Michigan offers countless tours and trips that allow you to get behind the scenes of historic sites, businesses and more, but tickets for some can be a difficult, or nearly impossible, to score.
From the western tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula down to southeast Michigan's Ann Arbor, the state boasts institutions offering exclusive views of key attractions.
Among the tours that are difficult to join or limited in size, you can tour the University of Michigan's Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, explore the Fiborn Karst Preserve in the Upper Peninsula, win a chance to watch eagles fly at Monroe's DTE power plant in 2027, scale the Mackinac Bridge's 500-foot tall towers, win a Great Lakes freighter or cruise trip, and if you wait until next year, you could
be among the first visitors inside the newly renovated former Henry and Clara Ford home at Dearborn's Fair Lane Estate.
Here's what to know about hidden gem tours in Michigan.
Explore the U.P.'s Fiborn Karst Preserve
A roughly 40-mile drive north once you've crossed the Mackinac Bridge will take you to Fiborn Karst Preserve, featuring self-guided trail tours — and guided cave tours of the former quarry. The area is free and open to the public.
The site was home to the bustling Fiborn Quarry and adjacent company town from 1905 to 1936, first servicing local companies, and from 1909 onwards, primarily the Canadian Algoma Steel Corp, per The Michigan Karst Conservancy's website.
You can explore the 1.5-mile Barbara Ann Patrie Memorial Trail, traversing the quarry's edge, second-growth forest, former sinkholes and Fiborn pond, and Dr. Rane L. Curl Sinkhole Trail, a short path featuring shallow sinkholes and a creek, per the conservancy's website.
The former quarry and Hendrie River Water Cave can be visited on a guided tour — you'll need to fill out paperwork first and wear protective gear on your tour inside the approximately 1,500-foot long cave.
Visitors who wish to enter the cave must obtain written permission in advance, and must also agree to have the proper equipment (helmet, three sources of light, warm clothing, sturdy footwear, extra clothing since the cave is wet), protect the cave, and release the MKC of any liability, according to the Michigan Karst Conservancywebsite.
If you are interested in visiting Hendrie River Water Cave, obtain, sign and return a Fiborn Karst Preserve Use Permit form and the White Nose Syndrome addendum by contacting Aubrey Golden at goldencamp@comcast.net or 248-666-1683.
Win a trip on a Great Lakes freighter
Great Lakes shipping enthusiasts can enter the 2026 Luck of the Lakes Raffle for a chance to win a seven-day trip for four on a Great Lakes freighter or a nine-day cruise ship for two around the Great Lakes.
The Toledo-based National Museum of the Great Lakes is conducting the raffle, with freighter trips on Interlake Maritime Services freighters, in coordination with Interlake Steamship Company, and cruise trips from Victory Cruise Lines.
The freighter trip would provide rare access to life aboard a Great Lakes vessel not open to the public, like the Lee A. Tregurtha or Kaye E. Barker, including shipping work, a trip through the Soo Locks, meals, passenger accommodations, and scenic sunrises and sunsets, per the museum's website.
If you choose the Great Lakes cruise, you will traverse all five of the lakes, heading from Toronto to Chicago, and stopping at key landmarks like Mackinac Island, Cleveland and Detroit, with tours detailing the lakefront communities, the museum's website said. Aboard the vessel, you'll experience Lakelorian lectures and exhibits in partnership with the museum, per the museum.
Raffle tickets can be purchased online through 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 29, the museum said.
Get an inside look at Henry Ford's Dearborn estate
The home, powerhouse and garage at Dearborn's Fair Lane Estate, the former residence of Henry Ford and his wife Clara Bryant Ford, will reopen to the public in 2027.
Visitors will be able to tour the 56-room house, as well as other parts of the originally 1,300-acre property that ran power, stored the couple's personal cars and more, said Austin Eighmey, the senior director of the estate's restoration and historic resources department. The estate plans to offer tours, rent out the garage and upstairs spaces in the powerhouse for events, and rent out the garage and upstairs spaces in the powerhouse for events upon the reopening.
The Fair Lane property is along the Rouge River and now sits near the campus of the University of Michigan Dearborn and Henry Ford College in west Dearborn.
The estate's gardens and grounds are open free of charge from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
Climb the Mighty Mac's towers
Each year, 50 people get the rare chance to tour the Mackinac Bridge's towers, overlooking the Straits of Mackinac from atop the 5-mile long bridge.
Through a randomized process, the Mackinac Bridge Authority proivides tower tour certificates to 25 nonprofit organizations, and each organization recipient then raffles or auctions off the certificates, according to the MBA's website.
The certificates offer two people each a chance to tour the Mighty Mac's towers between May 1 and Oct. 15 of the following year, the MBA said.
Enjoy rare up-close view of eagles in Monroe
The annual drawing for this winter's tour opens later this year, and you could win a rare opportunity to watch eagles fly and learn about the birds about in southeast Michigan's Monroe.
The annual eagle tour takes place on the grounds of the DTE Energy power plant in Monroe in coordination with the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, offering 60 visitors an exclusive look at the birds since 2008.
Approximately 1,200 enteredthis year's tour lottery.
"It’s the largest number since the event began in 2008. It shattered our previous record,” said Maddie Drury, park ranger with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, sponsor of the tour.
The a once-a-year experience for the lottery winners of the eagle tour is conducted by DTE and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The 2027 eagle tour lottery opens Nov. 26, according to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. Keep an eye on the refuge's website and Facebook page for the announcement.
Detroit Free Press and the Monroe Evening News contributed.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How much do you love Michigan? These tours take luck, patience to join
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