Experience Michigan Trails Week in the Straits of Mackinac
A new season is upon us and throughout the Straits of Mackinac area, acres of woodlands surround scenic trails ideal for exploring during the fall color tour season—especially during Michigan Trails Week, September 22-29. Michigan Trails Week concludes on National Public Lands Day, a day for volunteer-led efforts to beautiful and build awareness about the value and […]
Mackinaw City at the Heart of Northern Michigan Rum Running
The 110-foot USRC Mackinac, later USCGC Mackinac, was built in Baltimore, MD in 1903. It was stationed in Sault Ste. Marie and served the United States Revenue Cutter Service from 1903 to 1915 and in the United States Coast Guard from 1915 to 1917 and again from 1919 to 1939, patrolling the Straits of Mackinac […]
History Carved in Wood
Scattered around Mackinaw City are several wooden sculptures carved by local resident Jerry Prior, each depicting a person of historical importance in town. Prior started wood sculpting in 1989, shortly after he retired from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), where he worked as a road designer. His sculptures, which are part of the Mackinac […]
The Everything You Need to Know About the 61st Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk
The Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce has shared the following information about this year’s Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk…on Monday, September 3. It’s true, there are big changes in the event this year. While the loss of busing service is notable, this may ultimately be a happy change for participants. Get up and get out […]
Celebrate National Lighthouse Day in the Straits of Mackinac
By Dianna Stampfler Michigan has more lighthouse than any other state (at nearly 120) and the Straits area is home to more than a dozen of these historic navigational aids. You’re invited to celebrate National Lighthouse Day (August 7) in the heart of the Great Lakes. I first started researching Michigan’s lighthouses in 1997 when I worked […]
Celebrate National Picnic Month at these Mackinaw City Parks!
Have you heard? July is National Picnic Month…and Mackinaw City is the perfect place to celebrate along the shores of the Straits of Mackinac! According to DaysOfTheYear.com, “The word ‘picnic’ is thought to have first been used by Tony Willis in 1692, and from that point forward everyone from the working class to the upper […]
Setting Sail for the Straits of Mackinac
Each summer, hundreds of magnificent sailboats (aka yachts) race their way north through the Great Lakes to the Straits of Mackinac, converging on Mackinac Island in two of the most esteemed freshwater sailing competitions in the world. One race starts in Chicago, the other in Port Huron, held in consecutive weeks (alternating order each year). […]
Discovering Michigan’s Majestic Waterfalls
By definition, a waterfall is “a perpendicular or very steep descent of the water of a stream” or “a place where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops in the course of a stream or river.” Many people think you need to be in the western United States to see […]
Mackinac State Historic Parks Celebrates 60 Years as America’s Longest-Running Archaeological Dig
Mackinac State Historic Parks archaeological program began its 60th consecutive season of work at Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City earlier this summer. In 1959, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission contracted with Michigan State University to carry out a season of excavation, which has continued every summer since, turning into one of the longest ongoing archaeological digs in […]
Dive In…To the Straits of Mackinac
By Dan Friedhoff, Secretary – Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve Association Just off the shores of Mackinaw City lie a multitude of shipwrecks that are frequently explored during the summer months by scuba divers. The Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve is known as one of the best spots for shipwreck diving in the Great Lakes. From pre-Civil […]