Backpack the East Half of Isle Royale.

Eagle Harbor Township, Michigan

Description

It's one of the least visited national parks, about as many visitors yearly as Yellowstone gets in a day.The sky! A rock in the middle of Lake Superior, need I say more? No light pollution and a million stars to see every night. Even the occasional Aurora, if you're lucky.The wildlife. Isle is the longest going study of predator/prey relations between wolves and moose, mainly because there are no other animals that act as variables to the study (i.e. Deer, Bear, etc). That's right, this far north and no bears, the squirrels will fight for some trail mix though. Other wildlife ranges from otters to fox, loons to trout.The people. While few and far between (I've gone 3 days in the park without seeing anyone outside my group), the people you will meet are the perfect definition of backpackers.The land. if you live in Michigan or are familiar with it, you'll know the Lower Peninsula can be rather boring while the Upper Peninsula is an wilderness playground. Trust me, if your idea of Michigan is the Lower, you'll think Isle Royale belongs to Canada when you first arrive. After all, you can see the Sleeping Giants looking north from the Ridge.

Trip: 6 Days, 40 miles.Many other routes to take, my personal favorite from my experiences.

Take a ferry to the island, either from Houghton, MI, Copper Harbor, MI (personal favorite), or Grand Portage, MN. Also a seaplane available out of the Houghton Airport. Travel to Rock Harbor, Isle Royale (3-4 hours depending on the means of transportation). Hike from Rock Harbor to Three Mile campground, 2.7 miles. Rest for night. Hike Three Mile to Moskey Basin campground. 8.3 miles. Rest for night. Hike Moskey Basin to McCargo Cove, 8.6 miles. Rest for night. OPTIONAL: Hike 1 mile to Minong Copper Mines, will not disappoint. Hike McCargo Cove to Daisy Farm via Greenstone Ridge (400 ft max elevation change) 8.2 miles, rest for night. Hike Daisy Farm to Rock Harbor, 7.1 miles. Take Greenstone Ridge & stop at both the Ojibwa Fire Tower and Mt. Franklin. Rest for night. Day hike out to Scoville Point (4 mile round trip) board ferry from Rock Harbor.

Download the Outbound mobile app

Find adventures and camping on the go, share photos, use GPX tracks, and download maps for offline use.

Get the app

Features

Survival

Fishing

Photography

Kayaking

Backpacking

Hiking

Forest

Lake

Romantic

Scenic

Wildflowers

Wildlife

Backpack the East Half of Isle Royale. Reviews

Have you done this adventure? Be the first to leave a review!

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

Nearby

Backpack Isle Royale 'Eastern Half' Loop

My boyfriend and I did this loop in August of 2018. This was our first trip to Isle Royale, and we planned out this specific loop based on our previous hiking experiences, as well as to try and see a lot of different areas of the island in the limited time frame we had. The weather was fantastic except for 1-2 nights of a little rain, and not much trouble from bugs (I honestly don't remember an...

Backpack Isle Royale NP's Greenstone Ridge Trail

Isle Royale National Park consists of Isle Royale, a fifty mile long and nine mile wide island in Lake Superior, and about 45 smaller islands around (and within) it. Remote and undeveloped, the shores can be visited by watercraft, but the only way to see the interior is to walk across it. Because the island has only one large predator population (wolves) and one large prey population (moose), i...

Backpack Windigo to South Lake Desor, Isle Royale NP

This guide assumes that hikers have already made their journey by either float plane or charter ship to the Windigo Port on the West end of the island of Isle Royale National Park.As mentioned above, this section hike of the Greenstone Ridge Trail partitions off one of the NUMEROUS options one can take when planning a backpacking route across the island. If you don't have multiple days to hike ...

Hike to Huginnin Cove in Isle Royale NP

Huginnin Cove is located on the west side of the island close to Windigo and is a great day hike. Many people feel it's an even better overnight trip. If you're going to be spending the night on the island, you must first go through the orientation with park staff and then get your permit. There are many campgrounds to choose from and this completely depends on how much time you have. For a...

Backpack to Moskey Basin

While it is only accessible by boat or plane, Isle Royale National Park is well worth the added travel arrangements. We took the Ranger III Ferry out of Houghton, MI, but there are a few other options depending on where you depart from (www.nps.gov). Upon arrival at Rock Harbor, the first day is a fairly flat 7 miles following the Rock Harbor Trail, which heads West along the southern coast of ...

Backpack 5 Nights on the East Side of Isle Royale

The trip starts with a ferry trip to Rock Harbor. Depending on where you are coming from there are a few options. The ferries generally run from May through September and they are weather dependent. Other options include chartering a plane or private scow.Ferries come from Copper Harbor, MI, Houghton, MI, and Grand Portage, MN. Once to Isle Royale (Rock Harbor), you will receive a short orienta...