Fort Mackinac — Attraction in Mackinac Island

A travel dFort Mackinac, MI — A Must-See Living History Experience If you're visiting historic Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, buy your tickets in advance to skip the lines and ensure entry. The fort not only offers breathtaking views and rich historical exhibits, but its standout feature is the live firing demonstrations.

Be sure to catch both the cannon and rifle firing drills—these are the highlights of any visit:

Cannon Firing Demonstrations happen daily at 11:00a.m., 1:00p.m., and 3:00p.m. Experience the thunderous boom on the Upper Gun Platform, where uniformed interpreters explain the fort’s artillery history and crank up the excitement with each blast.

Rifle Firing Demonstrations take place multiple times a day (10:00a.m., 12:00p.m., 2:00p.m., 3:30p.m., 4:30p.m.), bringing the military training and history alive right on the parade ground.

These immersive performances are not only entertaining—they provide authentic insight into 19th-century military life. Reviewers rave about the energy of the demonstrations, making this a must for anyone—history buff or casual visitor—wanting to experience Michigan’s past in a truly interactive way.

Pro tips:

Purchase tickets ahead of time online, especially during peak seasons.

Plan to arrive early to catch both the cannon and rifle salute—don’t miss the dramatic boom that starts and ends the day!

There are programs and tours for all ages.

Fort Mackinac is a place where history explodes to life. The firing drills are an unforgettable highlight, so mark your schedule and enjoy!estination...

A must do and see for anyone, even if you're not into history it's still the most ideal place to visit. The island does shut down in the winter so I suggest checking when it's open before planning to visit. It's a 15 minute ferry ride to the island to get to the fort. There are no cars on the island so comfortable shoes I highly suggest. Or there's bicycle rentals, there's horse back ride rentals, a carriage ride tour or horse drawn taxis. There is a fee about $15 or so to enter but if you plan on seeing both forts look into buying the package for both to save a few dollars. The amount of learning about the fort, the soldiers, the medical things, the way they lived and the how the fort became a part of history (war of 1812) was incredible to learn. It's a long walk up a hill to get to the fort the ticket booth is at the bottom before you start walking up the hill. The view from the inside of the fort is unlike anything else I've seen. The town is clean (minus horse poo) and the people are friendly. The older buildings are very well kept, but unfortunately once inside the fort you can see where someone is building townhouses or something on the other part of the island which to me takes away from the history and beauty.. but the rest is 100% a priceless experience. I'm adding some of the pictures but can't post all because of limits so you'd have to see it in person to get the...

We took the carriage tour and ended at the top side of the fort entrance -very convenient since it’s an uphill climb to get to the entrance. The views from the fort alone were worth the entrance fee-modest $13 per adult. We arrived right around 2:45 pm and the last entrance was at 3pm. The fort itself (for the most part) doesn’t close until 4pm however at about 330 the shop closed and there were very few costumed characters to be found on site. I wanted to check out the store-but was unaware they closed earlier then the rest of the fort-hence the four stars.

Majority of the buildings have rooms decorated with accurate depictions of the times- school room, hospital, family homes, post office, etc. the majority of the walking tour involved lots of wall placards with information about the building, people, time frame, etc. and a few offered some mannequins in costume with audio details provided.

The one area I would highly recommend is the movie area - sit down to watch a video of the history of the fort, as well as the island. The 20 minute duration will give you quite a bit of detail and audiovisual to satisfy the history needs in each of us. The main building appeared to offer dining and an out door patio overlooking the garden/park below as well great views of the lakes. I’d recommend if you make it to the island do not pass...