DISCOVER HERITAGE ROUTE 23

The Mackinac Bridge Walk is an annual event held every Labor Day since 1958 in Michigan in which people may walk the length of the Mackinac Bridge.  Walkers are traditionally led across by the governor of Michigan, currently Rick Snyder.  In an average year 50,000 to 65,000 people participate in the five-mile walk.  This is more than the combined population to the two counties connected by the bridge.

 

The Labor Day Bridge Walk is the sole exception to the rule prohibiting pedestrians on the bridge. At the beginning of the event, the two east lanes on the bridge—normally used for northbound traffic— are reserved for the southbound pedestrians, with the west lanes carrying two-way vehicular traffic.  Walkers begin on the St. Ignace side of the bridge in the Upper Peninsula and walk south to Mackinaw City in the Lower Peninsula.  Upon reaching Mackinaw City, walkers are awarded a numbered "Certificate of Completion."  School buses shuttle walkers back to their cars.