Tent Camping Questions

[MavTech77]

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Can you tent camp anywhere you can find a spot near the trail (without needing a back country permit)? or only at established camp grounds?

I read a lot of mentions about shelters being full and not to set up a tent at a shelter site. At these camp grounds with shelters are there also places to pop a tent? Sorry, having never been there i am a bit lost.

[IncaRoads]

Welcome to the Isle Royale Forums.

Can you tent camp anywhere you can find a spot near the trail (without needing a back country permit)?

The short answer is no. See the post which explains the rules/procedures for off-trail backcountry camping at Isle Royale National Park.
Link---> http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1057

At these camp grounds with shelters are there also places to pop a tent?

Yes. All of the campgrounds have tent only sites.

[Base654]

The campgrounds are set up quite nicely. Most people gravitate to the shelters, so they fill first. I have never been to a campground that was completely full. Even if all the tent sites are occupied, most campers are willing to share their site with you (they are setup for multiple tents). I wouldn't worry about finding a place to sleep. campgrounds are generally sized for the amount of people that frequent each site. i.e. Daisy has 19ish sites, lots of people go there, Desor has 3, not many there.

For your first trip, I would stay away from back country camping. it's hard to tell from a map where you can plan to stop for the night. some spots look like a perfect little clearing, but are actually swamps.

[bobcat]

When all the shelters are taken, and all the tent sites are taken, ask to double up on a tent site somewhere where there is only one tent and room for another. If it is really crowded, look to the group sites if they are not occupied. And when the group sites are also taken, then plead your case and ask to share a shelter. I have doubled up on tent sites several times, and slept in an open area near the picnic shelter at Daisy Farm, and one time was offered (and gratefully accepted) a tent pad in a group site with a Boy Scout troop. So, yes, the campsites can fill up. These four events took place at Rock Harbor, Daisy Farm, West Chickenbone, and twice I have hiked or kayaked on upon finding 3-Mile full to overflowing.

One more Isle Royale etiquette thing- if it has been raining for a day and a half straight, a shelter is never full until everyone who wants in is in!

[chief54]

Back in the 70's, there was a gale blowing and the ferries were shut for 2 days and there were 10 of us holed up in a shelter at Rock Harbor.All the shelters were full and folks were arriving constantly for ferries back to mainland. I was stationed in Duluth in the U.S. Coast Guard on the buoy tender USCGC Woodrush that worked all the aids to navigation, buoys, lighthouses, etc. on the lake. I had been dropped off in Windigo 10 days earlier and the Woodrush made it out to island a day before the ferries and picked me up. See picture. People were amazed that I rated a pick up by the Coast Guard. I never let on that I was in and that was my ship. I watched one of my shelter mates draw the Wanted Poster for the Daisy Farm Kid and came across it again 30+ years later in shelter, I guess people had been keeping it up all these years. I have an original picture when it was drawn and this from early 2000's when I found it again. So yes you can double or triple or ..... in the shelters.