Isle Royale National Park

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"The least visited national park in the lower 48 states." - A Park Ranger

"The most revisited national park." - The Same Park Ranger

After visiting Isle Royale (pronounced the same as "royal"), I believe both of those statements. It's easy to see why so few people visit the park; it requires a ferry ride (or a seaplane if you've got the cash). It's an island in Michigan that's closer to Canada than to the Michigan mainland (we actually got there from Minnesota).

The day started a little rough. Our RV site was 2.5 hours away, and we were due at the marina at 8:10. Rather than wake up at 5 AM, we decided to tent camp closer to our destination. We woke up to a light rain. By the time we were standing in line for the ferry, it was a steady rain. The captain said the forecast didn't look good, and if he wasn't due on the island to pick up some hikers he would have cancelled.

The owner of the ferry company offered on the spot refunds to anybody who wanted to bail. We had one shot at this, so we decided to stick it out. A number of people took him up on the offer. Too bad for them.

The boat ride over was fairly miserable in the sense that we were all stuck inside the cabin due to the rain. The water was a bit choppy, but it wasn't so extreme that anybody got sick. It was a 90 minute ride to go approximately 15 miles.

Upon arrival at the island, we were briefed by a park ranger. She gave us an overview of the island and went through some rules (e.g., stay on trails). After the briefing, we took the picture you see at the top. We then picked up some maps at the visitors center and hit the restrooms. By the time that was all done, the sun was out. We stripped off our rain gear and never put it back on. It was a gorgeous day!

The biggest downside of visiting the park as a day trip is that you don't have much time. The boat dropped us off at 10:00, and we were due back at the marina by 1:30. It's a fairly large island, and 3.5 hours isn't much time to explore it, especially on foot (which is the only option other than circumnavigating by kayak or canoe).

A running joke on this trip has been our inability to see a moose. I really want to see a moose. Everywhere we go, I remind the family that "first one to see a moose wins!" I felt like our luck was about to turn. According to Asher, Isle Royale was voted "best place to see a moose" in 2017. I have no idea if it's true, but it was enough to encourage me! With that goal in mind, we headed towards a campground which the ranger said offered us a good opportunity.

Spoiler: We did not see a moose. Or an otter. Or a wolf. Or an eagle. Or any wildlife other than squirrels (red squirrels, not the gray squirrels we had back home).

We ended up hiking a few miles through the forests, which were absolutely beautiful. I love forests that are thick enough to provide shade while still letting dappled light through The temperature was perfect, and we encountered very few bugs (both of which I'll freely admit bias me towards a place, irrespective of the natural beauty). We ate our packed lunch by a creek, and it was wonderful.

We definitely maximized our time because we made it back to the marina with all of about 2 minutes to spare. As beautiful as the island was, we weren't eager to spend the night with no supplies!

The boat ride back was much better. Blue sky and sunshine. It was choppy, but Caleb didn't mind.

He was soaked by the time we got back

"The most revisited national park."

We all want to go back. If we ever get the opportunity, we'll spend a few nights on the island so that we can explore more of it.

Location: Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, USA

Comments

  1. JulieOctober 12, 2021 at 5:41 PM

    After reading this I realized one of the reasons it's the most revisited national park. There isn't a lot of time and I'm guessing not many people backpack there the first time. -Asher

    ReplyDelete

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