Visit Isle Royale National Park
On today’s podcast, we learn all about Isle Royale National Park and why it’s the MOST REVISITED US NATIONAL PARK in the Lower 48, even though it’s the least visited park! Join Kit as she backpacks this rugged island that only gets only 19,000 visitors each year. If you prefer paddling to hiking, Kit gives tips on how you can paddle pack among the 70 interior islands.
You’ll learn about the history, and the flora and fauna, as well as the geological creation of this island archipelago and Lake Superior, plus the best way to get to Isle Royale (which isn’t easy, and thus why so few people visit this national treasure).
Some of the links below are affiliate links which mean, at no additional cost to you, you are helping to support the program and helping to keep it ad free – thanks! Kit
Why Visit Isle Royale
If you want to experience rugged wilderness, hardly touched by man in recent history, then consider a visit to Isle Royale National Park! The 45 x 9 mile main island surrounded by Lake Superior has over 165 miles of hiking trails and 70 interior lakes to paddle. The park is an excellent destination for backpackers, hikers, boaters, kayakers, canoeists and even scuba divers! On Isle Royale, the animals outnumber the humans!
Isle Royale boasts the US’ largest moose population, so you’ll have a great chance of seeing one of these magnificent beasts!
To explore most of the interior trails, you’ll need to be a backpacker, but you can do day hikes using the harbor lodges as your base.
When to Visit Isle Royale
Isle Royale is closer to Canada than it’s Michigan mainland and the winters are fierce! So no one lives there full time.
The Park is open June to mid-September. If you visit earlier in the season, you can miss the black fly and mosquitos. I was there in late June and although they had emerged, they weren’t a problem. But bring DEET and a head net just to be on the safe side.
How to Get to Isle Royale
You can only get to Isle Royale by boat or sea plane (take the latter if you get seasick!). See the map for ferry and sea plane routes to either the Rock Harbor or Windago Visitor’s Centers. You MUST make reservations, so be sure to plan in advance to get a spot on your preferred port and mode and of transport.
Where is Isle Royale
Isle Royale is part of Michigan and is in the northwest part of Lake Superior, just south of Canada. It is east of Minnesota and north of Wisconsin. It is accessible only via boat and sea plane.
Where to Stay at Isle Royale
You can either backpack and stay at one of the 35 campgrounds (see chart below), stay on your boat at one of the docks, or book a room at the lodge in Rock Harbor or a cabin at Windago or Rock Harbor. Telephone service is spotty on Isle Royale, so to reserve a room, you may prefer to email. Many of the campgrounds have nice shelters (with a screened front!) that allow you to set up your tent for privacy if you wish. All campgrounds have pit toilets (BYO: TP). Leave No Trace Principles
If you plan to backpack, you can get a free permit (for groups under six) when you arrive. Unless you have a National Parks Pass, you will need to pay the daily park fee. You will need to tell the Rangers your intended itinerary when you get your permit, but you can alter it if your plans change without a problem.
Some campgrounds allow for multiple overnight stays, so if you prefer to use a base camp to day hike, this is an option for up to three nights ar campgrounds such as Daisy Farm. From Rockport, you could backpack three miles to Three Mile Campground on Night One, then backpack another four miles to Daisy Farm on Day Two, which you can then use as a Base Camp, reversing when it’s time to make it back to your transport.
Camping at Isle Royale
Stay at one of the thirty five campgrounds scattered across Isle Royale!
Use the Campground chart to build a rough itinerary for your adventure. Weather and how your body feels on a given day may cause you to adjust your plans, but you will need to give the Rangers your plan when you arrive so they know where to begin looking for you if you don’t show up for your transport. Be sure to ‘check out’ when you arrive back to port, so you are accounted for.
Note that some campgrounds have really nice shelters. When I backpacked, I never had to share a shelter, but if the campground is crowded, you may have to. You are allowed to set up a tent in a shelter for privacy, but hammocks are not allowed in most shelters.
Unless you get a special permit, you MUST stay in a campground. Note that some campgrounds only have a few spaces, and unless you are a group, you cannot reserve them in advance, so plan to get there early to ensure a spot.
Note also the number of nights that you are allowed to stay in a given campground.
There are a few trails where you will wish that there was a campground a bit closer or further. For example, it would be nice to have a camp site east of Mount Ojibway before the turn to Three Mile. So when you reach a campground, you’ll have to decide if you are ready to quit for the day, or want to hike the extra miles to the next campground.
The closer you are to a harbor, the more campers you will find there. Once I was inland, I hardly saw anyone.
PRO TIP: You are so far north, that during the summer, the sun doesn’t go down until late in the evening and rises quite early. So chances are, you will have a lot of daylight hours to rest and occupy yourself after your hike each day. I backpacked solo, so with no one to talk to, I wished I had brought a Kindle Paperwhite so I would have something to read, since I didn’t want to use use my cell phone juice to listen to podcasts or read (keep it in airplane mode – you’re not going to have any service), and didn’t want the weight of a book or solar charger.
