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Mackinac Island, Mackinac Island, MI

Photo: August Schwerdfeger, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

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Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island is a sightseeing stop in Mackinac Island, MI, part of the Straits of Mackinac guide. Cost: free. Ferries run most often from late April through the end of October.

Lake Huron, by ferry from Mackinaw City or St. Ignace · Mackinac Island, MI

Why you should go…

Mackinac Island has restricted motor vehicles since the end of the nineteenth century, so you get around by horse-drawn carriage, bicycle or on foot. Ferries cross from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. More than 80 percent of the island is state park, with Arch Rock, a natural limestone arch, and Fort Mackinac, built by the British in 1780. M-185 circles the shore for eight miles as a state highway without cars, and downtown you will find fudge shops and the 1887 Grand Hotel.

  • #car-free island
  • #horse-drawn carriages
  • #fudge
  • #bike rides
  • #state park

What's around here?

The closest stops to Mackinac Island, 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.

    0.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Stay

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Fort Mackinac

    Under $25

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

    0.9 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    Outdoor Adventure

    Arch Rock

    Free

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

    1.1 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    Iconic

    Mackinac Bridge

    Under $25

    Drive five miles across the Straits of Mackinac on the suspension bridge that links Michigan's two peninsulas.

    5.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Colonial Michilimackinac

    Under $25

    A reconstructed 18th-century fort at the Straits of Mackinac where costumed interpreters give live demonstrations.

    7.2 mi awayMore like this

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Outdoor Adventure

    Tahquamenon Falls State Park

    Under $25

    Walk a boardwalk to the amber Upper Falls, then rent a rowboat to reach the island at the Lower Falls.

    58 mi awaySwitch it up: Sport & Outdoor

Near Mackinac Island

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