Winter Travel to Mackinac Island

Daily flights continue throughout the winter months as weather allows. Passenger and small freight service are offered.

Great Lakes Air 1220 N. State Street St. Ignace MI 49781 Phone 906-643-7165 Located at Mackinac County Airport Phone 906-643-7327.

When the Straits of Mackinac freezes up in late January, the main shipping channel is kept open by the ice breakers, United States Coast Guard operations. The shipping channel passes under the Mackinac Bridge from the west and runs east between Mackinac Island and Round Island. Just north of this channel, the ice between Mackinac Island and St. Ignace freezes over creating an "ice bridge". This ice bridge is marked with discarded Christmas trees by local snowmobilers. Year-round residents of the island use this access with their snowmobiles to commute to the mainland whenever possible. The danger of white-outs, thin ice, shifting ice floes and bitter temperatures cannot be emphasized enough. That said, snowmobile traffic runs routinely on the ice bridge from mid-February to early March.  For more on snowmobiling activities and trail conditions, visit www.straitsareasnowmobileclub.com.