You Can Be in Two Counties at the Same Time in This Michigan Park

The Four Corners is a National Park where you can be in four states at once. Since that park is a thousand miles away, you can do the next best thing and be in two Michigan counties at once! You won't have to use a map or Google to figure this out either as the park will tell when you are crossing from county to county.

The park is called Meridian-Baseline State Park. It's located south of Lansing down 127 and is right on the border of both Ingham and Jackson counties. The park is a relatively new one, less than 5 years old, because it took the state years to make the land into a state park. The park is in a heavily wooded area and kind of in the middle of nowhere, but it has a great walking path as well as enabling you to be in Ingham and Jackson counties at the same time.

The history of why the park is located in both counties goes back to the early 1800s when the state was being surveyed and the county lines were drawn. The meridian is the longitude line that runs north to south from the most southern part of Michigan to the most northern (which is Ste St. Marie). The baseline is the latitude line (running east to west) along the widest part of the state. The baseline matches up with the border of Wisconsin to Illinois as well as 8 mile road in Detroit.

This park is where the baseline and meridian meet; the problem is that there are two baselines. The reason for this was because they messed up the first time resulting in the step-like shape of the county.

When you go to the park, you can take the path and find the two markers telling you which direction you are going in as well as the borders between the counties. You can see the marker below and take a trip there sometime this year so you can be in two counties at once!