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 multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the location of the cache, go to the posted coordinates and answer the following questions with information there.
Please note that the location of the cache and the puzzle were updated October 22nd, 2020, after the second time the cache was muggled.
Standing in front of the schoolhouse, you see lots of numbers in front of you. Instead of using the plaque in front of you, which can be found easily on line, I thought I would give you a little more to do while actually at the location. Disregarding the large plaque, you will use the rock down below and the small tag above the large plaque. Add the number of numbers and letters on the rock to the numbers and letters on the first and third line on the small metal tag. You will then add to it the first and last numbers on the small tag. You now have “X”. The cache is located approximately X number of feet from where you are, in a compass direction of 91 degrees. Use the projection feature of your device.
The website GeoLifeLine.com can help with your projection if your GPS device won't compute it for you. Use the result in Degrees and Decimal Minutes after rounding to three decimal digits.
You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it and make sure it is covered.
Thank you
wsquared2
for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fisherman at Sessions Lake
Ionia Recreation Area:
Rolling hills, babbling brooks, open meadows, forested ridges, a lake nestled in the hills and a river winding its way through woods and fields - that′s Ionia State Recreation Area. The nearly 4,500 acres of flat to rolling terrain is a mixture of open field, mature hardwood forest and pine plantations. Four miles of Grand River floodplain follow the river course on the north border of the park. Dammed waterfowl floodings and other wetlands dot the park. Wildflowers abound. Birding is excellent with more than 199 species identified by the Audubon Society.
The Ionia Recreation Area is a work in progress. A phase 2 development plan is in the works to turn Ionia Recreation Area into a go to playground for the south-central lower peninsula.
Photo courtesy Michigan One Room Schoolhouses
1847 Sessions Schoolhouse
History:
Ionia State Recreation Area (Ionia SRA) is located on the Grand River in Ionia County. The 4,418-acre park was established for purposes of creating public recreational opportunities and developing a manmade lake in what was defined in the early 1960′s as the lakeless area of the state. This initiative established the park and led to development of Sessions Lake in the late 1970s. The Sessions Lake fishery is managed by Fisheries Division as a warm water fishery that experiences strong public use and appreciation. Active recreation for swimming, boating (no wake), and fishing, as well as passive recreation for picnicking on the shores and viewing are hallmark attributes of the lake.
There are several historically significant sites within the Recreation Area. There are two old schoolhouses. The 1847 Sessions Schoolhouse is the oldest stone school known to exist in Michigan is on Riverside Drive. It was restored by Ionia County in 1917. Across the road is the 1898 Sessions Schoolhouse, also known as the Posse House, leased to the Ionia County for use by the Sheriffs Posse. The Haynor House, on David Highway near the entrance to the recreation area is a Centennial Farmstead. It was used for a time as the park manager′s residence but is in need of restoration. Also within the park are an Infirmary site, a Native American Settlement site and a cemetery.
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
Welcome to Ionia State Recreation Area! 70% of the park recreation area is open to hiking, cross country skiing, horseback riding, birding, hunting, fishing, trapping and field trials. A Disc Golf course was added in 2015. The Recreation Area includes 227 acres to protect nesting habitat for bald eagle nests, a heron rookery and trumpeter swans. It also provides possible sighting for several threatened or endangered species, including Hensley′s sparrow and Blanding′s Turtle. A Developed Recreation Zone comprises 492 acres and allows active recreation with high density of use conducted in areas not designated for natural resource significance. In this zone, recreation dominates with natural resource attributes enhanced as possible. Campgrounds, equestrian and field trial staging areas, day use areas and mountain bike trails are all found within this zone. Cultural Resource Zone covers 21 acres and is comprised of several known historically significant locations within the park. The Sessions Schoolhouse, a Native American settlement site, an infirmary site, the Posse House, the Haynor House, and a cemetery are all included in this zone.
Information:
For more information, follow this link to
Ionia Recreation Area.
Special thanks to
iMerge
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cold Cache Crew and Silent Whistles for the Southwest regional prize.
Resources: