Although Mackinac Island is visited by hundreds of thousands of people a year, only a tiny faction of 1% visit Mackinac Island in Winter. Arnold Transit offers limited scheduled ferry service until the ice stops them from running (usually sometime in early in mid January).  There may be a few weeks during the winter when it is possible to get to Mackinac Island from St. Ignace by crossing the ice on skis or snowmobile. But the St. Ignace "ice bridge" is not sanctioned by the Coast Guard or the Mackinac County Sheriff's Department, and e very few years someone is lost attempting the crossing. The best way to get to Mackinac Island in the winter is Great Lakes Air, operating out of the Mackinac County Airport in St. Ignace, Michigan. Great Lakes Air has three 5 passenger airplanes that are available for charter ($25 per adult, with two person minimum), or by 5 daily scheduled flights (only during the weeks when ferries are not running) for $22 which way. No reservations are necessary for the scheduled flights, but you better arrive early, because they may be in the air by the time they are officially scheduled to depart. The following trip report and photos are from Keith Stokes' winter day trip to Mackinac Island on March 29, 2008. Keith's other trips in the United States and occasionally around the world are available here.

Mackinaw in winter Mackinac Island Mackinac lighthouses

This Saturday was forecast to be sunny with a high of about 37 degrees and light winds - just about perfect for this time of year. I drove over the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinac City about 9:30 AM. The Straits of Mackinac was beautiful with blue skies, ice cover and bright sunlight. As I approached the Mackinac County Airport, I called the taxi service operated by Mackinac Island Carriage Tours, to arrange for them to meet my flight.

Great Lakes Air operates out of a small modern building where they also provide service to other aircraft passing through the Straits area. When I arrived about 25 minutes before the 10AM flight, a couple of people were already waiting for the flight. I paid for a round trip ($44). They never asked my name or said anything about restrictions on what items could be transported on the plane.

One more person arrived for the flight, and we were led out to the single engine Piper Cherokee Six. It took only a couple of minutes for us to board, and we were in the air before 10AM. The flight to Mackinac Island is very short. If you know where to look, the end of one runway can be seen from the end of the other. But I did have time to snap a few quick pictures of the Mackinac Bridge in the distance.

At the smaller Mackinac Island airport, it was about 10 minutes before the horse drawn taxi arrived. I was the only passenger, and sat next to the driver. He has lived on the Island all of his life, and I enjoyed talking about Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City, and people that we both knew. His was the only taxi operating on this day.

The trip into town was on snow and ice packed roads that we shared with snowmobiles. The horses were obviously very used to the snowmobiles. The road is starting to get sloppy with the spring thaw and will only get worse over the next few weeks. The fare between the airport and downtown Mackinac Island is $6.50 with a 2 fare minimum, sp I had to pay $13. It took about 10 minute to travel the mile and a half to downtown.

Getting out of the taxi, I immediately fell on the slippery ice. After picking my self up, I made my way to a step where I could sit down and pull rubbers over my shoes. Even with the much better traction of the slip-ons, I fell a couple of more times during my visit.