Every Labor Day weekend since 1959, hordes of people from all over Michigan flock to Mackinaw City to take part in the Mackinaw Bridge Walk. Each year, it is estimated between 25,000 to as many as 60,000 people participate.
Beginning in 2018, the format of the walk was changed when the event authorities discontinued the use of shuttle buses to transport walkers back across the bridge after traversing it. Now, walkers can trek to the halfway point, turn around and walk back to the starting line. For those who wish to walk the entire, nearly five mile span, ferries are still available to transport walkers across Lake Huron. The extremely ambitious are free to walk the entire span, then walk back across, completing a full 10 miles.
Since we were staying in the area, we figured we couldn’t miss out on such an iconic event. The campground we were staying and work camping at, Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping, provided free shuttles to and from the bridge walk.
For such a massive event, the Mackinaw Bridge Authority closes the bridge to all vehicle traffic from 6 am until noon. Walkers are allowed to participate between 7 am and 11:30 am.
We knew it was going to be crowded, so we arose at 5 am and caught an early shuttle, arriving near the starting line before sunrise. Already, throngs of walkers of all ages and sizes crowded along the streets leading up to and surrounding the bridge.
We admittedly felt like cattle waiting to be herded along, as everyone packed in shoulder to shoulder in anticipation of the start. It was a chilly morning and everyone was anxious to get moving. We figured, once the bridge walk officially began, the crowd would thin out and we would all have a little more breathing room.
Boy, were we wrong!
I can’t say we ever really walked at anything more than a quick shuffle due to the size of the crowd. On the upside, it gave us plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, take photographs and catch video of our trek across the Mighty Mac.
The Mackinaw Bridge is the third longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere, with 48,000 miles of cable suspending her 200 feet above the Straits of Mackinaw. It’s the point where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron converge, and the gateway to Michigan’s storied Upper Peninsula.
When you’re walking across the bridge, you can definitely tell where the suspended portion of it begins. Suddenly everyone was staggering back and forth, almost doing a “drunk walk.” It was amazing to us that, as massive and sturdy as the Mackinaw Bridge is, we could actually feel it swaying beneath our feet! (This didn’t inspire much confidence in our plan to drive our entire rig over the bridge when we left Michigan).
We chose to walk to the halfway point, then turn around and return to our point of origin. All in all, our five mile walk took about three hours once we got started, mainly due to the crowds that kept our pace very slow. At the finish line there was a lot of fanfare, with an announcer calling out walkers’ home towns over a PA system. Each walker was given a certificate of completion upon crossing the finish line.
Amazingly, this event was entirely free for participants. The Mackinaw Bridge Authority foots the bill, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, each year. Keep in mind I originally come from California, where they practically charge you to breathe, so the idea of a free event was surprising to me.
In recent years, the Mackinaw Bridge Authority has been tightening its budget and paring back events using the bridge. Luckily, for now, this long-standing tradition has been allowed to remain. We are so glad we leaped at the opportunity to participate.
About two weeks after the bridge walk, the towns of Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, which bookend the Mackinaw Bridge, host a massive semi show. The trucks stage in St. Ignace, and on Saturday night, parade in all their glory over the bridge and through downtown Mackinaw City. Since we’re big rig aficionados, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see this spectacular event. We parked our own semi in town, right along the parade route. It made a perfect viewing platform, and we were so impressed with the time and effort each driver put into making sure his or her truck looked its best for this show.
The trucks began their parade through town around 7 pm and were finally winding things up around 10 pm. Most were decked out in lights, and of course the sound of their horns reverberated up and down the street. It truly was one of the most unique events we’ve been to, and it attracted a surprisingly large crowd.
With the passing of Labor Day and the end of the season approaching rapidly, it was time to say goodbye the place that had served as such a wonderful home to us for the summer.
Up next time: We hitch up and head west towards Montana.
