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 cache is a two stage multi. The first stage is outside the Gillette Nature/Visitor Center and includes clues for locating the cache at the second stage. You can locate the second stage with your GPS, but the clues at stage 1 will be helpful.
The Gillette Nature Center is open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day during the hours listed below. From Labor Day to Memorial Day, the geocache will be found at the posted coordinates (also noted as Reference Point "Winter Location").
During the off-season, the center is frequently open to visitors so it is still possible to do the cache as designed (which is why it is favorited so highly). You may always call the center at (231) 798-3573 for off season hours.
Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center Hours
Memorial Day to Labor Day:
Monday-Saturday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 Noon to 5:00 PM
Fall, Winter, Spring:
Saturday 10:00AM to 4:00PM. Please call for weekday hours.
Mid-November to mid-January:
CLOSED for maintenance.
At stage 2, when taking the survey, you will be asked the PRIMARY reason you are visiting the park today. Make sure you select "Geocaching". If you do, at the end of the survey you will be given the combination to the lock on the front of the kiosk. Simply enter the four digits, left to right, and slide the bolt to the right.
Inside the door is the cache.
To close, make sure the combination is still set, close the door and scramble the numbers.
Please return everything as good or better than you found it. Thank you for visiting this geocache.
Thank you
The Macho Homemaker
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Collage by The Macho Homemaker. Photos courtesy of cacher Toddnvng (left), cacher Muskoka Pearl (top) andthe Michigan DNR (right and bottom)
PJ Hoffmaster State Park collage
Hoffmaster State Park:
PJ Hoffmaster State Park encompasses 1200 acres, including 3 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, and represents one of the finest examples of high relief, parabolic dunes and forested backdunes on the Great Lakes. The undisturbed quality of the habitat makes the park a refuge for 460 species of plants, nearly 90 species of birds and a rich array of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Hoffmaster is home to several listed species of plants, reptiles and birds. The park′s pristine sandy beach is often described in magazines and travel guides as one of the wildest and most scenic beaches in Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Trail to the big lake
Although the park′s main feature is its natural beauty, the Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center with its state-of-the art exhibits runs a close second. Perched at the top of a large sand dune surrounded by a forest of sugar maples, American beech and Eastern hemlock, the remodeled Center (2002) tells the state′s unique sand dune story.
The Center′s exhibit hall includes:
- Dioramas that depict the four dune habitats and their plants and animals throughout the seasons.
- An animation station where visitors can view the dune formation process.
- An interactive video/audio station where visitors can view an ant lion at work while listening to a play by play account of its hunting activity.
- An interactive computer station where visitors learn about other sand dune parks in Michigan and their features.
The year-round facility also features a classroom with seasonal live animals such as snakes, turtles, frogs and fish. Visitors can view a DVD presentation about the park and its surrounding sand dunes in the 82-seat auditorium. The park′s interpretive staff provides daily programs for families in the summer months.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Aerial view of P.H. Hoffmaster State Park
History:
The short version of the history of this park is that it was established in the 1960s in honor of Percy James Hoffmaster, the longest acting Director of Conservation and the first Chief of State Parks in Michigan. A much longer version follows.
Hoffmaster State Park and the Gillette Visitor Center are a tribute to a pillar of Michigan′s State Parks. Her story is as much a part of this park as Mr. Hoffmaster. The source of this story is the Gillette Nature Association.
Emma Genevieve Gillette was one of Michigan′s most successful citizen activists. She was born on a farm near Lansing in 1898 and at a very early age developed a love and appreciation for plants and the beauty of nature′s landscape. Ms. Gillette enrolled at Michigan Agricultural Collage (MSU) in 1916. While at MAC, she became friends with Pete (Percey) Hoffmaster. She did not follow the traditional home economics field of most other collegiate women of her day. Instead, she graduated with a degree in Landscape Architecture. She went to sork for a landscaping architect in Chicago where she became involved with surveying for parks. Her employer, Jens Jensen, encouraged Genevieve to look in to developing a parks in Michigan. She stayed in touch with her friend, Mr. Hoffmaster, now the Superintendent of State Parks. She moved back to Michigan in 1925 and on weekends, volunteered to scout locations for State Parks. Genevieve was key in establishing Ludington and Hartwick Pines State Parks. As a volunteer, Ms Gillette still had to earn a living. She did so by working on and leading landscaping projects from Michigan to Florida, including projects at Ferris State University, the City of Detroit and the City of Lakeland Florida, among many others.
Her good friend, Pete, died in 1951. By the late 1950s, Michigan′s State Park System was in a state of neglect. Gillette took it upon herself to gether like minded people and groups and establish the Michigan Parks Association which, with her leadership, set about the tireless task of lobying the Michigan Legislature to approve a $100 Million to rebuild the park system. In 1960 she, at the request of US Senator Phillip Hart, lobied for the establishment of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
The E. Genevieve Gillette Nature Center in Hoffmaster State Park was dedicated by Governor William Milliken in 1976, with Genevieve present. Right up until her passing in 1986, Gillette worked to promote Michigan′s Parks and our great state benefited greatly for her efforts. Her last accomplishment was the acquisition by the State of the ecologically significant property that would become Thompson′s Harbor State Park near Rogers City, funded by her estate as her last gift to the people of Michigan.
To learn more about this incredible woman, please visit her story at Gillette Nature Association
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
Taken from the Gillette Nature Association′s About Hoffmaster State Park page:
Visitors are encouraged to venture outdoors to experience first-hand the park′s beautiful scenery. From the Visitor Center, the short ½ mile Lake Michigan trail transverses the park′s sheltered backdune forest leading out into the grassy foredune. The first portion of the Lake Michigan trail (near the Visitor Center) is a hard-surfaced, raised trail for the physically challenged. This wheel-chair accessible trail gives visitors an opportunity to experience the solitude of the sheltered backdune, to see the wildflowers of spring and hear the diversity of bird songs. The later portion of the Lake Michigan trail offers hikers the option of viewing the dunes from the Dune Climb Stairway, a 193-step structure including an upper and lower observation platform perched atop one of the park′s largest parabolic dunes. The park′s ten miles of trails and diversity of birds provides a birding experience unparalleled in the region, especially in the spring at the peak of migration.
While the park′s 293 site campground provides the opportunity for an overnight stay, the surrounding landscape abounds with outdoor adventure for overnight or day visitors alike. From hiking to nature study, visitors can pursue their favorite outdoor activities in a challenging terrain that always ends with a sweeping view of Lake Michigan. In the shoulder seasons you will find the beach void of crowds and the strong winds off Lake Michigan often sculpt the sand into fine works of art. After storms, when the wind has wiped the slate clean, there are animal stories to discover in the sand.
Lake effect snows can transform the landscape into a paradise for those that love winter sports in a natural setting. The park′s 3.5-mile cross country ski trail is a must for immediate to advance skiers, and towering Mt. Baldy is a popular surface for those that bravely snowboard. When the snow is deep, snowshoes provide access to some of the park′s most remote areas where the sounds of wind, Lake Michigan and chickadees prevail. Winter visitors may get a glimpse of bald eagles along the shoreline or our even rarer winter bird, the snowy owl.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Hoffmaster State Park.
Special thanks to
Elicalli
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cold Cache Crew and Silent Whistles for the Southwest regional prize.
Resources: