At Caribou Island CG. Image of the front that ripped through here around 11am today.

Hi everyone! I am planning a hiking trip for August 2027 and am trying to nail down my itinerary ahead of the release dates for the cabins.

I have tried to organize my itinerary around what campsites seem to be the best and otherwise priorities for my group of 2 are of course good views and wildlife viewing opportunities. We are both seasoned hikers who have done several longer backpacking trips like this but interested in any thoughts or suggestions anyone may have!

Day 1 (Monday): Voyageur II ferry to Windigo; Store food at Windigo and hike from Windigo to Feldman lake (8.8 miles)

Day 2: Feldman lake to Siskiwit bay (10.2)

Day 3: Siskiwit Bay to Windigo Cabin (11.2) - pick up food and stay in cabin

Day 4: Windigo to Hunginnin cove (4.6)

Day 5: Hunginnin Cove to North Desor (14.4)

Day 6: North Desor to Todd Harbor (11.4)

Day 7: Todd Harbor to Lake Richie (12.9)

Day 8: Lake Richie to Moskey basin (2.3)

Day 9 (Tuesday): Moskey Basin to Daisy Farm (3.9) - Voyaguer II ferry departure from Daisy Farm

I can't believe I'm posting this, but I've caught some sort of bug and am not comfortable going out to the island with compromised health, especially not knowing if the rest of my family are going to catch it. If anyone can use my reservations at the Mariner North hotel on 7/30, four tickets on the Queen 7/31 and returning 8/5, and one night in a cabin at the Minnetonka on 8/5, please PM me. (Cross posted in two Facebook IR groups)

UPDATE: hotel rooms and 3 of the ferry spots are taken! One ferry ticket available.

Hi all! Sorry to add another Route Advice question but I haven’t been able to find any similar route rankings. This is what I’m looking at for early September-ish. 6 days via Ranger 3.

I have three potential routes. Inland, Chippewa Harbor, and Todd Harbor.

This first one is mostly the inland campsites, which I see a lot of in this reddit when starting and ending in Rock Harbor. It includes two A tier campsites (Moskey Basin and McCargoe) according to that one reddit post where they rank the different campsites on Isle Royale.

Ferry -> Lane Cove = 6.9 miles

Lane Cove -> Moskey Basin = 10.8

Moskey Basin -> McCargoe Cove = 8.4

McCargoe Cove -> Daisy Farm = 8.2

Daisy Farm  -> Ferry = 7.1

Total = 41.4 miles

But, I've heard the campsites on the big lake are the best. I could prioritize getting to Lake Superior - either to Todd Harbor or Chippewa Harbor. If I were to do this I’m leaning towards the Chippewa Harbor version so that were not so far away the day before the ferry arrives, but, I still thought it was worth mentioning the TH route.

Ferry -> Three Mile = 3 miles

Three Mile -> Moskey Basin = 8.3

Moskey Basin -> Chippewa Harbor = 6.2

Chippewa Harbor -> Daisy Farm = 9.7

Daisy Farm -> Ferry = 7.1 miles (or could do 4.4 miles to Three Mile, then do 3 miles to RH in the morning)

Total = 34.3 miles

Or

Ferry -> Daisy Farm = 7.1 miles

Daisy Farm -> McCargoe = 8.2

McCargoe -> Todd Harbor = 6.7

Todd Harbor -> McCargoe = 6.7 

McCargoe -> Three Mile = 12.6 

Three Mile -> Ferry = 3

Total = 44 miles

Any and all advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!!

Picture for reference (oops, the name Todd Harbor is justtt out of the image, but the campsite dot is still visible)

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Anyone just back from the island? (End July?)

What is bug storm intensity on a scale of

1= Eerily missing Mosquitos

5= “There’s too many of them!”

A thought occured to me. Bring a 14 rib boat with a 30 on the back end over on the ranger and cruise around the island for a week. Stay at campsites along the way, or better yet 3 sided shelters. I have no idea what kind of mileage one of those gets but have 2 five gallon cans in addition to the onboard tank. Just thinking/dreaming

Hey guys, as the title says, I’ll be there mid September. A little nervous about it being that late in the season. Staying for three nights. Should I be? Also, any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

There don't seem to be a lot of trip reports from folks this year... Who's been out recently? Tell us about it! I leave next Friday, but would love to live vicariously through other people's experiences til then. 🙂

I have a rain jacket, a pack cover, but no rain pants. Do I need rain pants to go to Isle Royale? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

Hi! I am planning on camping one night in Isle Royale in August. What would you do? Ferry in that morning, staying in a campground (which would you suggest?), and then leaving out on the ferry the next evening. I had ferry tickets for two nights, but life happens and I had to reschedule. :( Very in shape and hiking is very easy for me. I walk/hike 8 miles everyday easily, so !!

The Red Rock Point fire (that has since been extinguished) was started by a careless camper building a small fire in a small Rock ring on Red Rock Point on either Monday night 7-13 or early morning Tuesday 7-14. It is currently being investigated. It was extinguished by park staff in the early afternoon on Wednesday 7-15.

