Backpacking on Isle Royale

Jeff and I have backpacked a good portion of the island. We’ve see all the campgrounds accessible by two feet excpet for: Malone Bay, Todd Harbor and Lane Cove. Although many more are only accessible by kayak/canoe/ferry. Most of the campsites reachable by foot we have camped in, although some we just passed through or had lunch.

The information section was taken from Isle Royale’s homepage. This is all written by me, but Jeff has given me his comments and I’ve added them.

No campground on Isle Royale is a bad campground. They are all very beautiful and which is a person’s favorite is very subjective.

I like having a nice shelter also. Isle Royale has many 3 sides shelters with a screen acting as the 4th side. They keep out the bugs, give added insulation from the wind and rain, and generally make sleeping and backpacking easier. And all campsites are, relatively, near a water source.

Equipment

Bring all of your standard equipment, but make sure you bring cold weather clothing. Lake Superior gets cold at night and even in the summer temperatures can drop. On the ridges and all summer long temperatures can reach high temperatures. Extra socks and waterproof shoes/boots are very helpful.

Costs The largest lump cost will be the ferry tickets. They will cost anywhere from $70-90, depending on where you are leaving from. The prices change, so check the ferries for their current rates. Next you have the $4 per day per person User Fee. 2 people on the island for 5 nights would cost $40 total. If you already have your equipment the only other costs are your food, gas and personal vices. 5 days is going to cost anywhere from $50 to $100. It is an art form, getting your camping food. On the island you’ll want some cash. The snack bar is expensive, but nothing beats an order of greasy fries.

The grocery sells most camping supplies… extra batteries, can fooded, some freeze dried food, some fresh food, cigars, magazines, and other junk. Their supplies are mostly stuff you shouldn’t buy.. like ramens and canned food before your journey. The visitor center sells neat pins, books, posters, maps and dates with the Rangers. You could pull the trip off for under $150, but it would be hard, especially if you have to drive far. I usually spend $200-$300 on the trip. And I usually wish I had more money. A few times we barely had enough to pay our bridge tax coming into the lower pennisula.

The Trails

Most trails are not for beginners. Either they are rocky or muddy or you have to balance across logs as not to fall in a beaver pond. Mud mud mud. Isle Royale is usually very wet when you are not on the ridges. Expect climbing over rock faces (nothing really steep), up ridges, down ridges, through wet grass in the morning and across streams.

Usually you can expect to travel a little slower than your average pace. 2 miles an hour is probably the Isle Royale average, although that’s just a guess.

Water

Water filtering and purification is necessary. The large moose herd makes inland lakes full of girardia and tapeworms and well, who knows what else. Lake Superior probably won’t have the girardia, but it is still best to filter, or boil (roiling boil for at least 2 minutes.) Apparently water tablets don’t work on Isle Royale.

The Ridges

Isle Royale has 3 main ridges and a few smaller ones. The largest is the Greenstone Ridge which is the backbone of the whole island and runs pretty much from one end to the other. The Minong Ridge is on the northwest half of the island and runs about halfway across the island. The Minong is probably the roughest and hardest Ridge to hike. Lastly is the the Feldtmann Ridge.

The Feldtmann is much smaller and lies on the southwestern end of the island and is approximately 13-15 miles long. Each ridge has its own personality and each afford many spectacular views across the island.

The Campgrounds

Here is a fairly comprehesive description of the campsites. Each has an image map at the top of the page. Click on the campground to be taken to the description, or just pan down the screen and read them.

As a rule of thumb, shelters are only at campgrounds that are near to Lake Superior. This is true also picnic tables. Harbors and Coves are also included in this rule of thumb. Fires are allowed only in a few places. These areas are usually touching Lake Superior also.

Distances are to campground within or near 10 miles. For a great mileage chart please see the links below. One important note is that each year trails change. The Park Services moves them to keep them from getting too beaten down, or to protect wildlife or endangered plants. So, these distances should be used as a guide.

The long-term goal of this section is to include:

Two pictures of each campground

Flora fauna

Site map

Description of points of interest, mines, lookouts.. ect.

Western End of the Island

Eastern End of the Island

A map of the Island This is the map they hand out at the Ranger Station (188Kb)

What’s Missing

Todd Harbor, Malone Bay, and Lane Cove. I’ll add the information and anything that isn’t subjective as soon as I’m finished with what I know about the others.

Suggested Campgrounds

On the western side of the Island I’d try to hit Feldtmann and Huginnin. On the eastern end McCargo and Chippewa Harbor are two of the greatest.

Mileage Chart* An amazing milage chart. And an amazing website.