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 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.
Note: You need to view photos on the cache page to solve this puzzle BEFORE you visit the park. Cell phone service is not good enough at the park to do so on site.
This is a mystery cache and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the coordinates, solve this puzzle using information off the cache page for B-F and at the posted coordinates or on this site for A. You may wish to use a computer to complete this task rather than your phone as you will be required to look at details and photos on the cache page. The final can be found at:
- N 44° 17.ABC W 086° 18.DEF
- A = The last digit of the site number for the object near the posted coordinates or this site.
- B = The 3rd digit of the year the initial phase of building work was completed.
- C = How many dollars did it cost to camp per day here in the year 1921.
- D = The Pump House is what number on the map.
- E = The 3rd digit of the year the photo of the Shelter with cars in it was taken.
- F = How many windows are visible on the 2nd floor of the Dance Hall/Casino.
- Checksum : A+B+C+D+E+F=21
This may not be a quick and easy cache to find and a short walk is required. You are looking for an ammo can that is very well concealed and the difficulty and terrain ratings are for the final. There is no need to remove the container or its camouflage. Please replace the cache as you found it being careful to conceal your tracks and the container.
At the request of the park staff, this cache has been constructed so that you can find the final coordinates without entering the campground where the historic features are located. It is very crowded and busy in the summer and closed to vehicles in the off season.
There are a choice of FTF prizes provided: The Michigan State Parks Centennial edition Stamp & Go Guide or the serial numbered 90th Anniversary Collector's Edition of the Passport to Michigan State Parks and Recreation Areas.
Thank you
DanTMan&Co
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources (cropped)
Aerial view of Orchard Beach State Park with Manistee Lake in the background
Orchard Beach State Park:
Situated on a high Lake Michigan bluff a few miles north of the city of Manistee, the 201 acre Orchard Beach State Park features a 166 unit modern campground along with a camper cabin, a swimming beach, a picnic area with shelter, great views of beautiful Lake Michigan sunsets, and several miles of hiking and cross country ski trails. Reachable by a trolley from the park in summertime lots of activities are nearby in Victorian themed Manistee including shopping, dining, and museums. Also, nearby are the Little River Casino and the Manistee National Forest and North Country Trail system.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Interurban Park Train Station and Dance Hall/Casino in the background
History:
The George Hart model farm and orchard on Lake Michigan became an interurban park in the 1890s when it was purchased and developed by the Manistee, Filter City, and Eastlake Railway Company. The railway company built a casino, pavilion, bathhouse, and shelter on the site and ran a rail line to the park from Manistee.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Campers in the orchard shortly after the 1921 park opening
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Park entrance in 1931
After WWI the trolley line ended service to the park and the Manistee Board of Commerce purchased the parcel. The board, in turn, deeded the property to the state for a park in 1921. Initially, camping was free. By 1922 the park recorded 12,000 visitors to the then 26-acre park. Minor park improvements continued throughout the 1920s and 30s as attendance kept growing. In 1938 additional land was added to the park more than doubling its lake frontage.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
CCC Workers at Orchard Beach
In 1939, a master plan was developed for the park and members of the CCC camp at Ludington were sent here to work beginning massive improvements, eventually demolishing all existing structures. In addition to campground and picnic area improvements the CCC began construction of stone buildings of Wisconsin and Drummond Island limestone. This building is number 1 on the park map.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Shelter/pavilion/toilet building built by the CCC crew
One of the buildings constructed by the CCC was the combination toilet, shelter and pavilion. Some of the original CCC built log picnic tables are inside.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Campground toilet and shower building
The CCC crew also built the toilet and shower building for use by campers. This is number 2 on the park map.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Line House and Sump
A pump house, line house and wastewater sumps were also built to take care of sanitation needs. The photo above shows the one of the waste water sumps with the line house on the right. The line house is number 4 on the map.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Pump House
The pump house shown above is number 5 on the map below.
All of the above structures were designed by architect Ernest Hartwick who had done design work in many of the other state parks. They stand as built with few exterior changes and are still in use today a fitting testament to the durability of their original designs and construction. Most still retain some original windows and doors and the Line House still has its original window and door and wood shingled roof.
Work by the CCC at the park continued through 1941 but was temporarily halted in 1942 by wartime restrictions. Work then resumed in 1943-44 when an exception was granted by the War Protection Board with the initial phase of building work finally being completed in 1947.
Orchard Beach is significant because of the historic integrity of the overall park--almost all the features on the 1939 master plan still exist and are in use. In addition to the limestone buildings, the park retains significant historic landscape features such as the entrance road, picnic area and parking lot, campground, log fence and apple orchard. Small features such as the Halsey Taylor drinking fountains and log and concrete barriers add to the historic character of the park. The addition of more land east of M-110 in 1942, where the current trail system is now located, brought the park to its current size.
The 1939 park master plan indicates that several other buildings, including an additional toilet and a contact station, were planned for this park. Although wartime restrictions put a halt to the construction of these buildings, they were eventually built in the approximate locations indicated on the plan with limestone incorporated into the facades retaining some of the original design concepts.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Shelter Building constructed in 1953 appears much the same today
After 1950 more work in the park helped by inmate crews from the nearby Camp Sauble prison added still more improvements to the park including the current park manager′s residence, several shop/garage/office buildings, the fish cleaning house, an RV sanitation station, and camper cabins finally making the park nearly complete as it stands today.
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
Cross-country skiing, hiking and swimming are the most popular events at Orchard Beach State Park. Metal Detecting is allowed in restricted locations.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Orchard Beach State Park.
Special thanks to
TruckerJohn42
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Are You Geocacher Enough? Road Rally for the Northern Lower regional prize.
Resources: