Mackinac National Park

Mackinac National Park was a protected area on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan that encompassed limestone bluffs, forests, and geological formations along the Straits of Mackinac. The site stretched across a wooded highland that rose above the waters of the Great Lakes.

The US Senate passed a bill in 1875 to create the park, which President Ulysses S. Grant signed, making it the second national park after Yellowstone. Michigan assumed control in 1895, converting the territory into the first state park in the nation.

The Ojibwa and Odawa name for the island derives from Mitchimakinak, referring to the turtle-like shape of the limestone bluffs. Visitor groups today follow forest trails that were laid over centuries-old indigenous paths.

Soldiers from the nearby fort maintained trails and carried out upkeep work, while the fort commander oversaw park operations. Visitors today explore the same bluffs and forests through a network of footpaths that wind across the hilly terrain.

This territory held national park status for twenty years before being redefined as the first state park in America. The transfer came with the condition that Michigan must preserve the land permanently as a public park.