The US island with no cars and one horse for every person

The US island with no cars and one horse for every person

(Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau)（图片来源：麦基诺岛旅游局）
In the midst of "the car capital of the world", there's a serene vehicle-free island home to 600 people, 600 horses and a once-upon-a-time way of life.
在“世界汽车之都”之中，有一个宁静的无车岛屿，拥有 600 人、600 匹马和曾经的生活方式。
Home to the "Motor City" of Detroit, where companies like Ford, General Motors and Chrysler originated, the US state of Michigan is often called "the car capital of the world". But off the state's northern coast in Lake Huron is a serene, scenic island that has been luring travellers for hundreds of years – and has banned cars pretty much since they were invented.
美国密歇根州是底特律“汽车城”的所在地，福特、通用汽车和克莱斯勒等公司的发源地，通常被称为“世界汽车之都”。但在该州北部海岸的休伦湖附近，有一个宁静、风景优美的岛屿，数百年来一直吸引着游客——自汽车发明以来，它几乎就禁止汽车通行。
Welcome to Mackinac Island: a 3.8-sq-km island home to 600 year-round residents, no motorised vehicles and the only US highway where you're not allowed to drive a car. Even golf carts are prohibited on the island's streets, so chances are if you hear a honk or a screech, it's from one of the island's geese or owls.
欢迎来到麦基诺岛：一个占地 3.8 平方公里的岛屿，常年居住着 600 名居民，禁止机动车辆通行，也是美国唯一一条不允许驾驶汽车的高速公路。岛上的街道上甚至禁止使用高尔夫球车，因此如果您听到喇叭声或尖叫声，很可能是岛上的一只鹅或猫头鹰发出的。
But why the absence of autos?
但为什么没有汽车呢？
Because as Urvana Tracey Morse, who owns a craft store on the island's main drag, says: "Horse is king here."
因为正如在岛上主要街道上拥有一家工艺品店的乌尔瓦娜·特雷西·莫尔斯 （Urvana Tracey Morse） 所说：“马在这里为王。

Mackinac is an idyllic island that has banned cars pretty much since they were invented (Credit: Getty Images)麦基诺是一个田园诗般的岛屿，自汽车发明以来几乎就禁止汽车通行（图片来源：Getty Images）
According to local lore, when a car backfired in 1898, scaring horses nearby, village authorities banned internal combustion engines, a move that was extended to the rest of the island two years later. Ever since, locals have leaned into this tranquil, once-upon-a-time way of life.
根据当地传说，1898 年，当一辆汽车适得其反，吓到附近的马匹时，村当局禁止使用内燃机，两年后，这一举措扩展到岛上的其他地区。从那时起，当地人就开始采用这种宁静的、曾经的生活方式。
More than a century later, some 600 horses keep things running here every summer, when roughly 1.2 million people board a 20-minute ferry from Mackinaw City or St Ignace on Michigan's Upper Peninsula and descend on the small village (also called Mackinac Island) on the island's southern tip. There, visitors shop for the village's famous fudge, explore its 70 miles of trails and soak up the clip-clopping sounds of a simpler time. In autumn, some 300 of these seasonal four-legged employees start heading back to the mainland, just as they do every year, to signal the end of the tourist season and the coming of winter.
一个多世纪后，每年夏天约有 600 匹马在这里忙碌，大约有 120 万人从密歇根州上半岛的麦基诺市或圣伊格纳斯登上 20 分钟的渡轮，然后下到该岛南端的小村庄（也称为麦基诺岛）。在那里，游客可以购买村里著名的软糖，探索其 70 英里的小径，并沉浸在简单时光的咔哒声中。秋天，大约 300 名季节性四足员工开始像往年一样返回大陆，以标志着旅游旺季的结束和冬季的到来。
"Horses are used in everything from garbage removal to FedEx deliveries," says Morse, who has been selling scrimshaw, art, jewellery and other merchandise after first visiting as a college student in 1990. "That's how our lifestyle has been; that's how our pace is."
“从垃圾清除到联邦快递递送，马匹被用于各种工作，”莫尔斯说，他在 1990 年作为大学生第一次来这里后一直在销售稀松车、艺术品、珠宝和其他商品。“这就是我们的生活方式;这就是我们的步伐。
"Part of us just like the tradition that we get around by bike, or we walk or take the horse taxi," Morse adds.
“我们中的一些人就像我们骑自行车出行、步行或乘坐马车的传统一样，”莫尔斯补充道。
For hundreds of years, Indigenous communities used the island's strategic location at the confluence of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan as a fishing and hunting ground. They thought its limestone bluffs and green forests resembled a giant turtle rising from the water, so they named it Michilimackinac, or "place of the great turtle" in Anishinaabemowin.
数百年来，土著社区利用该岛位于休伦湖和密歇根湖交汇处的战略位置作为钓鱼和狩猎场。他们认为它的石灰岩悬崖和绿色森林就像一只从水中升起的巨龟，因此他们将其命名为 Michilimackinac，即 Anishinaabemowin 的“大海龟之地”。

The island is home to a defensive fort where reenactors still fire cannons (Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Board)该岛是一座防御堡垒的所在地，重演者仍然在那里发射大炮（图片来源：麦基诺岛旅游局）
British forces shortened the name and established a defensive fort on the island in 1780. Today, visitors can still follow costumed interpreters, experience cannon firings and see an officer's quarters inside the oldest building in Michigan. But more than 200 years after the US took control of Mackinac following the War of 1812, its Indigenous roots remain.
1780 年，英国军队缩短了名称，并在岛上建立了一座防御堡垒。今天，游客仍然可以跟随盛装打扮的口译员，体验大炮的射击，并参观密歇根州最古老的建筑内的军官宿舍。但在 1812 年战争后美国控制麦基诺 200 多年后，其土著根源仍然存在。
"Mackinac Island is one of the most important [and] prominent places in Anishnaabe history and culture," says Eric Hemenway, an Anishnaabe member who has been instrumental in reviving Indigenous history on the island. "The Anishnaabeek people have been at the Straits [the waterways connecting Lake Huron and Lake Michigan], some say, since time immemorial. And we are still at the place of our ancestors here at the Straits. The waters were, and continue to be, the highways of the Midwest."
“麦基诺岛是阿尼什纳贝历史和文化中最重要 [和] 最突出的地方之一，”阿尼什纳贝成员埃里克·海门威 （Eric Hemenway） 说，他在复兴岛上的土著历史方面发挥了重要作用。“有人说，自古以来，阿尼什纳贝克人就一直在海峡（连接休伦湖和密歇根湖的水道）上。我们仍然在海峡我们祖先的地方。这些水域曾经是，现在仍然是中西部的高速公路。
As Hemenway points out, a large number of Indigenous burial sites have been found on the island – some of which go back roughly 3,000 years. "[Mackinac] is one of our most sacred spots on the Great Lakes," he says.
正如海门威指出的那样，岛上发现了大量土著墓地——其中一些可以追溯到大约 3,000 年前。“[麦基诺] 是我们在五大湖上最神圣的地方之一，”他说。
Hemenway has also worked on the development of the Biddle House, which is home to the Mackinac Island Native American Museum that opened in 2021.
海门威还致力于开发 Biddle House，该博物馆是 2021 年开放的麦基诺岛美洲原住民博物馆的所在地。

The governor of Michigan recently pitched Mackinac Island as the location for the next season of The White Lotus (Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Board)密歇根州州长最近将麦基诺岛作为下一季《白莲花》的拍摄地（图片来源：麦基诺岛旅游局）
"My biggest success [metric] is when I see other Native people come through… this is our story," says Hemenway. "[The island has] a touristy perception now, but the layers to this place are there."
“我最大的成功 [指标] 是当我看到其他原住民通过......这是我们的故事，“海门威说。“[这个岛]现在有一种旅游观念，但这个地方的层次就在那里。”
By the late 19th Century, Mackinac Island had become a playground for wealthy industrialist families from Chicago, Detroit and other parts of the once-thriving Midwest, who flocked to the island in summer to unwind in its pristine waters.
到 19 世纪末，麦基诺岛已成为来自芝加哥、底特律和曾经繁荣的中西部其他地区的富裕实业家家庭的游乐场，他们在夏季涌向该岛，在原始水域中放松身心。
Mackinac's 138-year-old Grand Hotel has individually decorated rooms and claims to have the world's longest porch; it's also one of the last fully functioning hotels from industrial America's Gilded Age. Such is the Grand Hotel's unique appeal that Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer recently took to X to pitch the island as the location for season four of HBO's The White Lotus.
麦基诺拥有 138 年历史的大酒店拥有装饰独特的客房，并声称拥有世界上最长的门廊;它也是美国工业镀金时代最后一家功能齐全的酒店之一。这就是大酒店的独特吸引力，密歇根州州长格雷琴·惠特默 （Gretchen Whitmer） 最近在 X 上将该岛推销为 HBO 的《白莲花》第四季的拍摄地。
While the pitch was playful, Morse is hesitant for Mackinac to become overtouristed. "You're proud of where you live; but at the same time I kind of don't want to tell people how cool it is here," she says.
虽然球场很有趣，但莫尔斯对麦基诺是否过度旅游犹豫不决。“你为你住的地方感到自豪;但与此同时，我有点不想告诉人们这里有多酷，“她说。

Visitors can hike, bike or take a horse-drawn carriage to Arch Rock (Credit: Getty Images)游客可以徒步旅行、骑自行车或乘坐马车前往拱岩（图片来源：Getty Images）
Indeed, this pint-sized island packs a punch. Eighty percent of Mackinac's land area is comprised of Mackinac Island State Park, where visitors can stroll through old-growth forest, admire towering limestone pillars, and hike, bike or hire a horse-drawn carriage to photograph one of the island's most famous attractions – the 50ft-wide Arch Rock.
事实上，这个小型岛屿具有冲击力。麦基诺 80% 的土地面积由麦基诺岛州立公园组成，游客可以在那里漫步在古老的森林中，欣赏高耸的石灰岩柱子，并远足、骑自行车或租用马车拍摄岛上最著名的景点之一——50 英尺宽的拱岩。
Elsewhere, locals suggest heading north from the island's one village to ramble the 8.5-mile highway turned bike-and-hiking trail that runs the circumference of the island and offers views of the five-mile-long Mackinac suspension bridge and access to quiet pebble-covered beaches and woodlands.
在其他地方，当地人建议从岛上的一个村庄向北走，漫步在 8.5 英里长的高速公路上，变成了自行车和远足小径，这条小径贯穿全岛，可以欣赏到五英里长的麦基诺吊桥的景色，并可通往安静的鹅卵石覆盖的海滩和林地。
Horses aside, the island's 1,500 bikes for hire are the main way residents and visitors get around – a self-propelled mode of transport that suggests Mackinac residents are happy to move at a different pace than the rest of the country.
除了马匹之外，岛上有 1,500 辆自行车可供出租，是居民和游客出行的主要方式——一种自行式交通方式，表明麦基诺居民乐于以与该国其他地区不同的速度出行。
Living in a place without cars is one of the main reasons why Morse, who rides her bike nine months of the year, has decided to live year-round on the island, despite the harsh winters.
生活在一个没有汽车的地方是莫尔斯一年中有九个月骑自行车的主要原因之一，尽管冬天很严酷，但她还是决定全年住在岛上。
"I just love the idea of getting on my bike and coming down [to the village] through the trees. It sets me for the day," she says. "You are always greeting and talking to people."
“我只是喜欢骑上自行车穿过树林下来到[村庄]的想法。它为我做好了这一天的准备，“她说。“你总是在与人打招呼和交谈。”

Roughly 1,500 bikes are available to hire on the small island (Credit: Getty Images)这个小岛上大约有 1,500 辆自行车可供租用（图片来源：Getty Images）
But while cycling is the easiest and most popular mode of transport, bikes clearly play a secondary role in powering the island.
但是，虽然骑自行车是最简单、最受欢迎的交通方式，但自行车显然在为岛屿提供动力方面发挥着次要作用。
"Without the horses, this place wouldn't be what it is. It's what makes you feel like you've stepped back in time when you get off the boat and you hear that 'clip-clop'," says Hunter Hoaglund, who works at Arnold Freight, a company that has run a ferry service to the island for 140 years and ships in a herd of its horses that overwinter on Michigan's Upper Peninsula every April. "We have our trucks show up here each day [dropping off the horses], and within the next month we'll probably see 200 to 300 more show up." An estimated 20-30 horses remain on the island during the winter to collect garbage, deliver packages and otherwise keep the island running.
“没有马匹，这个地方就不会是现在的样子。当你下船并听到'夹子咔嚓'声时，这让你感觉自己回到了过去，“在阿诺德货运公司工作的亨特·霍格伦德说，该公司经营前往该岛的渡轮服务已有 140 年的历史，每年四月都会在密歇根州上半岛越冬。“我们每天都有卡车出现在这里 [放马]，在下个月内，我们可能会看到另外 200 到 300 辆出现。”据估计，冬季有 20-30 匹马留在岛上收集垃圾、运送包裹并以其他方式维持岛屿运转。
Surrounded by crystal-clear water, Mackinac can be periodically cut off from the mainland in winter when ice floes can halt ferry services to or from the island.
麦基诺周围环绕着水晶般清澈的海水，冬季浮冰可能会停止往返该岛的渡轮服务，因此可以定期与大陆隔绝。
But in spring and summer, Mackinac comes alive.
但在春季和夏季，麦基诺活跃起来。

"Without horses, this place wouldn't be what it is" (Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau)“没有马，这个地方就不会是现在的样子”（图片来源：麦基诺岛旅游局）
The dozens of lilac trees dotted along the village streets start to bloom in the lead up to the island's popular 10-day Lilac Festival in June. Stargazers head to Mackinac's Fort Holmes – the highest point on the island – and the Grand Hotel's Cupola Bar for unfiltered views of the northern Michigan night sky. But for most visitors, happily tuckered out after biking around the island, an ice cream or piece of fudge is best enjoyed overlooking the marina.
点缀在村庄街道上的数十棵丁香树开始绽放，以迎接岛上广受欢迎的为期 10 天的丁香节 6 月。观星者前往麦基诺的福尔摩斯堡（岛上的最高点）和大酒店的冲天炉酒吧，欣赏密歇根州北部夜空的未经过滤的景色。但对于大多数游客来说，在骑自行车环岛后愉快地享受冰淇淋或软糖最好在俯瞰码头时享用。
And all without the sound of a car engine to spoil the experience.
而且所有这些都没有汽车发动机的声音来破坏体验。
This story was first published in April 2025 and has since been updated.