Just outside Mackinaw City is Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park. Overlooking Lake Huron, this is the site of the early 1800s mill that supplied lumber for much of the area's buildings. The mill began sawing lumber in the late 1700s and much of the wood was used on Mackinac Island.

The mill, and a grist mill, were used into the mid 1800s and was rediscovered in 1972 and archaeologists have uncovered remnants of the dam, two houses, a workshop and several other buildings. A National Registered Historic Site, the park opened to the public as part of the Mackinac State Historic Parks in 1984.

Visitors to the Park will find 625 acres along 3,250 feet of Northern Michigan's Lake Huron, 3.5 miles of hiking trails, a reconstructed saw mill, mill dam, British workshop, and American millwright's house. But visitors will also find a variety of family adventure activities: a zipline, forest canopy bridge, and a climbing wall all accompanied by a park naturalist guide.

Daily during the summer months are sawmill and hand saw demonstrations, and natural history presentations plus the adventure tours. During the winter months, snowshoeing through the nature trails offers a different view of the frozen landscape.

Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park is located five miles outside Mackinaw City.

For more information on history in the Straits of Mackinac, visit:

Colonial Michilimackinac

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse

McGulpin Point Lighthouse

McGulpin Rock