98 - Helpful Area Information

VISITOR INFORMATION
Call, stop by, or visit the website of the helpful St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce, (800) 970-8717 or its website. The office is at 560 N. State next to the Museum of Ojibwa Culture and Marquette Mission Park. Summer hours are Mon-Fri 9-5 from June thru Aug, and also Saturday 10-3 in July and August. Off-season hours from Nov. thru April usually Mon-Fri 10-3….Mike Lilliquist and his helpful crew at the Michigan Welcome Center just north of the Mackinac Bridge are amazingly knowledgeable about the area and the Upper Peninsula. The center has recreation handouts for the Hiawatha National Forest and often has stacks of free U.P. phone books. Displays include a big model of the Mackinac Bridge, three snowy owls, a majestic timber wolf, and a bearskin. The 24-hour lobby has restrooms and a weather station with video monitor. Open at least 5 days a week. (906) 643-6979. . . . For EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA sights and recreational highlights, including birding, paddling, bicycling and more, see The Great Waters.

PUBLIC LAND: The Michigan Welcome Center at the St. Ignace side of the Mackinac Bridge (see above) stocks a complete array of handouts about Hiawatha National Forest recreational opportunities. The national forest offers advice and a detailed map (about $6) at its beautiful office (open weekdays 8-4:30) on the north side of U.S. 2, 6 miles west of the bridge. A picnic area is by the native plants garden. (906) 643-7900….A few choice places in Mackinac County are Michigan state forest land. The nearest DNR field office is on U.S. 2 East in Naubinway. (906) 477-6048. Open weekdays, usually 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

GOLF: St. Ignace Golf & Country Club (906-843-8071). 18 holes. Some overlook the Straits. W223 U.S. Hwy 2 West. The spiffy Hiawatha Sportsman's Club in Naubinway has a pleasant 9-hole course and rents cabins to visitors.

CASINO: Kewadin Shores Casino, 3039 Mackinac Trail, about 5 miles north of St. Ignace near Castle Rock. (800) 639-2316. 24/7. Over 800 slots and video poker machines, poker room, 22 table games. Woodsy great room with log rafters, beautifully detailed, with view of Lake Huron (also from patio). Restaurant, snack bar, 80-room Kewadin Shores Hotel. Shuttles from St. Ignace lodgings.

EVENTS
See the "Events" on the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce website for a complete schedule. Or call (800) 338-6660 for details. Every Monday from June through August except July 4 there's a Sunset Cruise beneath the Mackinac Bridge. Thursdays at 7 the free Bayside Live! concert series at the marina books top Michigan musicians, often folk-flavored with a regional slant, always family-friendly.
St. Ignace hosts three big car shows. The 4th weekend in Junen brings the St. Ignace Car Show , one of the nation's largest all-make, all-model shows with 3,000 cars. The previous weekend, Antiques on the Bay features original and restored classic and antique autos at least 25 years old. . . . On the third weekend in September semi trucks with custom art, light displays, and more come to town for the Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show. . . The Labor Day Bridge Walk is a Michigan tradition. Up to 65,000 walkers join the governor and other elected officials walking (or running, in the case of Gov. Jennifer Granholm) the five miles from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City. It's the only day pedestrians are allowed on the bridge. Walkers can begin at 7 a.m. No one allowed to start after 11 a.m. Get details from www.mackinacbridge.org, or call Mackinac Bridge Authority (906-643-7600) . . . The car show and Bridge Walk fill all rooms and require advance planning or day trips from a distance. . . . February now brings two events of pond hockey and WISSA ice sailing, akin to windsurfing, with big foil wings….In February, Naubinway, home of the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum, hosts the Antique and Vintage Snowmobile Museum Annual.

HARBORS with transient dockage
In St. Ignace (906-643-8131; off-season 643-6876; lat. 45° 51' 58"N, long. 84° 43' 06" W) with showers. In Naubinway the Garfield Twp. Marina (lat. 46° 05' 12" N, long. 85° 26' 25" W) with showers, launch ramp.

PICNIC PROVISIONS and PLACES
• The big 24-hour Glen's supermarket on U.S. 2 as you come into St. Ignace is the easiest and best bet for deli foods plus meats. (906) 643-9636. It's right near the excellent Mackinac Fish Market with fresh and smoked fish, packed for travel at no extra cost. Smoked whitefish spread ($4.50 for an 8 oz.container) or sausage (regular or cajun, $4.50/12 oz.) makes the simplest picnic elegant. Fish sausage can be eaten without cooking. 109 Elliot off Ferry, next to Family Dollar. Open daily 8:30-6 daily in summer. 643-7535. For mail order: msfishcompany.com, or (231) 933-8222. . . . . At the other end of town, across from Best Western Harbour Pointe at 810 N. State, Manley's Fish Market has been famous for years. A tree shades two picnic tables. Manley's sells fresh and smoked fish, whitefish spread, beef jerky, and more. Open 8 to 8 in summer, 8-4 or so through hunting season.
• Picnic spots abound in town and along U.S. 2. When the wind is out of the west, parks in town stay warm. In St. Ignace(see map) picnic spots are along the boardwalk off State Street, the marina (across from Bay Pharmacy) and Bayside Park form a hub of waterfront activities at the south end of downtown. At the boardwalk's north end, flowery Kiwanis Park and beach have picnic tables and a gazebo. It's on N. State across from Marquette Mission Park. Dock Park has picnic tables looking out onto Mackinac Island's west shore. From Glen's, take Ferry Lane down to the park.
• BeautifulBridgeview Park gives a good view looking up at the bridge. From U.S. 2 just west of the Bridge, take Boulevard Drive straight down to the lakeside park. There are picnic gazebos and an enclosed pavilion with restrooms and history displays,
• The Mystery Spot off U.S. 2, four miles west of the bridge, has picnic tables by its minigolf course.
• The Hiawatha National Forest office on U.S. 2 six miles west of the Mackinac Bridge has picnic tables by its pretty garden of native plants.
• Gros Cap Scenic Overlook is 6.3 miles west of the bridge, half a mile east of Cheeseman Rd. Its blufftop picnic spot looks down at St. Helena Island and lighthouse and out across Lake Michigan to Waugoshance Point. Beautiful when the sun is low. But overflowing trash cans are often a distraction. As a random act of kindness, take a trash bag and pick some up!
• Along Lake Michigan and U.S. 2 between the Bridge and Naubinway, many picnic areas are noted on the Michigan state highway map. Michigan Department of Transportation (M-DOT), consistently funded by the gas tax even when state parks go begging, has picnic tables in all M-DOT's well maintained little roadside parklets. Here some have lake access for swimming. Green outlined triangles on the map are for "scenic turnouts" with no toilets. Red outlined triangles are for "roadside parks" (denoting vault toilets). Black filled triangles are for "safety rest areas" with running water and flush toilets. Roadside parks are on either end of the spectacular Cut River Bridge just east of Epoufette — a favorite place for a break from driving. Stairways go down throught the treetops to a rivermouth beach.
• All national forest campgrounds (the solid green tree-triangles on state maps) have picnic areas and no entrance fees. Beautiful picnic areas with swimming are at the Hiawatha National Forest's Lake Michigan Beach (beautiful big trees and beach, on U.S. 2 between St. Ignace and Brevort, six miles west of Brevoort Lake Rd., $5 day use fee ) and Brevoort Lake (warmer swimming, no highway noise. 20 miles west of St. Ignace off U.S. 2 and Brevoort Camp Rd./FH 3108).

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