Skip to content
Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island, MI

Photo: Drdpw, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

SightseeingHistory BuffFamily Favorite

Fort Mackinac

Explore a hilltop military outpost built during the American Revolution, with costumed interpreters, cannon and rifle firings.

7127 Huron Rd · Mackinac Island, MI

About Fort Mackinac

The British built Fort Mackinac during the American Revolution to control the Straits of Mackinac, and the US Army garrisoned it until 1895. The fort sits on limestone bluffs about 150 feet above the straits, and its 14 original structures include barracks, a hospital and blockhouses. The Officer's Stone Quarters, from 1780, is called Michigan's oldest building. You can watch daily cannon and rifle firings by costumed interpreters.

  • #historic fort
  • #military history
  • #living history
  • #cannon firing
  • #state park

Printable maps

What's around here?

The closest stops to Fort Mackinac, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Stay
    Iconic

    Grand Hotel

    Under $25

    Stroll the 660-foot front porch of this 1887 island resort, tour its gardens, or stay over and arrive by horse-drawn carriage.

    0.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Stay

  • Sightseeing
    Outdoor Adventure

    Arch Rock

    No admission fee

    You climb 207 steps or bike Arch Rock Road to see a limestone arch framing Lake Huron far below.

    0.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Mackinac Island

    No admission fee

    Ride a ferry to a car-free Lake Huron island of horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, fudge shops and a hilltop fort.

    0.9 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    St. Ignace Mission

    Check prices

    Visit Father Jacques Marquette's grave and the Museum of Ojibwa Culture at the 1671 Jesuit mission site near the Lake Huron shore.

    5.7 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums

    Mackinaw Bridge Museum

    No admission fee

    A free museum above a Mackinaw City pizza restaurant, filled with donated items from the Mackinac Bridge's construction.

    7.2 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Cheboygan State Park

    Under $25

    Hike Lake Huron shoreline trails to the ruins of an 1859 lighthouse, swim at Duncan Bay and stay in a hike-in rustic cabin near the water.

    17 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors