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.
Construction has commenced in the modern campground which will be closed for the season. Stage 1 is no longer accessible. The information you need for stage 2 is now provided in the puzzle below.
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 two stage multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates.
Stage 1 is temporarily no longer accessible. Information needed for stage 2 is provided:
- The cache is at N 43° 59.ABC W 083° 04.DEF
- A = 7 - Fourth digit in the Shoreline length in miles of Lake Huron.
- B = 9 - Second digit in the average depth in feet of Lake Huron.
- C = 4 - Second digit in volume of cubic miles of Lake Huron.
- D = 6 - Second digit in how many people lived in Port Crescent in 1880.
- E = 9 - Third digit of the year the picture was taken of the Port Crescent School.
- F = 3 - Second digit in how deep the salt wells were.
- North Checksum: A+B+C+D+E+F = 38
You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.
Thank you
Kite Dancer
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Port Crescent Beach
Port Crescent State Park:
Port Crescent State Park is located on M-25 five miles southwest of Port Austin. This 600-acre park
consist of woods, wetlands and the largest sand dunes on the east coast of Michigan. With three miles
of shoreline and beach, the park offers lots of opportunity for exploring and relaxing along the beautiful coastline. One of Michigan′s seven dark sky parks is located at the day use area of Port Crescent State Park.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Port Crescent Kayak
History:
Port Crescent State Park is on the site of the former settlement by the same name. A man named Walter Hume came here in 1844 and created a trading post to trade goods with the Native Americans living in the area. He also built a hotel. The settlement was originally named Pinnebog, for the river it was built on. When a post office was requested, the name Pinnebog had already been taken by another settlement further upstream. The name here was changed to Port Crescent for the shape of the bay.
The settlement grew into a lumber boom town with two sawmills, two salt plants, a cooperage (barrel manufacturer), a grist mill, a wagon factory, a cobler (boot and shoe manufacturer), a pump factory, two breweries, several stores, another hotel, blacksmith shops, a post office, a depot on the railroad. There was even a roller rink. Salt and lumber were the key materials shipped. Left over sawdust and bark was used for fuel to extract the salt from brine. Lumbering prospered until a large forest fire in 1881 burned the thumb nearly clear of timber. The town began to implode. By 1894, most of the buildings were moved by ship to Oscoda up the Lake Huron coast.
According to wikipedia, the park′s first 240 acres were purchased by the state in 1956, with official establishment of the park occurring in 1959. One of the last visible remnants of the vanished town of Port Crescent, the 120-foot-tall Pack & Woods Sawmill chimney, was razed in 1961, despite the objections of residents who felt the loss of the local landmark. The park was expanded with the purchase of an additional 455 acres in 1977.
Thank you to thumbwind.com for much of the historical information.
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
This park offers swimming, fishing, canoeing, cross-country skiing, bird watching, hunting and 6 miles of trails for hiking. There is a wooden boardwalk that runs parallels with the shoreline of Lake Huron′s Saginaw Bay that offers many scenic vistas along with a viewing platform for bird watching.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Cabin View
The campground has 137 campsites along with a couple of cabins for rent. Port Crescent also participates in the Halloween camping festivities. If you are a history buff, make sure you research the vanishing village of Port Crescent which is located within this park. You may even be able to find some of the foundations of the village when you visit.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Port Crescent State Park.
Special thanks to
DanTMan&Co
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to beenhere, LynnGeoGin and HNY Event Staff for the Southeast regional prize.
Resources: