Blogs from Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, United States, North America

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This was our last morning at Isle Royale National Park. I felt a little sad leaving. The kids had been amazing on the trip, and I just felt so proud of the kids for how adventurous they've been. Isle Royale National Park isn't the easiest park to get to, and it's one of the least visited in the national park system. For these reasons, I can't help but wonder if and when we'll get back. We spent the morning doing short hikes around the lodge. The kids also picked out souvenir books from the little gift shop. Joanna got North Woods Girl, and Oliver got Do Beavers Need Blankets? We listed to one last ranger talk before boarding our ferry and heading back to Copper Harbor. Thankfully, the ferry back was once again uneventful. We had ... read more
Souvenir Book
Making Bird Nests
Strolling Near Rock Harbor Lodge


We started out this morning by hiking on the Stoll Memorial Trail. There's an easy version of the loop that is about 4 miles around. We did that loop and hiked about two miles east of Rock Harbor and then looped around heading 2 miles back but on the northern side of the island. On our way, we saw some other visitors in canoes. We also saw a lot of evidence of moose: tracks and peeled bark on the trees. We never actually saw one, though. Instead of looping back early to keep the hike short, you can do a longer loop on the Stoll Memorial Trail and actually head to the far east part of the island to Scoville Point. I heard there are lovely views there, but we didn't make it that far. The ... read more
Oliver Leads the Way
Overlooking Lake Superior
We did the short loop of Stoll Memorial Trail


Today is our first full day at Isle Royale. We decided to pick up where we left off yesterday and hiked to Suzy’s Cave. It’s 1.8 miles to Suzy’s Cave, and the trail is a loop. We could walk the 3.6 miles and see something new the whole way. We started by going counter-clockwise, and this part of the hike was more forested and followed the shore on the northern part of the peninsula. There were only a few patches of mud and a few inclines. It was a moderately easy hike. We arrived at Suzy’s Cave, and it was unique compared to its surroundings. The cave had an entrance on both sides. The side closest to us was harder to access. On the opposite side, we just strolled right in. Raspberry and thimbleberry bushes surrounded ... read more
Little Hikers at Isle Royale
Paper Birch
Hiking along the shore


Nervous would be an understatement. Last time Andrew and I were in a small boat for an extended period of time, everyone on it got seasick. Vomit was splashing over everyone, and I’d considered jumping overboard to end the horrific ordeal. So, that brings us to our boat to Rock Harbor at Isle Royale. We were going with our two kids, and I was having nightmares of our kids getting that seasick on the trip over. We got Dramamine. The waves were low, so I started each kid with a quarter tablet. Oliver swallowed his, but Jo would not. I went in the store on shore and found some chewables. Thankfully, that worked better for Jo. I then started worrying about the cold if we spent a lot of time outside, spewing over the railing. I ... read more
Our first look inside Isle Royale National Park
Moose damage
Moose tracks?




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