Isle Royale (, ) is an
island of the Great Lakes located in the northwest of
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
and part of the U.S. state of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up
Isle Royale National Park
Isle Royale National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in Michigan.
...
.
Isle Royale is long and wide, with an area of , making it the
fourth-largest lake island in the world. In addition, it is the largest natural island in Lake Superior, the second-largest island in the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
(after
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake ...
), the third-largest in the
contiguous United States
The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...
(after
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
and
Padre Island
Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches. Meaning ''father'' in Spanish, ...
), the largest in the contiguous US with no road link to the mainland, and the
33rd-largest island in the United States.
Isle Royale is defined by the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
as
Census Tract
A census tract, census area, census district or meshblock is a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census. Sometimes these coincide with the limits of cities, towns or other administrative areas and several tracts commonly exis ...
9603 of
Keweenaw County, Michigan
Keweenaw County (, ) is a County (United States), county in the western Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county's population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous coun ...
(a county found in the state's
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...
). As of the
2000 census there was no permanent population on Isle Royale. After the island was made a national park, some existing residents were allowed to stay,
and a few leases are still in effect.
Geography
In 1875, Isle Royale was set off from
Keweenaw County, as a separate county, Isle Royale County. In 1897, the county was dissolved, and the island was reincorporated into Keweenaw County. The highest point on the island is
Mount Desor at , or about above lake level.
Isle Royale is within about from the shore of the
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
province of Ontario (near the city of
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...
), and adjacently, the state of Minnesota and is from the Michigan shore, on the
Keweenaw Peninsula
The Keweenaw Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the greater landmass of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula projects about northeasterly into Lake Superior, forming Keweena ...
, itself part of Upper Peninsula. There are no roads on the island, and wheeled vehicles or devices, other than wheelchairs, are not permitted. Rock Harbor has wheeled carts available to move personal belongings from the Rock Harbor marina to the cabins and hotel. Also, the National Park Service employs tractors and utility terrain vehicles to move items around the developed areas at Windigo, Rock Harbor, and Mott Island.
Topsoil tends to be thin, which favors trees that have horizontal root patterns such as
balsam fir,
white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce (''Picea'') and may refer to:
* '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Mountains of the United States and Canada
* ''Picea glauca
''Picea glauca'', the whi ...
, and
black spruce
''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and is tha ...
.
Interior lakes
Siskiwit Lake is the largest lake on the island. It has cold, clear water which is relatively low in nutrients. Siskiwit Lake contains several islands, including Ryan Island, the largest.
*Chicken Bone Lake
*Lake Desor
*Feldtmann Lake
*Intermediate Lake (Isle Royale)
*Lake Ritchie
*Sargent Lake
Climate
Source climate data for Isle Royale is lacking, particularly for the winter season, though general summaries of seasonal variations are available and data from nearby areas have been used to derive deductions for purposes of scientific study. For example, see the monthly temperature and precipitation table on the
Isle Royale National Park
Isle Royale National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in Michigan.
...
page.
Geology

The island is composed largely of ridges, running roughly southwest-to-northeast. The main ridge, Greenstone Ridge, is over in many places.
Greenstone belt
Greenstone belts are zones of variably metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic volcanic sequences with associated sedimentary rocks that occur within Archaean and Proterozoic cratons between granite and gneiss bodies.
The name comes from the green h ...
s are exposed, with rounded stones of
chlorastrolite
Chlorastrolite, also known as Isle Royale Greenstone, is a green or bluish green stone.Arguably the rarest gemstone in the world and one of the most valuable American gemstones. The gem quality specimens are typically found on Isle Royale, a large ...
, also known as greenstone, near and in the lake.
According to the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
, the north sides of the ridges tend to be steeper than the south sides.
Coastal areas were once submerged beneath prehistoric lake waters, and contain many tumbled boulders and other large rocks.
History
The island was a common hunting ground for native people from nearby Minnesota and Ontario. A canoe voyage of thirteen miles is necessary to reach the island's west end from the mainland.
