Mackinac Island with Kids

and our dog- Dixie Bell!

We visited Mackinac Island towards the end of June and spent 5 days on the island. The weather was exceptional. We typically choose more remote vacations and camping experiences, so I was worried that Mackinac would be too touristy for us. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mackinac Island is absolutely an exception. We loved it! The fact that there are no cars made the entire experience fascinating for us.

Our past year had been extremely busy and stressful so going to an island with no cars was the perfect way to unwind. Our family walked or biked everywhere. That one thing changed the pace of our entire trip. It forces you to slow down.

kids on mackinac island water — Beautiful blue water

How We Got There

We drove. We are a driving family and tend to take long road trips to turn the entire vacation into an adventure. For this trip, we spent some time in South Dakota and visited Mount Rushmore. Ultimately, we drove to St. Ignace, Michigan and took Shepler’s Ferry over to Mackinac. Our truck stayed in the Shepler’s ferry lot- remember no cars on the island (they do have fire trucks and ambulances in case of an emergency). They make it very easy on you- just pull up to the ticket area, pick up your tickets at the walk-up window, they unload and label all your luggage, and then you park your vehicle. You walk onto the ferry with whatever personal items you want. Our luggage was unloaded and delivered directly to our hotel room on Mackinac Island- awesome! Our tickets for the ferry were included with our hotel package.

Where We Stayed

If you choose to take a dog to Mackinac Island, your hotel and restaurant choices will be limited. We stayed at Mission Point. I could not find many hotels on the island that were both kid and pet-friendly. Mission Point met both those requirements. The hotel is lovely and the setting is idyllic. The green lawn overlooking the water with white Adirondack chairs- it’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The staff were all extremely kind and helpful.

Below I’ve listed some of the restaurants that we found that were dog-friendly. This is important to know before going because even some of the restaurants with outdoor seating would not allow our dog. All of the stores (except the fudge shops) allowed us to carry her inside while we shopped. Mission Point provides a dog sitting service for a fee if you have an activity planned that does not allow you to take your pooch.

Please note: I mention this bit of information about dogs for people who are looking at traveling to Mackinac with their pet. I am not one that believes everyone should allow dogs to go everywhere. We always ask permission to bring our dog anywhere and respect the wishes of the establishment.

What We Did

Here is a list of all the activities we did (there are many others but we were aiming for a very relaxed trip):

Sitting and watching the horses- Getting a homemade ice cream every evening and just sitting downtown watching the island function with horses was a highlight! We watched horses unloading UPS boxes from the ferry, horses delivering beer and liquor to restaurants, horse taxis, horses loaded down with roofing materials for a house that was being built. Horses are literally used for everything and we loved watching them back huge loads into narrow alleys or deliver Amazon Prime boxes to local houses. There are even people on bikes that spend their days cleaning up after the horses! As a horse loving family, we loved seeing these beautiful creatures working. Sitting and discussing the logistics of life if we could only use horses was fun and really got our kids thinking. Our daughter is sold on the idea of riding horses everywhere!

Biking- We biked around town and did the 8.2-mile paved loop around the island twice. Our 7-year-old son LOVED getting to bike everywhere. The loop around the island is a must do. It is a gorgeous ride and easy enough for the entire family. People loved to see our little Dixie Bell riding in a bike basket. If you plan on taking your small dog I suggest bringing your own basket or renting a child carrier. We rented one of the basic metal baskets and lined it with a sarong and sweatshirt we had. This worked because Dixie is so tiny (about 5 lbs) but it was not ideal. We have a lovely padded basket that our daughter uses at home that we were definitely wishing we had. Also, renting bikes is expensive if you are going for an extended amount of time I would suggest taking your own bikes.
Double (or tandem) Bikes- It was fun to rent a double bike for an afternoon. Give it a try! It’s harder than it looks! We called this the ultimate mother-daughter challenge and we still laugh about the experience.

