Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park

It is a magical place and in many hiker’s opinions, the best backpacking in the Midwest. I have always enjoyed not only my time on the island but the adventure of getting there and back. One fall I spent a good deal of the six hour boat ride back to the mainland listening to Rolf Peterson and his wife talk about their ongoing wolf study on the island. The Isle Royale wolf-moose survey is the longest running predator-prey study in the world, now in its 45th year. Peterson has conducted the study for the last 33 years.
I found not only the wolf study interesting but also their personal life, raising a family on the island during the summers.
Hikers are lucky to see a wolf, or hear them for that matter. They blend extremely efficiently into the island’s surroundings. At night it is more common to hear the haunting sound of the loon and the waves lapping on shore seeping through the tent walls.
The Greenstone Ridge Trail is heavily used by the 20,000 plus annual visitors. It offers the most impressive views. Overlooks such as Mt. Ojibway and Mt. Franklin position hikers to see the northern end of the island and the rest of the archipelago as well as the Minnesota and Canadian shore.
Backpackers do not have to worry about bear on the island but hanging food is still a necessity if you want to hang on to gear. Squirrels will chew through your pack and eat with you but the fox prefer to steal your food and gear and eat alone. You can go home one booted if you are not careful.
It is tempting to feed camp beggars. They come in close and bold and look cute and needy. The problem is they are habituated to camps because many prior visitors have already broken the no feed rule. There is a saying on the island, "a fed fox is a dead fox." This goes for all wildlife in all wilderness areas. It is not a diet that will keep them alive during the winter months and their boldness will eventually turn to conflict—with conflict wildlife always loses.
This isolated island will only continue to be a unique ecosystem if campers are responsible in their actions. Here, as everywhere, you must remember, "Leave No Trace."
My first visit to Isle Royale was in late season, 1972. It is the time of the year that brings the least visitation to the least visited National Park in the lower 48. Even today the number of fall visitors rarely approaches 200. Yellowstone National Park has more visitors in one day than Isle Royale has in a year, and Isle Royale is the only national park to completely close down for the winter. My other backpacking trips to Isle Royale have been late summer. The end of August could be considered late season for the park. Like the western mountain parks, visitation is waning, seasonal rangers are shipping out, park concessions are shutting down, students are heading back to the classrooms and the park pace ebbs.
Another plus for late August is the fact that the weather can still be incredibly hospitable and the bugs, for the most part, have all frozen to death. You see more wildlife, you hear less noise, the campgrounds are not full and often empty.
In the crisp morning air you can expect to round a bend in the trail and find a moose belly deep in still water that is reflecting a mirror image of the shoreline bordered by white birch, decomposing aspen and cattails withering away along a rocky shoreline. This is a land of rock and wetland bog. In a healthy year there will be a couple thousand moose sharing the island with a small pack of wolves. For this reason it is wise to purify drinking water. I do not normally purify my water but on Isle Royale there seems to be a lot more wildlife using the accessible water sources. I think the chance is remote but I have heard the tapeworm stories and figure that treating water is a safe bet in this environment. That said, on my recent pack trip there I did not treat water.
The vegetation is often encroaching on the trail system. On a cold drizzly day you can expect your clothing to brush against the waterlogged vegetation and soak your gear.
The island offers a variety of trails from the well used system just outside the Rock Harbor city limits, to the rugged Minong Trail, originally constructed for fire fighting access.
By any measure, the Isle Royale wilderness is in the fullest Midwest sense—remote. Trails weaving through the park’s forested ridges can offer you a backpacking experience not found anywhere else. Paths entwine to create plenty of loop trip options. It is a safe place to wander if you don’t mess with the moose, and the terrain is gentle and friendly to those in decent physical shape.
The islands woods here harbor a lot of history for those who take the time to discover it. Late summer berries are ripe for the taking, and you do not have to worry about Yogi competition.
The experience could be your first glimpse, or sound bite (no pun intended) of a wolf—but don’t plan on it. You will find many other treasured wilderness moments along the Superior shoreline of this National Park System jewel. —Keep Smilin’, Dick E. Bird