Mackinaw island

Ferry to the island. No cars. Horse poo. Neat to spend a day walking around looking at stuff.

Lots. Carriage rides, fudge shops, resturants, and the Grand Hotel and the museum at Mackinaw City plus the bridge Nice area in the summer. Not so nice (unless you are a hunter or snowmobiler in the winter.

No vehicles allowed though. You have to take the ferry over.

Like other have said. Take a bike (the ferry accepts them) or rent one on the island. Lot of touristy stuff in town. The horse sh*t smell is overwhelming. Ride the bikes around the island, the smell get's better away from town. There's a small casino on the mainland nearby that allows free camping. We camped at Wilderness state park about 10 miles from the ferry. This is a summer place, I don't know about winter.

We were there around the end of September. Stayed at Mackinaw Mill Campground, which was pretty nice. There is a free shuttle to the Star Line Ferry. It was easy and convenient. I was a little disappointed in Mackinac Island. It's basically a tourist trap type area--lots of shops selling stuff nobody really needs, lots of fudge shops, etc. We didn't find the horse poop bothersome, although it did take a few minutes to get used to seeing piles in the middle of the streets. It was interesting enough that I'm glad we went. We also rode up to Sault Ste. Marie to see the locks. We found that very interesting.

You can tour the Icebreaker Mackinaw in Mackinaw City, Sault Ste Marie for the Soo Locks, Tahquamenon Falls, the ford in Mackinaw City, Mama Mia’s pizza which is a museum of the building of the bridge. If you go down by Traverse City, there is the Sleeping Bear Dunes with lots to see there, and Interlochin fine arts camp. In the Upper Peninsula, at Munising is the Pictured Rocks national lakeshore. There is a boat tour or you can rent a pontoon boat and go by yourself. Ishpeming has the yooper’s tourist trap. Marquette is nice to visit with iron ore loading docks. Copper Harbor area has copper mines. Fayette is an abandoned mining town. Porcupine mountains has the lake of the clouds. If coming from the south, Dearborn has the Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village. Frankenmuth is a German themed town with Bronners Christmas store. Lots to do in Michigan.

Nice to visit I guess. I personally cannot stand the ****/piss smell and I worked a lot of farms in my youth. There is the same tourist stuff as other towns, a ton of fudge and popcorn shops. The best part of the area is the cool bridge to drive over....

Mackinaw Island is one of those things some love and some don’t. We spent about half a day there. Interesting, but not enough I have any reason to go back.

Two years ago we spent 5 days there and were busy every day. There is a lot on the island to see as far as history goes. Yes there is the tourist trap stuff but its very easy to spend a full day on the island. Spend a day at Sault Ste Marie locks. Again much history, take the boat tour through the locks. When there you have to try (eat) a Pasty the area is famous for them.

It's our favorite place to bike which we would do every couple of years from Chicago. The challenge, in addition to the nine mile circle tour, is to find someplace for food that you can afford.
If you go be sure to watch the building of the bridge on the second floor of Mama Mia's pizza restaurant AND have at least one Pasty for lunch or dinner.
Incidentally, the island is named Mackinac, as is the bridge, but pronounced Mackinaw. It has something to do with the shift in control between France and England. I think we took over sometime after the war of 1812.
Check out how an island doctor learned so much about our digestive system after a troop was shot in the stomach.
Almost forgot. Before you go you might want to rent the movie `Somewhere in time' with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour that used the Grand Hotel as a setting.
Also check out this webcam of the main street where the snowmobiles are lined up where normally bikes would be: http://www.hornsbar.com/webcamlarge.htm

Mich upnorth wrote:
You can tour the Icebreaker Mackinaw in Mackinaw City, Sault Ste Marie for the Soo Locks, Tahquamenon Falls, the ford in Mackinaw City, Mama Mia’s pizza which is a museum of the building of the bridge. If you go down by Traverse City, there is the Sleeping Bear Dunes with lots to see there, and Interlochin fine arts camp. In the Upper Peninsula, at Munising is the Pictured Rocks national lakeshore. There is a boat tour or you can rent a pontoon boat and go by yourself. Ishpeming has the yooper’s tourist trap. Marquette is nice to visit with iron ore loading docks. Copper Harbor area has copper mines. Fayette is an abandoned mining town. Porcupine mountains has the lake of the clouds. If coming from the south, Dearborn has the Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village. Frankenmuth is a German themed town with Bronners Christmas store. Lots to do in Michigan.

This is what we did this fall, great trip.