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 hidden at the posted coordinates. You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.
For a quieter state park experience, visiting Grand Mere SP is just for you. Before you start or when you return enjoy a picnic at the large covered shelter near this geocache location. The cache is large enough for the 50 Cal. Ammo Can to fit inside and well labeled. The hint will give you access to the logbook and GeoTour Codeword.
Thank you
MaxB on the River & Ol,Dude
for creating, hiding and maintaining, and
iatsemedic
for becoming the caretaker this MSPC GeoTour cache.
Photo by Maxine Brown © 2018, used with permission
Grand Mere South Lake and Dunes
Grand Mere State Park:
Grand Mere State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area in Berrien County, Michigan, near the city of Stevensville. The 985-acre park is mostly wooded and has three geologically ancient inland lakes, called North, Middle, and South Lake, left behind as the glaciers receded during the last ice age.
The park has almost two miles of sandy beach, which can be reached only on foot by climbing over steep sand dunes.
Grand Mere lies in a unique place on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, the dunes protecting the park also create a relatively cool environment that over 550 species of plants typical of both northern and southern temperate latitudes grow together, these natural communities, include dry-mesic southern (oak-hickory) forest, rich conifer (cedar) swamp, southern (mixed hardwood) swamp, and interdunal wetland (shrub swamp/emergent marsh), open dunes, and a wooded dune and swale complex. Because of the unique flora, fauna, and geology of the dune and wetland features at Grand Mere, the park has long been used as an "outdoor laboratory" for natural resource teaching and research.
Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Scenic trails through the dunes.
History:
The dunes at Grand Mere fall within a state-designated "Critical Dune Area." The area containing the present-day park was also designated a National Natural Landmark in 1968. The park was first created on 393 acres of land in 1973, and more than doubled in size with the acquisition of 490 additional acres in 1986.
A large bay of the glacial Great Lakes was present where Grand Mere State Park is today. During Algonquin Great Lakes time (roughly 12,000 years ago), a large spit formed from the south along the west side of the bay, nearly cutting it off from the glacial lake. Most of the dunes at Grand Mere formed on this Algonquin sand spit during the later Nipissing Great Lakes period, (4,500 years ago). During the more recent post-Algoma period (3,000 years ago until present), a smaller spit from the north merged with the larger, dune covered southern spit, closing off the bay. As water levels fell, five lakes formed in this bay. The two southern lakes have subsequently filled in and have become the present-day tamarack swamp south of South Lake. The remaining three lakes, particularly the South Lake, can be seen to be slowly disappearing today.
Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Activities:
There are many trails for hiking and cross-country skiing, but most are neither posted nor maintained. (Biking on the trails is prohibited.) The trail conditions vary from loose sand to hard packed dirt. There are lots of hills including a large sand dune. No off-road vehicles are allowed. Pets are welcome.
Canoeing and Kayaking ramps are found on both South and Middle Lakes. A large picnic pavilion, parking and nature trail to the beach are found at South Lake.
Information:
For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to
Grand Mere State Park.
Special thanks to
2walk
for help with this geocache.
Special thanks to Cold Cache Crew and Silent Whistles for the Southwest regional prize.
Resources: