SEVERAL MACKINAC STATE HISTORIC PARKS SITES OPEN MAY 4
April 29, 2009
Mackinaw City, Mich. — Mackinac State Historic Parks kicks off the 2009 season at 9:00 a.m. on May 4 with the excitement of the Adventure Tour at Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park, located five minutes from Mackinaw City on US-23 South, and a cannon salute at Colonial Michilimackinac, a 1770s-era British fort and fur trading village in Mackinaw City. All the sites feature live programs with historic interpreters in authentic period costumes, exhibits, displays, and videos in a setting of original or reconstructed historic structures.
The Adventure Tour at Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park, new in 2008, consists of the 40-foot high Nature Trail Climbing Wall, 165-foot long Forest Canopy Bridge, sponsored by Mackinac Associates, and 425-foot long Eagle’s Flight Zip Line. The Adventure Tour costs $7 in addition to park admission.
New this year to the historic site and nature park is the Otter Slide for younger children. It will be part of the Forest Friends Play Area, which features large, climbable animal structures, bronze cast animal tracks, and information about animals at Mill Creek in fun “field notes.”
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Eagle's Flight Zip Line
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Kids' Rendezvous Interpretive Playground Site Plan |
Coming to Colonial Michilimackinac in mid-to-late June is the new Kids’ Rendezvous Interpretive Playground, sponsored by Mackinac Associates. The interpretive playground is a three-phase project. The first phase of construction has already begun and will include installation of a giant ground map of the Great Lakes with perimeter bench seating, a miniature fort palisade and cannon, and multiple climbing structures that explore the route of the fur traders.
Interpretive elements within the playground will all relate to the route of the voyageurs, or French fur traders, who were a major part of Michilimackinac in the 17th and 18th centuries when the region was the center of the North American fur trade. Activation of an audio system with numerous sounds, including voyageur songs, will be possible from various areas of the play structure. Introductory panels and a hands-on fur-press will be part of the play structure as well, encouraging conversations between adults and children. The panels on the structure will also encourage a “scavenger hunt” learning activity.
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The Native American Program is also new to Colonial Michilimackinac this year. Immerse yourself in demonstrations of Woodland Indian material culture, foodways, and crafts. A Native American interpreter focuses on the interdependence and diversity of the peoples who converged on this Great Lakes gathering place.
This year holds special significance for Colonial Michlimackinac. It is the centennial of Michilimackinac State Park, a 25-acre park spanning the beachfront near the Mackinac Bridge. It’s also the parkland that contains Colonial Michlimackinac and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. A centennial marker will be dedicated at Michilimackinac State Park, Michigan’s second state park, in July. This is also the 50th anniversary of archaeology at Colonial Michilimackinac. It’s one of the nation’s longest continuous archaeological digs, and is still happening today between early June and mid-August.
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Archaeologist at work at Colonial Michilimackinac |
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Cannon firing demonstration at Fort Mackinac
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Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island opens on May 5, and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City opens its doors on May 11. New this year at the lighthouse is the “Shipwrecks of the Straits” audiovisual program, coming in early summer (not available at season open) to the restored lighthouse barn. Many vessels have sunk in the straits over the years. This video looks at a number of the wrecks and includes underwater footage, interviews with survivors of the Cedarville, and historic images to tell the stories of these last voyages.
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Mackinac State Historic Parks is a pure Michigan family of living history museums and parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Association of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park, and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park in Mackinaw City. Mackinac State Historic Parks is governed by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, established in 1895 to protect, preserve and present the parks’ rich historic and natural resources for the education and recreation of future generations. Visitor information is available at 231-436-4100.
