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.
This is a traditional cache at the posted coordinates and should not be difficult to find. Your biggest obstacle here is going to be parking on a busy summer weekend especially if there is an event in town. If the lot is full you can park on most nearby village streets and take a short walk to the cache. If you ask nicely at the entrance and explain that you are just there to grab the cache the park attendant may be able to direct you to alternative temporary parking. Do not park at the end of Lowell St., unless of course you are driving a golf cart.
Please be careful to replace the cache as you found it, re-attaching all the pieces after aligning them and closing it up carefully so that other cacher's may enjoy the experience. You may require a "key" to open the cache and retrieve the log book. One has been provided.
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 with special Charles Mears SP sticker.
Thank you
DanTMan&Co
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
The view from the top of Old Baldy
Charles Mears State Park:
Surrounded by the quaint Village of Pentwater, Charles Mears State Park offers 175 modern campsites just steps from the beautiful Lake Michigan beach. Other amenities include a villa and pop up campers for rent, a beach house with a park store and a trail with steps to the top of the scenic Old Baldy dune in the park. The beach here is handicap accessible with playground equipment, volleyball nets, and features a dog friendly beach area.
Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (enhanced)
Benches on the beachfront are used for a favorite pastime, viewing beautiful Sunsets
Shops, restaurants, ice cream parlors and other attractions are a short walk away in the downtown area. Summertime brings many activities to the town with art fairs, farmers markets and the Thursday evening local band concert going on all summer. This park is somewhat unique in having its history and development being so intertwined with the surrounding village.
Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (cropped)
Original beach house, prior to 1929-30
History:
In 1920 the then landowner, Carrie E. Mears, donated a 13.7-acre parcel to the Michigan State Parks Commission with the provision that it be developed into a state park within 2 years to be named for her late father the lumberman Charles Mears. That original area was from Lowell St. north to about current campsites 88 and 171 and east from the beach to roughly where the westernmost camp road is now. The deed also contained a reversion clause which would prove to be important later on in the park′s history. Since the land had been being used as Lake Shore Park by the village for some time and already had some improvements such as a beach house and pavilion, the State Park Commission was happy to accept it with dedication coming in 1922 after the donation of additional land southwest of the end of Lowell St. bringing the park to 16 acres total. This event made the park one of the earlier State Parks in what would eventually become a much larger system. The park′s first year 1922 attendance figures were recorded as 2300 visitors.
Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
1930 Beach House and Park Store
The old beach house was destroyed in a storm in 1929 and a new one along with some developed campsites was constructed in 1930. Parts of this were constructed using materials from a beach house demolished at Orchard Beach State Park. The park continued to increase in popularity with 220,379 visitors and 1,306 campers being recorded in 1941 (compared to 2017-18 figures of 215,832) with no increase in the size of the park. This caused the State Park Division to consider plans to abandon the park as being too small to continue as a state park. Unfortunately for this plan of action the reversion clause in the deed meant the park property could not be sold or given away without reverting to Carrie Mears so the property continued as a state park.
Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Aerial image of the entire park in the 1950s. The grassy area was private.e
Prior to 1950 there was no fee to camp at Charles Mears State Park. That year a $0.50 (extra $0.25 if you wanted electricity) daily fee was instituted to help pay for a proposed expansion of the campgrounds. The park at that time was the smallest of the then existing 60 Michigan State Parks. More land was needed for this purpose and the remainder of Miss Mears' land to the north of the park had remained open and undeveloped until this time. In 1951 Miss Mears refused a request from the park for the additional land As long as there are nudes on the beach meaning partially uncovered ladies. Things continued this way until the passing of Miss Mears in 1957.
Photo courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (cropped)
Parking at the beach in the 1950s
The Village of Pentwater informed the Michigan State Parks at that time that the Mears estate had passed into the control of Old Kent Bank as the administrator and that the remaining property north of the park would likely get sold for development if the park did not buy it. There was no state money for this so in 1958 the citizens of Pentwater agreed to assess themselves to come up with the money to buy the land until the park could afford it. Money was appropriated by the legislature for this purpose in 1959. In 1960 the park acquired the remaining 34.5 acres from the village and plans were made to expand the campgrounds and add additional structures along with replacing some buildings as funds were made available. The total size of the park was now just shy of 50 acres. Along with this land acquisition came the large sand dune area of the park known as Old Baldy as well as additional beachfront bringing the beach to 1500 feet in length.
An excursion into the fresh air by State of Michigan prisoners in 1962 began the long planned expansion of the campground with work continuing through 1965 along with the addition of a new toilet and shower facility for campers and a new entrance and contact building as well as new spaces for offices, a workshop, and a garage. The park was essentially complete by 1967 in time for its grand (re)opening. In 1974 the old 1930 beach house was demolished and a new beach house with a park store and pavilion were completed. At this point the park was finally fully complete as you see it now.
Map courtesy of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
With a fine beach and a magnificant lake, fishing and swimming are the biggest attractions at the park. Hiking trails are also popular. The park also participates in the Michigan State Park Explorer Program. Metal detecting is also welcome when performed in approved ways that do not damage the natural and cultural resources in the park.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Mears State Park.
Special thanks to
Fiver500
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cold Cache Crew and Silent Whistles for the Southwest regional prize.
Resources: