01 · The garden
Color in motion.
Feeding stations, a butterfly I.D. chart and the journey from emergence to release. Photography is welcome.
6750 McGulpin Street · Mackinac Island
Michigan’s first butterfly house.
Since 1991: hundreds of free-flying butterflies in a tropical garden, and Insect World’s live insects, amphibians and reptiles. Come and look closer.
Hours change by season. Check them before you head to the island.
In the tropical garden, Mackinac Island.
- 1991
- Michigan’s first live butterfly exhibit
- ~1,800 sq ft
- Of tropical garden
- 20+
- Live Insect World exhibits
- Readers’ Choice
- USA TODAY 10Best 2025 · No. 5 Best Butterfly Garden
As published by the Butterfly House on its official site · checked Oct 2026
Up close
Hold the lens over the feeding station.
Hundreds of butterflies fly free in the garden, and the feeding stations are where they gather. Drag the lens, use the arrow keys, or tap a spot.
Eyespots. Big rings on the brown wings, with finely patterned scales around each one.
Two connected worlds
Look up. Look closer.
The visit is more than one room. The garden is color in flight. Insect World is the smaller, stranger side of the same day.
02 · Insect World
A different kind of close-up.
Live insects, amphibians and reptiles. Give this half of the visit its own time.
Before the wings: a wall of chrysalises.
The emergence window · butterflies arrive as chrysalises from conservation suppliers
Learning in layers
There is a story before the wings.
Pupae arrive, an emergence chamber makes the change visible, and the garden becomes the place where visitors can observe the result. Follow the journey at your own pace.
Pupae arrive.
Chrysalises come in from the attraction’s butterfly suppliers.
Watch the change.
An emergence chamber and educational signs give the transformation a place in the visit.
Meet the garden.
Move from the process to the tropical garden, then keep learning through identification and observation.
Insect World · Scheduled encounters
Close enough to count the legs.
The team brings Insect World residents out for scheduled animal encounters, and staff with science and education backgrounds answer the questions. Check the posted times for the day you visit.
Before you go
The practical bits.
Hours and prices change by season. Check this season’s hours before you go.
- Address
- 6750 McGulpin Street, Mackinac Island, MI 49757
- Call
- 906-847-3972
- Directions
- Open in Google Maps ↗