Paddle Packing Isle Royale
Instead of backpacking, many people prefer to paddle pack through some of the 70 interior lakes of Isle Royale. You can bring your own canoe or kayak, or rent one there. You can take the ferry to your put in, and have it pick you up at the end of your paddle.
Be sure to coordinate your paddle plans with the Voyager II ferry schedule, which circumnavigates the island every other day (but not Fridays).
A popular route is from Chippewa Harbor to Mc Cargoe Cove. The hardest portage is from Chickenbone Lake to McCargoe Cove, so you may prefer to paddle north so you are carrying less food for this leg.
PRO TIP:
Remember that you will have to make one or two trips with your gear, and THEN go back and get your canoe or kayak, so take the portage length above and then times it by four or six times. I met some young people who were portaging the two miles from Moskie Basin to Lake Ritchie. It took two trips for gear, plus one for the canoe, so they hiked ten miles that day without putting their canoe in the water.
Example: Moskie Basin to Lake Ritchie = 2 miles one way
Four miles for first load of gear + four miles for the second load of gear + two miles with the canoe
What to Eat at Isle Royale
Most people BRING their own food to Isle Royale. There is a small general store at Rock Harbor for basic food and camping necessities. There is also a restaurant and grill at Rock Harbor.
If you want some great backpacking nutrition ideas, check out the Adventure Travel Show Podcast episode on backpacking food.
You usually need about 1.5 pounds of food per day (and I find you need more per day the longer your are out). This is not the time to worry about calories: in fact, you want lots of lightweight calories, and often quick carbs. Some of my “Go To’s” include peanut butter with Nutella wraps, peanut M&M’s and Snicker bars, instant mashed potatos with beef jerky, instant oarmeal, tuna packets, plus some purchased freeze-dried backpacker dinners.
Wildlife on Isle Royale
Isle Royale boasts the US’s largest moose population, so you are likely to see one or more during your visit. They love all the boggy areas, but I saw this one right outside my camp shelter (near Rock Harbor!). There are an estimated 600-2000 moose on the island. You will see lots of hoof prints and dung, and the occasional antlers shed on the ground.
Isle Royale also has a small population of gray wolves and lots of beavers and muskrats, but no bears or deer. It’s a long way to the mainland, so many animals haven’t risked the trip.
I saw a bald eagle’s nest right above the trail out to Scoville Point (see pic). You’ll also hear, if not see loons with their haunting call. Nesting season is May and June. There were several pairs swimming by the dock at Daisy Farm, and I saw a mom with two chicks in Tobin Harbor.
Plants on Isle Royale
I saw four ecosystems on Isle Royale:
- Rugged coastline. The island is surrounded by lake Superior and mostly has a rocky coastline with trees and plants that can tolerate the wind.
- Mixed hardwood forest. Fir, spruce, pine and aspen abound. There are also many woodland wildflowers and wild orchids.
- Boggy wetlands. Isle Royale’s bedrock traps the water, creating many boggy areas filled with swamp cabbage, , ferns and such.
- Exposed bedrock meadows. Where the bedrock is above the water, scrub junipers and sunny wildflowers take root in crevices holding a touch of soil.
Plan for Safety!
Isle Royale is VERY remote and help is a LONG way away. You must come prepared to self-rescue, if necessary and keep safety front and center in your planning and during your adventure.
This means making an appropriate plan and not overestimating your abilities. Many accidents happen at the end of the day when you are tired and your guard is down. YOUR CELL PHONE WILL NOT WORK!
Bring an Emergency Kit. Here is an excellent podcast with a checklist for your pack.
You will need to purify your drinking water! Check with Rangers before you head into the woods about any lake closures due to algae blooms. Here is a podcast on portable water purifiers plus a comparison list. Despite the abundance of water, Rangers say that most problems occur from dehydration, so keep your ‘tank’ full. I recommend bringing a water reservoir because it is easy to take a sip regularly without removing your pack to reach a water bottle.
Be prepared for all FOUR SEASONS even though it’s summer! Bring rainwear and thermals (jacket, and smart wool base layer top and bottom). DO NOT assume that any weather forecast you hear before your trip will be correct: Lake Superior creates its own weather. Here’s a list of my recommended gear.
Stay on the trails! Isle Royale was heavily mined in the mid-1800’s, so there are abandoned mines across the island, and you don’t want to fall into one.
Don’t get too close to a moose! If the moose changes its behavior because of your presense, you are too close. For wildlife safety tips, check out this bear safety podcast (many of the tips work for all large mammals). Although there are wolves on the island, they are very shy and you are unlikely to see or encounter one.
There aren’t any bears on Isle Royale, but many of the tips in this podcast and on the corresponding web page are helpful when dealing with moose and other large mammals.
LINKS MENTIONED:
Safety in Bear Country (good info for moose, too:)
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