Crossing Big Mac, the Longest Suspension Bridge in the Western Hemisphere [Lake Huron and Lake Michigan] (July 17-18, 2014)

View from Mackinac Island

The Place

View from the Ferry While Under the Bridge

Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet at the Straits of Mackinac.  The Straits are 5 miles wide and at points almost 300 feet deep.  They separate the lower peninsula of Michigan from the upper peninsula – better known as the UP.  After over 70 years of feasibility studies, and political machinations, a bridge was finally built across the Straits opening in 1957.  The bridge serves as the dividing line between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

When it opened, the Mackinac Bridge (also known as Big Mac) was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and held that title until 1998 when longer bridges opened in Japan and Denmark.  It is still the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere.  The total length is 26, 372 feet while the length of the suspension part is 8,614 feet.  The main towers are 552 feet tall, the height of the roadway above the water at the highest point is 199 feet.

It is a big bridge. 

The  Adventure

The Mackinac Bridge has a presence in the Mackinaw City area, where we stayed.  You see it when you come around bends in the road.  You see it on from the ferry to Mackinac Island.  In fact, the ferry we took out to the island, made a detour and took us under the bridge.  You see it from parts of Mackinac Island.  It’s hard to miss.

Today, we drove across the Mackinac Bridge to get to the UP.  It was a bright, sunny day with very little wind.  The view from the bridge was absolutely breath taking.  It is really long and it is really high up there.