Colonial Michilimackinac

Came here with my parents (My dad and I are history lovers, my mom not so much and got bored after a little bit) the place blew my expectations out of the water!!! As soon as you walk into the wooden gates you are truly taking a step back in time. You could spend a few hours or all day. The Reenactors were wonderful, and full of interesting facts. In the basement of one of the buildings they have tons of artifacts they have found during their excavations. This place really is a must for people who love history!

This must be one of the best tourist attractions in Mackinaw City. It’s an old fort and there’s plenty to see and it’s in good shape. They have a guided tour related to the food they ate at the fort and a demo and a long talk about the uniforms and the muskots they use and they also shoot with the muskot a couple of times.
They also have cannons and other things to see. It looks like they also shoot the cannons sometimes but they didn’t at the specific timeslot while we were there.
They have plenty of restrooms and they also have a playground nearby the fort.
The store you have to go through to be able to enter the fort area have a lot of interesting books and souvenirs.
If you plan to go to any other national parks nearby, you may want to get the $ 75 pass.

Came here just before close on a Saturday so we didn’t get to experience a lot of the interactive stuff that goes on earlier in the day but really enjoyed it none the less. It’s a recreation of an 18^th-​century fort and fur trading village and rebuilt through maps/​documents and +50 years of archaeological excavations (including some that are still ongoing – we saw a dig site!). Lots of history to be found here from living quarters, a church, the fort old well, cooking reenactments (they bake A LOT of bread in the outdoor fort bread oven), working gardens, cannon and musket demos, and more. Also lots of neat artifacts to look at and learn from.
Also staff is SUPER nice. From the costumed folks in the fort to the ticket counter gals. Dog friendly and didn’t bat an eye when we brought him up to the ticket counter. We still had to pay full price an hour before close but our ticket was also good for entry the next day. We didn’t make it back there but I still thought it was a nice offer.

Had a very nice time at this historical place. Staff was very friendly and knowledgeable about the place. The only downside was I did not stay long enough to sample some of the items that they were cooking.

I remember coming here as a 5^th grader, and did not enjoy Colonial Michilimackinac at all. However, in August 2012, I took my two young boys and history-​buff husband here and had a good time. My kids loved it – really!
The highlight was watching the shooting of the cannon and flintlock muskets. They also enjoyed taking with the reenactors at each post. The French voyageur /​fur trader out by his canoe was great with kids and included them in all kinds of fun adventures.
There is a nice playground on site, the Kids’ Rendezvous Interpretive Playground, that has some great photo opportunities. The Voyager Café (cash only) serves a light lunch, snack and drinks. It is near the playground and has picnic tables.
Mackinaw is not anything like it used to, but Colonial Michilimackinac is even better than ever. It’s open May — October.

Great stop for a history lesson in MI. Demonstrations and reenactments add to the appeal of this historic hot spot. It is quite busy but stay for the cannon firing. You will be glad you did. A lot of hands-​on sites as well as the archeaologicists still actively digging up more history. A tad on the pricey side for admission but the gift shop does have a lot of great goodies to remember your visit. Bring a camera– you are gonna need it.

Really enjoyed this place. Some cool demonstrations and re-​enactments. I also thought that it was cool that this is still an active archeaological dig site. Great interactive experience and also some pretty good views of the bridge and the straits.

You made it! So get out and stretch your legs — you will be glad you did. Restrooms and a visitor center are onsite as well as some history on one of the oldest ongoing archeological projects.
There are 14 original buildings on site as well. Pretty cool place!