Isle Royale Forums

My husband and I are planning our first time trip to IR for the first week of June. We have a suggested route for light back packing in a 4-day time frame. We know we have to bless and release what we can't see due to the short amount of time, but would like to see both ends...get a good representation of what the island has to offer.

Day 1: Grand Portage to Rock Harbor, overnight there camping
Day 2: Catch Voyageur to Windigo, stay there overnight
Day 3: Hike out to Huginin Cove..overnight there
Say 4: Back to Windigo to catch ferry back to Grand Portage

My concern is with first come, first serve camping at Rock Harbor...and not getting there til 3 pm, how likely are we to get a camp site there? If I understand it, we would have to hike out to Three Mile if we can't camp there...and then the boat leave Rock Harbor for Windigo at 8am the next morning...so would rather not have to get up and hike in the dark to get back to the boat from Three-Mile.

Opinions on "best 4 -day itinerary with minimal backpacking distances"(back issues) welcome!

Another Question...Caveat...We really need to leave/return Grand Portage.....is Rock Harbor a must see? Would our time be better served to just stay on the West end?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forums.

It is true that four days won't give you much time to see the island. With your current itinerary you are going to be spending most of your time on a boat or in the areas that people run away from; the built up areas. Rock harbor and Windigo are nice little places to visit, but aren't much different than other national park reception areas. They each have a little store, a ranger station, bathrooms, shower house,etc adnauseam. I would suggest picking one side of the island or the other and getting away from "civilization". Either end has it's merits, but since you are coming coming from Grand Portage, I would suggest staying on that end of the island and do a loop around Feldtmann lake if the back can handle it.

To answer your other questions, Rock Harbor camp ground does tend to fill early in the day. most of the time if the campground is full, you can ask to share a site or a shelter with others. most are more than happy to make room. I have met some great people by sharing. But, yes, if all else fails you have to move on to the next campground...unless that one is full too... I have never had to "move on"

I like Rock harbor at the end of my trip for a hot shower, beer and burger, nut don't waste two days of boat rides for it.


Others will have more and better info about the ferries. Isle Royale Seaplanes has also opened service from Grand Marias which might give you more hours.

Have fun

How are you getting from Grand Portage to RH on Day 1? If it's the Voyageur, and if you want to change the balance of walking and boat riding, another option would be to get off earlier, and go the rest of the way to RH on foot, e.g.:

Day one: Voyageur to McCargoe; explore/overnight there
Day two: Backpack to Daisy Farm; stay there
Day three: Backpack to Rock Harbor; explore/stay there
Day four: Voyageur from RH to Grand Portage

A third option would be to get off the first day in Windigo, and spend your time exploring the west end---day hiking and/or overnight trips on the Huginin or Feldtmann loops.

The main advantage of your plan is seeing whole island from the water, if you enjoy being on a boat. And if you enjoy lighthouses you will pass 4 at varying distances. The main attraction of Rock Harbor is the Stoll Trail out to Scoville Pt, which may be the prettiest hike on the island. And it's flat and a pretty easy trail. So I would definitely plan to do that--grab a site, a bite to eat, take water, maybe another snack, camera, and a headlamp (just in case) and head out. Getting a site at RH should not be a problem, although you may have to double up, as pointed out--it's the Isle Royale way, and the rangers usually mention it in the orientation. It's not unlikely the shelters could be full, but there's plenty of tent sites there also.

On the Windigo end, Huginnin Cove is a beautiful spot to spend a night. And the Washington Creek campground at Windigo is very nice also--the shelters are lined up on a creek which the moose like to frequent, as well as lots of waterfowl--I've seen swans there. You may want to swap Huginnin and Washington Creek depending on the weather, since WC has shelters and Huginnin doesn't. But getting back for the boat from Huginnin is not an issue.

As far as alternatives, I've done a relaxed 3 night Windigo trip: Washington Creek, Huginnin Cove, and back to Washington Creek. A good bit of hanging out, reading, and wandering around taking pictures. There's also a nice hike a few miles down the Feldtmann trail along the harbor to the Grace Creek overlook. And other out and back options on the Greenstone or Minong trails. I'd consider this unless you really want to see the whole island or Rock Harbor for the sake of Rock Harbor.

You could also do the Feldtmann Loop, but it doesn't sound like that fits your "minimal backpacking distances" with 8-10 mile days. Similarly, I like the suggestion of McCargoe to Rock Harbor, but not sure about the distances for you. That does give you the opportunity to get up on the Greenstone ridge, however, which is one significant feature of the island you otherwise will miss.

And my last thought would be a Rock Harbor-Three Mile-Daisy Farm trip with the Voyageur II picking you up at Daisy Farm. You could go from 3 mile to Daisy Farm via the ridge, or just follow the shore and do a day hike or two from Three Mile and/or Daisy if the packs are too much of an issue for the back. Mt Franklin and Mt Ojibway both have great views of the island and Canadian shore. This is the busiest part of the island, but that's all relative and is still early in the season. So the more I think about it, the more I like this as a first short and easy trip.

Just remember there's no bad choice here . Doing just Windigo and the Huginnin loop would be my more relaxed, removed, and easy trip; RH to Daisy would be my let's get more in without breaking the back trip. You will have a great time either way and will understand why most folks do what they can to keep coming back.

Thanks so much for your responses. All great options and gives us more to consider. Love this forum for the wealth of information!
Thanks so much for your help. Looking at ferry schedules and working the plan.
Pam