: 3/1/2024:

2019 was the 100^th 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 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. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.

Thank you Huntroth for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.

^{Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources}
Meridian-Baseline North Marker

Meridian-Baseline State Park:

Meridian-Baseline State Park is 108-acre park used for the original survey of Michigan. This park preserves the exact location where all township, range and section measurements begin for the state.

In the United States, a baseline is the east-west line used when surveying plots of land to determine their property borders. The principal meridian serves this purpose for north-south. This park is where the principal meridian meets the baseline for Michigan.

For unknown reasons, there are two mismatched monuments on the principal meridian about 1000 feet apart. One point was used for properties east of the meridian, while the other was used for the west. The roundtrip hike to view the monuments is about one and a half miles.

^{Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources}
Meridian-Baseline Trail

History:

Although the DNR has had this site for over 50 years, it was landlocked until 2014 and opened to the public in October of 2015. In 2016 a boardwalk was completed in the wetlands near the markers. Parking is located off Meridian Road at the trailhead. There is no water or restroom facilities.

^{Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources}

Activities:

Activities at the park are limited to the hiking.

Information:

For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to Meridian-Baseline State Park.

Special thanks to afishoutawater for help with this geocache.

Special thanks to beenhere, LynnGeoGin and HNY Event Staff for the Southeast regional prize.

Resources:

• State Parks Centennial GeoTour - Download the Ticket to Celebrate 100
• Michigan.gov/StateParks100
• Michigan DNR Recreation Passport
• When were Michigan state parks and recreation areas established?
• Michigan Geocaching Organization (MiGO)