Mackinac Island, MI is an island in Michigan. Yes, there is an island in Michigan! It sits in Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes, and the only way to get to the Mackinac Island (pronounced Mak-in-aw) is by passenger ferry. There are no bridges to the island, and no motorized vehicles on the entire island. Everyone and everything is transported by horse-drawn carriage, bicycle or on foot.
Visiting Mackinac Island is like going back to a simpler time of life. The pace is slower, the scenery is brighter and the people aren’t stressed. Mackinac Island, MI is an island filled with things to do whether you visit for a day or spend a few nights.
Here are the five best Mackinac Island things to do.
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Horse-drawn carriage tour on Mackinac Island, Michigan; Courtesy of Courtney Elko
Mackinac Island Things To Do: Explore the Island on a Horse-Drawn Carriage Tour
When you disembark the ferry upon arrival at Mackinac Island, everyone walks out on to Main Street and stops abruptly due to crowds (human and horse), and awe. It creates quite a bottleneck of chaos so do your part and keep walking down Main Street to the right, out of the way of the ferry congestion, and head to the Mackinac Island Carriage Tours ticket desk.
The Mackinac Island Carriage Tours is the perfect place to begin your island adventure. The sightseeing carriage tour allows you to see all the Mackinac hotspots without having to use your own horsepower of walking or riding a bike. On the Sightseeing Tour, which you can include with the online purchase of your Shepler’s Ferry ticket, is somewhat of a hop-on, hop-off tour. It makes stops at Surrey Hill Museum and butterfly conservatory (where you can disembark and explore or continue on the carriage tour), the top of the scenic Arch Rock where you can get off the carriage for a quick (very quick if there’s a line!) photo-op, the Grand Hotel and Fort Mackinac, where you can pay an additional cost and go explore inside the Fort. The carriage tour guides are very informative and entertaining. They provide tons of history, knowledge and fun facts while entertaining on the almost two-hour tour.
You can complete the entire route of the horse-drawn carriage tour or disembark at Fort Mackinac, which from there is just a short walk back to town. Mackinac Island Carriage Tours also offer private tours and carriage taxi service.
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Entrance to Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, Michigan; Courtesy of Courtney Elko
Mackinac Island Things To Do: Visit Fort Mackinac
Fort Mackinac sits on a perch above downtown Mackinac Island. It was constructed by the British during the American Revolutionary War so they could control the waters there until the late 1700s. The British eventually relinquished control of the fort to the Americans and the American Army occupied the fort during the War of 1812. Fort Mackinac closed for military use in 1895 and became part of the second U.S. national park (behind Yellowstone), and eventually came to be known as Mackinac Island State Park, Michigan’s first state park.
Fort Mackinac offers the most beautiful views of the downtown area below and Lake Huron. The scenes below the fort walls seems crisper and brighter from high above. There are several fort buildings to explore on your own inside, that offer a look back at history. Check the schedule for what daily reenactments may be taking place, too. The Fort Mackinac Tea Room may be the restaurant with the best view on the entire island. The Tea Room, open for lunch only, is owned and operated by the Grand Hotel so the prices reflect that, but it is a great place to grab a slice of pie and a cold beverage before continuing on with your island journeys. The views from the Tea Room alone are worth that slice of pie!
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The world’s longest porch at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI; Courtesy of Courtney Elko
Mackinac Island Things To Do: Tour the Grandeur of the Grand Hotel
The historic Grand Hotel, open May through October, is not to be missed during a visit to Mackinac Island. If you have the privilege of being able to stay at the Grand Hotel, soak in every ounce of the old-school glamour. But if you are only visiting the island for the day or you are staying elsewhere on Mackinac Island, you can still explore the inside of the Grand Hotel.
There is a $10 per person fee to enter the property, and there is staff surrounding the front entranceway who will happily direct you to where you can pay the fee and gain a little more knowledge. You can also make a reservation for one of the hotel’s legendary meals, which gives you access to the property as well (fees are much higher than $10 however). Non-hotel guests are welcome to book a reservation for breakfast, lunch or dinner at the non-hotel guest price, and keep in mind dinner attire requires a tie and jacket for men and skirt or dress for women.
The Grand Hotel, which opened in 1887, took only 93 days to construct! 93 DAYS! There was a huge financial bonus to the builders if they completed the hotel in 90 days. They missed the deadline by just three days and didn’t receive the extra compensation. This historic hotel is not the oldest on the island but it does have the longest front porch in the world at 600 feet in length.
The porch alone at the Grand Hotel is reason enough to visit for an hour or two, or even stay for a night or two. It is lined with wooden rocking chairs that are screaming for you to take a seat, relax and de-stress while you look out at Lake Huron below and listen to the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages arriving with new guests.
The interior decor of this fabulous hotel was at the hands of interior designer, Carleton Varney, who was a protege of legendary interior designer Dorothy Draper. Draper designed The Greenbrier hotel in West Virginia, another one I’m dying to visit! As soon as you walk into the grand lobby you’re transported to another decade (century even!). It’s glamorous, it’s over-the-top and beautiful. They offer afternoon tea in the main lobby, and happy hour from the Cupola Bar, high in the sky. There is an ice cream shop and plenty of shops to find your perfect Grand Hotel souvenir.
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Bike ride around Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island Things To Do: Bike the Perimeter of the Island
Highway M-185 on Mackinac Island is the only paved highway in the U.S. where vehicles are not permitted. Instead, it’s filled with bicycles and some horses too. Biking around Mackinac Island is a must when visiting, especially if you have more than one day to explore. The route is 8.2 miles long and goes all the way around the island. There are plenty of places to pull over and take photos, go for a swim in the cool, clear waters of Lake Huron if you like and enjoy the scenic views as you pedal by. The paved road is easy to maneuver and there are not many hills or inclines. Kids and unhealthy folks (like myself) could easily complete the 8.2 miles.
There are several bike rental companies on the island or you are welcome to bring your own bike over on the ferry. Bikes can be rented by the hour or the day or longer. Tandem bikes, helmets and bike trailers for kids and pets are also available for rent.
As you bike along you will see the Arch Rock from the bottom (if you take the carriage tour, you will see it from the top). There are more than 200 steps to walk up to the Arch Rock from the bottom. Skip the climb, focus on biking and view the top of the Arch Rock from the carriage tour. You can also stop in for a visit at the Grand Hotel while you bike around and explore the downtown area, which is filled with tons of unique shops, restaurants and fudge. So much fudge! But it doesn’t matter how much fudge you eat when you bike all the way around an island, right!
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Rocking chair porch views of Mackinac Island, MI; Courtesy of Courtney Elko
Mackinac Island Things To Do: Relax on a Rocking Chair
Rocking in a rocking chair was my personal favorite pastime on Mackinac Island. It might be law on the island that every porch, hotel or residence, must have a porch swing, rocking chair or Adirondack chair on it because nearly every porch had one. The rocking chairs on the longest porch in the world at the Grand Hotel were of course the best. After paying your $10 admittance fee to wander the Grand Hotel property, you can take a seat at any number of the rocking chairs that line the 600-foot-long front porch. Servers roam the porch with a cocktail and light fare menu, and while menu items are not cheap, I enjoyed my overpriced cocktail with delight while rocking in my chair and looking out onto Lake Huron.
Most of the Mackinac Island’s hotels, B&B’s and rentals have porch seating but most also only allow guests to sit in them. So if a porch and a rocking chair are important to your Mackinac Island visit, make sure to stay on the island and book accommodations that offer the amenity. Or plan some time visiting the longest porch in the world at the Grand Hotel.
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