In prehistoric times, large quantities of copper were mined on Isle Royale and the nearby
Keweenaw Peninsula
The Keweenaw Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the greater landmass of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula projects about northeasterly into Lake Superior, forming Keweena ...
. The region is scarred by ancient mine pits and trenches up to 20 meters deep.
Carbon-14
Carbon-14, C-14, C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...
testing of wood remains found in sockets of copper artifacts indicates that they are at least 6500 years old.
In ''Prehistoric Copper Mining in the Lake Superior Region'', published in 1961, Drier and Du Temple estimated that over 750,000 tons of copper had been mined from the region. However, David Johnson and Susan Martin contend that their estimate was based on exaggerated and inaccurate assumptions.
In 1670, a
Jesuit missionary named Dablon published an account of "an island called ''Menong'', celebrated for its copper." ''Menong'', or ''Minong'', was the native term for the island, and is the basis for the name of the Minong Ridge on the island.
Isle Royale was given to the United States by the 1783
treaty with Great Britain, but the British remained in control until after the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, and the
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thro ...
peoples considered the island to be their territory. The Ojibwas ceded the island to the U.S. in the 1842
Treaty of La Pointe, with the
Grand Portage Band unaware that neither they nor Isle Royale were in British territory. With the clarification to the Ojibwas of the 1842
Webster–Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty that resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (the region that later became the Dominion of Canada). Negotiated in the U ...
that was signed before the Treaty of La Pointe, the Ojibwas re-affirmed the 1842 Treaty of La Pointe in the 1844
Isle Royale Agreement, with the Grand Portage Band signing the agreement as an addendum to the 1842 treaty.
In the mid-1840s, a report by
Douglass Houghton, Michigan's first state
geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
, set off a copper boom in the state, and the first modern copper mines were opened on the island.
Evidence of the earlier mining efforts was everywhere, in the form of many stone hammers, some copper artifacts, and places where copper had been partially worked out of the rock but left in place. The ancient pits and trenches led to the discovery of many of the copper deposits that were mined in the 19th century.
The remoteness of the island, combined with the small veins of copper, caused most of the 19th-century mines to fail quickly. Between the miners and commercial loggers, much of the island was deforested during the late 19th century. Once the island became a national park in 1940, logging and other exploitive activities ended, and the forest began to regenerate.
The island was once the site of several
lake trout
The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater Salvelinus, char living mainly in lakes in Northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, laker, and grey trout. In Lake Sup ...
and
whitefish fisheries, as well as a few resorts. Today, it has no permanent inhabitants; the small communities of Scandinavian fishermen were removed by the United States National Park Service (NPS) after the island became a national park in the 1940s. About 12 families have lifetime leases for their cabins and claim Isle Royale as their heritage, and several descendant fishermen fish the Isle Royale waters commercially.
[ The western tip of the island is home to several shipwrecks that are very popular with scuba divers, including the SS ''America''. The NPS ]Submerged Resources Center The Submerged Resources Center is a unit within the United States National Park Service. The unit is based out of Lakewood, Colorado in the NPS Intermountain Region headquarters.
History
In 1976, the Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (known as SCRU ...
mapped the 10 most famous of the shipwrecks contained within the park, and published ''Shipwrecks of Isle Royale National Park; The Archeological Survey'', which gives an overview of the maritime history of the area.
The Survival of Angelique Mott
In 1845, an Ojibwe
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
woman named Angelique and her voyageur husband Charlie Mott were left on Isle Royale, as hires for Cyrus Mendenhall and the Lake Superior Copper Company. They were hired and carried to Isle Royale by Mendenhall's schooner, the "''Algonquin''", first to scout for copper. Angelique found a large mass of copper ore, upon which she and her husband were hired to stay and guard until a barge could come to retrieve it, promised in no more than 3 months' time. They were dropped off in July and were left stranded there until the following Spring. They were left with minimal provisions, which consisted of a half-barrel of flour, six pounds of butter, and some beans. A supply boat was promised to arrive after the first few weeks, but it was never sent out.
