Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Walk
Labor Day tends to mark the end of summer for us, so we went on a quick, last hurrah trip to celebrate the occasion. We made sure to end on a high note by crossing off a bucket list item: participate in the Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Walk!
What makes this walk so unique? The Mackinac Bridge doesn’t allow regular foot traffic like the Brooklyn Bridge or the Golden Gate Bridge. Pedestrians are strictly prohibited on the Mighty Mac, so despite it being a walkable distance (~ 5 miles), you can’t ride bikes, run, or walk your dog across it on a regular day. The one sole exception is Labor Day morning, which is how we found ourselves in northern lower Michigan on the (unofficial!) last day of summer.
The weather forecast was a little dicey, with rain expected and winds around 20-30 miles an hour. We stayed up north the night before the event and woke up at 5:00am (yes, you read that right) to be in Mackinaw City before I-75 north closed to traffic at 6:30am. This year, the event organizers closed the bridge in lieu of recent terror attacks where vehicles have been used to target large crowds of people. A bit inconvenient, yes, but we felt safe for the entire walk so overall it was a win.
How our drive to the bridge started:
Once we got into town, we parked as close as we could to Conkling Heritage Park, the bus loading area on the Mackinaw City, MI side of the bridge. This line was l-o-n-g! We got in line at 6:45am and waited over an hour and a half to ride up to St. Ignace.
For $5 a person, we were able to get on a school bus to take us to the Upper Peninsula, where we would start our walk. There were busses from all over the place – Cheboygan, Onaway, Petoskey, Gaylord, and even Northern Michigan University!
After weaving our way through the line, we bought our bus tickets and hopped in the back of the bus where all the cool kids sit. The ride across the Mighty Mac was awesome because we were able to see all of the early risers walking down to Mackinaw City. They seriously must have gotten up at 3am. Either that or they didn’t even go to sleep.
There weren’t any restrooms on the bridge, so we made sure to use the porta potties in St. Ignace before we started our journey. Lines were kind of daunting, but fear of having to pee right in the middle of our bridge walk convinced us to wait.
Getting a thumbs up from the DJ as we start walking across:
The temperatures were in the lower 60s and there was a tiny (really, tiny) bit of rain but nothing could dampen our excitement at this point! We couldn’t wait to start walking. The sun was even trying to peek out at times.
One of the weirdest parts was walking across the metal grating. The lane closest to the outside of the bridge is paved and the lane on the inside is completely metal grating. One look down and it’s all water!
We loved seeing all of these patches from previous bridge walks. What a cool collection.
Nearing the end! All bridge walkers get a certificate of completion right before crossing the finish line. The walk was estimated to take 90 minutes to 2 hours and we found that to be pretty accurate.
Overall this was a great event, especially for being free, and we’re glad we did it as our last blast of the season. Farewell summer, our old friend. We look forward to seeing you next year!