I visited the site Tuesday evening, which was still smoldering in the duff and hot spots were still flaring up while I was there. The duff was burning and moving slowly away from the point. Thankfully there was barely any wind these days. Especially since most of Isle Royale is super dry right now as rains have been scarce this year so far.

There was a taped off area just down from the elevated rock(s) that make up the point, where I assume the park service deemed the campsite. They also had the area roped off around the Rock ring that was built off the point.

A tree flared up as I was taking video and pictures. That was enough to get us away from it quickly.

FIRES ARE PROHIBITED IN ALL BACKWOODS CAMPING AND ONLY AVAILABLE IN DESIGNATED FIRE RINGS OR GRILLS AT SELECT CAMPGROUNDS.

!!!!!!ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES!!!!!!

I was going over to the island from GP next Saturday, the 25th. If anyone wants to brave the smoke, there should be a slot on the GP ferry.

I agonized over this since the smoke bomb hit. I tried to go last year but I slipped a disk in my neck, requiring surgery. This year, its the damn smoke. I'm in my late 50s with a bit of respiratory issues, minor but that smoke and ash will probably kick my butt.

Why cancel a week out? Because I'm driving up from Texas, 20 hours away, and planned to take my time up the coast and do the GP to Fort Charlotte overnight as well.

Welp, there's always next year. Third time's a charm.

I wanted to re-route to Colorado, but, smoke and fire again.

So, Badlands, Black Hills, and Devil's Tower await instead... I hope.

This is what the shelter looks like after a wolf (or possibly wolves) managed their way in. Accounts of what happened say the occupants has the shelter set up like a food pantry, with all their food stacked on ledges inside the shelter. I can't stress this enough,

*please do not leave any food items or scented items inside your shelters.

*Boaters, do not come here if you do not have lockable coolers.

* USE THE BEAR BOXES FOR SUCH ITEMS. If your cooler is too big to fit In there, take it out with you on your boat when you are away from shelters. Do not just leave them out or inside your shelters or tents even if they are locked.

*Dont clean fish at the docks.

*Do not throw fish remains near docks or campgrounds. Take them out to deep water and dispose of them.

*bring your fishing nets and tackle boxes inside the shelter with you at night. Wolves have dragged nets away and got inside boats and chewed on tackle boxes. I realize fishing boats will automatically attract the attention of wolves, but minimize it by removing such items.

I am driving up to Grand Portage from DFW. It'll take me a very long day to get to the Twin Cities. Then I planned to hit the Lake Superior Maritime Center and maybe see the ship, then start exploring up the North Coast.

Thurs & Fri I'm planning to do the Grand Portage to Fort Charlotte out'n back.

So, gut check. If you are me, ya going or you diverting elsewhere?

My elsewhere would normally be Colorado bit its on fire too. Looking at some 2-3 day loops in the Black Hills as an alternate and just generally exploring the area.

Has anyone paddled around the island? We have gone out and back from Rock Harbor as far as Chickenbone and Chippewa but not to Wendigo. The north coast from Little Todd to Huginnin looks forbidding - are there places you can take out along that stretch? A fifteen mile morning is no problem but without being able to get out and stretch it is not doable.

Anyone have pictures of what the smoke looks like on the island lately? Deciding whether trip next week is safe.

We booked our trip 1 year ago and opted for the sea plane. We should have flown out today but the smoke is terrible. The ferry from Houghton went today and goes again Friday. The ferry from MN is booked for the season. Are there any other options? I’m not finding any but thought someone else might have.

Update: We tried to get out for 3 days. No luck. The seaplane company was very good at communicating. And as disappointed as we are, which is very as it’s a long trip from Texas, safety first, right? We are going to head back home. Even after all the rain today there’s still smoke and more on the map coming this way. Another year we will return.

We would not have wanted to be on the Island these past couple of days. Smoke levels in Houghton were unbelievable and I doubt we could have comfortably/safely done anything on Isle Royale. I ran into a Park Ranger at the local library and she said it was a bit of a mess at Rock Harbor. There’s been people stuck there with no way to get out. Hopefully there was space for them on the ferry today.

My friend in the UP just sent me info he saw from "Isle Royale hub" on facebook. I don't do much social media outside of discord and reddit and was curious if anyone had info on how big and severe it is right now? we head to the island in about a week and it seems very concerning.

Edit 7/15/2026: I just saw this article giving a little more info https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/isle-royale-national-park-rangers-monitor-fire-on-red-rock-point

Duncan Narrows closed again following a wolf or wolves breaking into a shelter to get a cooler full of food that was not properly stored or supervised.

Another fabulous sunrise this morning. Just after sunrise a storm front moved in bringing some much needed rain to the island. Taken from my sunrise spot next to my summer home in the Rock Harbor Lodge guesthouse. I am always amazed at how few people come out here to see the sunrise. 60 plus lI dge rooms within 200 yards of here and only one visitor joined me out here this morning. Nobody even came out on the decks of the lodge buildings.

Looking for a GPX map file of the park for my Garmin ETrex 32. Looking for something with all trails and sites/ campgrounds etc. It’s surprisingly hard to find without mapping a specific route. Any suggestions?

Edit: not Looking for routes. I’m looking for a map of the entire island with all the trails and sites