Angelique and her husband were left to survive in the wilderness with limited supplies, on an island with scarce resources. They lost their canoe in a fall storm, and their fishing net was destroyed. By January 1846, Charlie went mad with hunger and even threatened to murder and eat Angelique. He returned to himself, loving and soft, but was weakening greatly, and eventually succumbed to his starvation, dying. Angelique was forced to leave the body in the cabin and created a brush shelter for herself to live in. She survived by eating poplar bark, bitter berries, and by pulling out her own hair, plaiting the strands, and creating snares with it, by which she caught rabbits on rare occasions. In the Spring of 1846, the ''Algonquin'' returned, and brought Angelique back to her mother. She died in 1874, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
The full events were chronicled in a footnote as told by Angelique in the first printing of a book called ''The Honorable Peter White'' by Ralph D. Williams in 1907; Angelique's story was pulled from the subsequent printing, thus making it the only written record that survives. Humans haven't normally settled year-round on Isle Royale. For about three thousand years, Native Americans used the land for copper and fish. These Native Americans usually limited their visiting to the island in the summer. Americans in the nineteenth century did the same thing.
National Park
The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up Isle Royale National Park
Isle Royale National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in Michigan.
...
. It is the least visited national park in the lower 48 states.[
]
Recreational activities
Recreational activity on Isle Royale includes hiking
A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time.
"Hi ...
, backpacking
Backpacking may refer to:
* Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel
* Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness
* Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...
, fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
, boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...
, canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian.
A few of the recreational ...
, kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
, and observing nature. Wheeled vehicles are not permitted on Isle Royale, such as bicycles or canoe portage devices; however, wheelchairs are allowed.
There are numerous campgrounds, many of which are only accessible by water. There are two small settlements on the island proper: Rock Harbor, which has a resort, a marina, and basic amenities, and Windigo, a smaller facility on the far western end of the island. Both Rock Harbor and Windigo have paid showers and provisions available.
A typical National Park Service campground consists of a few shelters (cabin-like structures with one wall of mosquito
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...
-proof screen), individual tent sites with picnic table, and group camping sites. There are one or more pit toilet
A pit latrine, also known as pit toilet, is a type of toilet that collects human waste in a hole in the ground. Urine and feces enter the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for user ...
s at each facility. Campgrounds along the shore have a boat dock and overnight boaters are a common sight at some campgrounds. Waterfront locations also attract canoe
A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles.
In British English, the term ' ...
ists and kayak
]
A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...
ers. No wells are available, thus all water is usually filtered or thoroughly boiled to prevent infection by Waterborne diseases, parasites and bacteria.
Hiking
The island offers approximately of hiking trails for everything from day hikes to a two-week circumnavigation hike.[
] Some of the hiking trails are quite challenging, with steep grades. "The most popular, best marked and longest single route ...is the 40-mile Greenstone Ridge Trail that extends down the island's backbone."[ The trail leads to the peak of Mount Desor, at , the highest point on the island, and passes through northwoods wilderness, and by inland glacial lakes, swamps, bogs and scenic shorelines.][ The most difficult trail is the Minong Ridge, which has a 13-mile hike from North Lake Desor to Windigo. It passes through quick elevation changes, high plants, and miles upon miles of hiking on ridges overlooking Lake Superior.
]
Ecology
A number of habitats exist on the island, the primary being boreal forest
Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...
, similar to neighboring Ontario and Minnesota. Upland areas along some of the ridges are effectively "balds" with exposed bedrock and a few scrubby trees, blueberry bushes, and hardy grasses. Occasional marshes exist, which are typically the by-product of beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
activities. There are also several lakes, often with wooded or marshy shores. The climate, especially in lowland areas, is heavily influenced by the cold waters of Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
.
