Isle Royale Forums

1st time to the island.

Going for 5 days 4 nights.

Headed in Monday morning from copper harbor. Planning on going

Rock harbor to daisy farm

Daisy farm to mac cargo cove

Mac cargo to Moskey

Moskey to three mile,

Three mile to rh

Only other question is we are hammock campers, see any issues with any of these sites?


Have experience backpacking and looking forward to this trip!

Greetings Black71GP, and welcome to the forums,

You have a great first trip planned; you're going to get to see a few of the great spots on IR.

All your campsites have shelters at them, but don't count on them being open. That being said, I've never had to use the camp ground at Rock Harbor or McCargoe. Moskey and Daisy have camp sites that have trees sufficient for hammocks. I can't really recall Three Mile enough to make a definite statement.

You have no idea how jealous I am of your trip. I'm really missing IR this A.M. as the weather conditions here in the Twin Ports felt like the early mornings on the island. Have an amazing trip, and please come back and share your adventure with us.

Thanks! I am hoping for no shelters, hammock makes sleeping so amazing. So hopefully will be able to pull that in.

Thanks for the input looking forward to this trip a lot. Gonna be a great time for my gf and I. I will for sure post when I get back and photos and experience.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something crazy with my planned routes, I like doing a loop more than back and forth as often as possible so this seemed to work well for me.

Black71gp wrote:Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something crazy with my planned routes, I like doing a loop more than back and forth as often as possible so this seemed to work well for me.

Hopefully this will help relieve your concerns:

Rock Harbor to Daisy Farm: 7.1 miles; easy, flat hike, no ups-and-downs. Lots of rocks to trip over along the lake, however.

Daisy Farm to McCargoe Cove: 8.2 miles; hike up the Greenstone, then go east toward Chickenbone if you want to avoid the same trail you'll use in and out of Moskey. The hike up the Greenstone is a little laborious, but once you're on the Greenstone, it's an easy hike. The Greenstone is like a highway. You can take the Chickenbone east trail around the east side of the lake if you want to avoid seeing the same trail twice tomorrow. Prepare for some beautiful scenery around Chickenbone.

McCargoe to Moskey Basin: 8.4 miles; You'll take the Chickenbone West trail to the Chickenbone West campsite, you'll drop onto the Indian Portage trail toward Lake Richie and then over to the east to Moskey. The trail has some ups and down, but isn't too hard.

Moskey Basin to Three Miles: 8.3 miles; Easy hike back to Daisy through some birch and pine stands, over a stream or two, and then along some low rock ridges, then the same trail as day one from Daisy to Three Mile.

Three Mile to Rock Harbor: 2.7 miles...almost three...so the campground isn't just a clever name. This will be a back-track from your day one hike, but a very short one. Easy hike, as with your first day.

Awesome. That helps a bunch and the exact way I was thinking of going! Don't wanna over do it and wanna enjoy everything along the way. Figured that's a good 1st trip to the island

If you're in good shape, and are an experienced backpack (as you may be, as indicated by your hammocks), you'll be fine. Be sure to stop at the top of the trail out of Daisy Farm and look for a nice rock outcropping that overlooks the north part of the island. You can see all the way to Canada and makes a good photo spot: https://goo.gl/photos/hbvZe3HD2kPPgBE47

In McCargoe, there's a community fire ring to enjoy. You probably won't be alone in camp, so go make some friends down there. The docks is an amazingly relaxing place around dusk, and you'll probably see some otters, beavers, or moose down there. It's also your best spot to see some Northern Lights, should they be active.

Stop in Lake Richie's campsite and have lunch on the rocks that overlook the lake on day three, on your way to Moskey.

In Moskey, I'd encourage you to get the shelter on the "point" of the basin. It's a little isolated and offers a great night's sleep. I think its shelter #3.

Are you fishing while on the island?

Thanks again for those tips. All very helpful

Not planning on any fishing this time. Just a nice escape from the busy life. And maybe a special question for the girlfriend. Lol.

Black71gp wrote:Not planning on any fishing this time. Just a nice escape from the busy life. And maybe a special question for the girlfriend. Lol.

Holy wow, brother. Talk about a great way to make an amazing trip more amazing. Let us know how it goes, travel safely, and happy hiking.

How funny, I was on the island with my Scouts, and saw this very happy couple! Nice shiny ring!

Wasn't me!! I'll be headed to the island tomorrow but apparently not the only with this idea

Hope you're enjoying the hammocking! We leave tomorrow a.m. with the same plan coming from WIndigo to RH. Same plan hammocking, that is! Enjoy! Hope she said (says) yes!