Picnics- We would often pick up lunch from the supermarket and then bike to have a picnic lunch in Mackinac Island State Park. We also packed a picnic lunch for our trips around the island. So fun!
Arch Rock- A quick, scenic stop along the island’s 8.2-mile bike loop.
The Butterfly House- There is a small, quaint butterfly house on the island. It was fun to walk through and our kids enjoyed it. Once you have a pass you can go as many times as you want while you are on the island. One of us sat outside with the dog and you would not believe the number of people who wanted Dixie Bell’s photo. They found it so funny to see a Papillon (French for butterfly) sitting on a butterfly bench outside of a butterfly house! I find traveling with a dog always opens up conversations and meeting people. Dixie was like a little celebrity on the island and by the end of the week we would here things like, “Oh, there’s Dixie!”

Driving a horse carriage- You can actually rent and drive a horse carriage on your own! We reserved our trip one day ahead of time through Jack’s Livery Stable. There are multiple routes that you can choose from but you are not allowed to take the carriages downtown. I don’t think anyone driving a carriage for the first time would even want to attempt going through the craziness of downtown! We took the longest route and it was a great way to see different parts of the island. Despite not going downtown you still have bicyclists, walkers, other tour companies, and horse taxis to navigate which keeps you on your toes. We had a big beautiful horse named Rocket and he took great care of us.

The Secret Garden- A private home has set up a Secret Garden with items to find hidden in their yard. We found this by chance when we were walking back to downtown after our horse carriage rental. Basically, you stand at the fence and search for 10 items in the beautifully landscaped yard. They are not easy to find! Our son loved this real-life Seek & Find activity and we could not leave until all 10 items had been located. It’s the little things like this that make Mackinac special.
Homes & Lawns- Just walking or biking around to look at the historic homes is a treat. It seemed like every single home had an impeccable, well-manicured yard. Coming from the southwest it was fun to see all the different trees and flowers.
Golf on the Greens of Mackinac- This is a small golf course overlooking the water. We are not a big golfing family but this was a super fun way to spend an evening. Our kids had a blast. Our dog was allowed to go with us. Beautiful scenery and a great little course to introduce your kids to golf.
Homemade Fudge- Each day we would spend time taste testing fudge at the various fudge shops. We eventually narrowed down our favorites to 2 shops and on our last day we purchased fudge from those shops. Our kids loved this little taste testing ritual.

Homemade Ice Cream- As I said above we got ice cream almost every single day and we would sit on a bench downtown to watch the town at work.
Horseback riding- Our daughter went riding with a woman we met on the island who did horseback lessons. This was a chance meeting- one of those little gifts of traveling. If you want to go riding as a family, Jack’s Livery Stable provides horse rentals for horseback riding.
Swimming- We swam at the Mission Point pool every day.
The Mission Point Lawn- Spending an evening sitting in the Adirondack chairs overlooking the water while our kids played on the lawn was so relaxing and the perfect spot for kite flying!

Biking on Mackinac Island with kid and dog

Where We Ate

We were limited to outdoor dining since we had our little Papillon with us. Some places we found that would allow our dog were:

Bistro on the Greens- Beautiful setting next to the water and great food. We ate here a few times.
Round Island Bar & Grill- Located at Mission Point with a large deck overlooking the Mission Point lawn.
Carriage House at Hotel Iroquois- Again beautiful setting on the water and right in the downtown area.
Moomer’s Homemade Ice Cream Shop- This was our favorite ice cream place on the island. We also frequently went here for breakfast- they had delicious crepes (both sweet and savory). We could not take our dog inside but they have benches out front so we would just get our order to go and sit outside to eat.
Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor (By the Grand Hotel)- Fun to get ice cream and sit on the porch to view the Grand Hotel. Again, you can’t take your dog inside but they have benches out front.

My one and only teeny, tiny complaint

My only issue with Mission Point was the pool- it was not heated (kind of important considering how far North you are), it was often very busy (as in we typically could not find enough chairs for our family of 4), and the decking really needed re-surfaced. My kids didn’t mind at all and we went to the pool every day. So this is not a deal breaker, just something to be aware of. For the price, I expected a larger, heated pool. Despite this flaw, we would go back to Mission Point in an instant.

We loved Mackinac Island! It was the perfect mix of relaxation and activities. It had horses for our daughter and bikes for our son- what more could you ask for?