Mackinaw island

Did a day there. Took our bikes & rode right around the island which is bigger than we thought. Town is like so many other touristy places except there is no sound of the internal combustion engine. No tire noise on the streets. Just the sound of people talking, horses walking, & the smell, though there are people with a fulltime job of shovelling the stuff up. Fed Ex truck was not even allowed on the island. Saw it unloaded from the boat straight onto a horse drawn wagon. Like stepping back into another era.

A winter visit might be interesting. Ice road out to the island.

Other things in that area:

The Soo Locks, Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Tahquamenon Falls, Paradise, MI
Whitefish Point & Shipwreck Museum (Edmund Fitzgerald)
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising, MI

Bikes definitely make it more interesting. We've always enjoyed the road back through the center of the island. Poking about in the cemeteries. We enjoy history which there is a lot of there. Also lots of "touristy" stuff.

Oldmaple wrote:
Bikes definitely make it more interesting. We've always enjoyed the road back through the center of the island. Poking about in the cemeteries. We enjoy history which there is a lot of there. Also lots of "touristy" stuff.

There is more to see and do than just downtown on the island. As mentioned, doing the island by bike is a great way to see some things. Bike to arch rock and Sugerloaf near the middle. There are single tracks for mountain biking. Bike to the north end of the island and have a picnic on the beach.

This weekend Star Lines is doing their annual sale...half off ferry tickets which is a great deal.

Plenty of other things to see and do on the mainland, both lower and upper peninsula.

going across the soo bridge will be in my mind forever ,24ft bornfree first in line being escorted across because of wind. 10mph and you can watch the bridge swing side to side. and I hahe being off the ground. it was pretty .

midnightsadie wrote:
going across the soo bridge will be in my mind forever ,24ft bornfree first in line being escorted across because of wind. 10mph and you can watch the bridge swing side to side. and I hahe being off the ground. it was pretty .

Do you mean the bridge at the Soo going to Canada or the Big Mac from the lower to the UP. With an escort I'm thinking the Big Mac

Some don't like the island but we tend to go back every 5 years or so for the other things in the area. If you are looking for native american things you will also find that both sides of the bridge.

We spent a day there a few years ago. As mentioned previously, very odoriferous and touristy. We took one of the carriage tours which gives you a good overview of sights and things to do on the island. Then we walked around on our own. I'm glad we went, but once is enough for us.

2X on Wilderness SP. And St. Ignace, the port city of the Starr Line Ferry is a quaint, very nice town. Where we had lunch the waitresses t-shirts left an impression on us. .
Want to return again!

Been to Mackinac Island four times in the past 60 years, twice since 2012 (one time staying two nights at Grand Hotel before new owners turned it into a day-tourist destination). What else is there? If you are interested in history, there is a restored fort in Mackinaw City. Beyond that, it depends on what you mean by "the area." For me, "the area" is the whole Upper Peninsula, my interests are geology, history, natural science, and the U.P. has kept me busy for several trips of two to six weeks in the summer. But that scope is Ironwood to Copper Harbor to Sault Sainte Marie to St Ignace, Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City, which involves a lot of travel.

There is a whole lot more to see and do in the Lower Peninsula, 25 years of living there and making summer vacation trips, never managed to see it all.