I 

hadn’t been on a bicycle for many, many years, which makes no sense as I loved to bike 
when younger (as in 40 years ago), and a bicycle was my main form of transportation 
until graduate school. But here I am, with the front wheel of my bicycle wobbling as I 

push off with my foot. The handlebars wiggle back and forth as I try to find balance.  

Fortunately, it’s a level road, so once moving, I’m not about to brake.  
It’s the perfect pace for Mackinac.

THE MACKINAC APPEAL

Mackinac Island is a small island overlooking 

Lake Huron and the Straits of Mackinac (which 
link Lake Huron to Lake Michigan). Buried in 
snow and ice in winter, this is a seasonal island, 
open May to October. Year-round residents 
number under 700, but that swells in summer to 
about 15,000 tourists on many days. Less than 
four square miles, this heavily wooded and hilly 
island is about 80 percent state park. 

But it is not just natural beauty, the scent 

of evergreens or the crisp lake air that draw 
people back.  

What pulls at the heart is the quiet, slower 

pace, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves and the 
distinct absence of other noises. Since cars 
were banned on Mackinac Island in 1898, the 
main modes of transportation are horse-drawn 
carriages and bikes. It is unique, a world apart. 
Every April brings the arrival, by ferry, of horses 
(500–700 in total.) Horses are the island’s taxi 
service (no Uber here). They also provide carriage 
tours, or can be rented by the hour to explore 
the island. In the middle of the night, horses 
haul massive loads of food and supplies from 
ferry docks to the many hotels and restaurants. 
If a local buys a sofa across the straits, it will be 
delivered to their home by ferry and horses.

And so, the Mackinac traffic operates on different rules. Horses have the right of way 

over pedestrians and cyclists. While there are ample saddle horses to rent, the mainstay 
on Mackinac are draft horses, mighty Percherons, Belgians and Clydesdales. Visitors 
walking downtown are taken back in time as streets fill with horse-drawn carriages and 
cyclists (if you can ignore the teenagers fixated on their cell phones).

WHAT’S IN A  

NAME

Mackinac Island is across the Straits of Mackinac 
from Mackinaw City. It is often said that the name 
had a convoluted evolution, beginning with the 
Chippewa name for Land of the Great Turtle or 
Great Mud Turtle. That interpretation, though 
still commonly told, was rejected by Andrew J. 
Blackbird, a historian and Ottawa leader, in his 1887 
book 

History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians 

of Michigan (available online at various sites, 
including nanations.com). Blackbird says the word 
is the name for a tribe, two members of whom fled 
to the area after their people were almost entirely 
annihilated by the Senecas. The name was adapted 
by the French to Michilimackinac, but with the final 
“ac” pronounced as “aw.” The British heard the 
“aw” sound, which informed their future spelling. 
Michilimackinac was shortened to Mackinac (about 
1780), and Mackinaw City at the northern tip of 
the Michigan mainland was incorporated (along 
with the “aw” ending) in 1857. Today, all spellings 
are pronounced “mack-in-awe,” which sometimes 
takes a conscious effort for new visitors. 

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