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For our trip to Michigan, we decided to bring our tent and camping gear and camp at Wilderness State Park. From Minnesota we drove the scenic route that took us through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan so we could stop and see sights such as Marquette and Miners Castle along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We traveled through the Upper Peninsula down to our campsite at Wilderness State Park, located at the very top of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. This gave us easy access to the ferry to Mackinac Island while also enjoying miles of beaches on the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. 

We really loved Wilderness State Park. The facilities at many campsites were modern and brand new, the location was perfect, and the views and easy access to the lake was unparalleled. The drive to the Mackinac Island ferry is only 20 – 30 mins depending on if you depart from Mackinaw City or St Ignace. We chose to depart from St Ignace even though we were staying in the Lower Peninsula. It was fun driving over the impressive Mackinac Bridge ($4 toll each way) and St Ignace was easy to navigate.

One of the most unique (and charming) things about Mackinac Island is there are no bridges to the islands and no cars allowed – only bicycles and horse carriages on the island. The ferry ride over to Mackinac Island was definitely an unexpected highlight! It was so easy, a lot of fun sitting on the open top, and the views of the Grand Hotel and Mackinac Island as we ferried over were breathtaking! In the evening on our return journey we took the ferry at sunset. Amazing!

By the way, I’d like to mention there is Mackinac Island, Mackinac Bride, Mackinaw City, and others. Whether it is spelled Mackinac with a C or Mackinaw with a W they are pronounced the same way with an “aw” at the end.