MSPCGT:Bond Falls SS Letterbox Hybrid

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 letterbox hybrid cache and is not at the posted coordinates. To find the cache, start at the posted coordinates (N 46° 24.585 W 089° 08.100). Look for the paved trailhead. Facilities are available here. To the left you can see A River Runs Through It. Follow the paved trail. When you find the boardwalk, please continue walking. When you see the falls, you have a choice: left or right. You could go left for a view, but choose the right for the cache. Just after making the right choice, take a selfie with the falls, then continue down the boardwalk. The river will be on your left. Continue until the railing becomes metal and head up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, continue on the path, keeping the river on your left. When you see a short bridge, please cross it singing a song with the word "bridge" in it. The trail becomes less traveled here, just the way I like it. You may see a sign that says Falls 400 feet. Continue 100 feet and take another photo. Forget why you came this way but remember how you got there. Turn around and return the way you came here. The river will now be on your right. Stay on the trail always keeping the river on your right. At the bridge sing that song louder this time. Heed the brown caution sign but take another picture before taking the stairs. As soon as you reach the boardwalk, you suddenly remember why you are here. There should be a stairway to your right. It leads you to the water's edge. You could even step carefully into the water on a warm day. Before doing so, turn left at the bottom of the short stairway and go to the boardwalk. Look underneath. You should find the cache in its home. Now smile and take that last photo. This is why I geocache. Enjoy the view and the sound of the water for as long as you wish.

You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.

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

^{Photo by Kari Douma Photography © 2018, used with permission}
Morning Sun peaking through at Bond Falls

Bond Falls Scenic Site:

Bond Falls Scenic Site is located on the Ontonagon River in Ontonagon County, Michigan. Bond Falls is east of U.S. Highway 45 on Bond Falls Road in the western Upper Peninsula. The falls are created as the middle branch of the Ontonagon river tumbles over a thick belt of fractured rock, dividing it into numerous small cascades.

^{Photo by Kari Douma Photography © 2018, used with permission}
Bond Falls from downstream

^{Map courtesy of the Upper Peninsula Power Co, managers of the campground and site.}

Activities:

Activities at Bond Falls include camping, hiking and fishing.

Information:

The campground and lands at Bond Falls Flowage is administered for recreational use by Upper Peninsula Power Company. For more information, please call 800-562-7680. or view the Bond Falls Brochure.

The photographer providing the two beautiful photos on this web page is a local professional from Grandville, MI, and also a friend of the hider. We owe her a very special thanks to her for allowing us to use her work on the cache page.

Special thanks to Monkey Man & Lulu for help with this geocache.

Special thanks to Cherry Capital Cachers for the Upper Peninsula 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)