The island is well known among ecologists
This is a list of notable ecologists.
A-D
* John Aber (United States)
* Aziz Ab'Saber (Brazil)
* Charles Christopher Adams (United States)
* Warder Clyde Allee (United States)
* Herbert G. Andrewartha (Australia)
* Sarah Martha Baker ( ...
as the site of a long-term study of a predator-prey system, between moose
The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
and eastern timber wolves. L. David Mech began this study in 1958 as a graduate student at Purdue University.[''The Far Reach: The lifework of a Minnesota biologist circles the world'' by Greg Breining Pages 32-41 Minnesota Department of Resources Conservation Volunteer Magazine. January–February 2004] There is a cyclical relationship between the two animals: as the moose increase in population, so do the wolves. Eventually, the wolves kill too many moose and begin to starve and lower their reproductive rates.
Historically neither moose nor wolves inhabited Isle Royale. Just prior to becoming a national park the largest mammals on Isle Royale were Canadian lynx
A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...
and the boreal woodland caribou
The boreal woodland caribou (''Rangifer tarandus caribou''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: Taxonomy), also known as Eastern woodland caribou, boreal forest caribou and forest-dwelling caribou, is a North American subsp ...
. Archeological evidence indicates both of these species were present on Isle Royale for 3,500 years prior to being removed by direct human actions (hunting, trapping, mining, logging, fires and possibly the introduction of invasive species). The last boreal woodland caribou documented on Isle Royale was in 1925. Though Canadian lynx were removed by the 1930s some have periodically crossed the ice bridge from neighboring Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada, the most recent being an individual sighting in 1980. Though Lynx are no longer present on the island, their primary prey, snowshoe hare
The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...
s, remain. Before the appearance of wolves, coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...
s were also a predator on the island. Coyotes appeared around 1905 and disappeared shortly after wolves arrived in the 1950s. Four wolves were brought from Minnesota in 2018, after some debate as to whether the introduction was an unnatural intervention.[''A Reasonable Illusion'' by Conor Mihell Sierra Club magazine November/December 2018 issue Pages 30-35]
Other common mammals are red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
es, beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
s, and red squirrel
The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia.
Taxonomy
There have been ...
s. Some foxes are quite used to human contact, and can be seen prowling the campgrounds at dawn, looking for stray scraps left by unwary campers. For its part, the wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
is an elusive species which avoids human interaction. Few documented cases of direct wolf/human contact exist. Ermine have been periodically sighted around docks. Other mammals that can be seen include mink
Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
(along the various lake shores) and muskrats (occasionally at beaver ponds). Several species of bat
Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
also exist on the island. Reptiles include the eastern garter snake, painted turtle
The painted turtle (''Chrysemys picta'') is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in relatively slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They have been shown ...
, and northern redbelly snake. Six species of frogs
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...
and three species of salamander
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
also live on the island.
Access
The island is accessible by private boat, seaplane, three private commercial ferries, and a National Park Service ferry.
Scheduled ferry service generally runs May through September:
* From Houghton, Michigan
Houghton (; ) is the largest city and county seat of Houghton County, Michigan, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-larges ...
, the '' Ranger III'', operated by the National Park Service, makes round trips to Rock Harbor two days a week.
* From Copper Harbor, Michigan, the '' Isle Royale Queen IV'' makes daily round trips to Rock Harbor.
Settlements and visitor services
* Rock Harbor
* Windigo
References
*
External links
Satellite Image of Isle Royale from Google
* Donald Robert Hakala
''Isle Royale, Primeval Prince: A History'' (1955)
* Norman King Huber, ''The geologic story of Isle Royale National Park''
Isle Royal Travel Info
site for planning trips to Isle Royale
Life on Isle Royale in the 1930s, Dartmouth Professor J. Laurie Snell - deceased
{{Authority control
Islands of Keweenaw County, Michigan
Uninhabited islands of Michigan
Islands of Lake Superior in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
Car-free zones in the United States