Isle Royale Forums

This forum has been a great resource for my first time visitor information. Hopefully this trip paddle report will be helpful to others wondering if they should bring a canoe, or rent one as part of their IR experience. We brought our boat, the weather cooperated, and were rewarded with views and hikes unavailable from the land only.

My opinion is that it is worth bringing your boat (or renting) if you are comfortable with your open water paddling skills, and after considering all the cautionary information about how big and powerful Lake Superior is. Our first day off the ferry in Rock Harbor included a strong SW headwind and some white caps heading toward Three Mile. We paddled a little bit in Snug Harbor and decided to give it a go. The rewards were:
1. Arrival at the campground 1 hour ahead of the hikers and our choice of shelters
2. A beautiful evening paddle on still water at Three Mile
3. Calm seas the next day back to Rock Harbor, again with our choice of shelters
4. Two more days of good weather for canoe trips to Raspberry Island, around Scoville Point to Tobin Harbor, and Tookers Island.

We also over-prepared for bad weather, and not having to carry our stuffed heavy packs on the trails made the trip easy.

I am most grateful to Ingo for convincing me not to attempt the Tobin to Duncan Harbor portage in search of calmer waters. We hiked it with day packs on a trip to Lookout Louise. Oof! During every paddle to a hiking spot we felt as if we were the only people on the island.

What a wonderful place!

Glad to hear you had a great trip and the canoe worked out!

I am most grateful to Ingo for convincing me not to attempt the Tobin to Duncan Harbor portage in search of calmer waters. We hiked it with day packs on a trip to Lookout Louise. Oof!

Did you hike down the Duncan Bay side? That's the really fun part .

We crossed the Greenstone Ridge Trail and stared down the "cliff" toward Duncan Bay. My wife said "with a canoe?" and we then headed to Lookout Louise. Ha.

Gotta admit, the Tobin Harbor side of that portage has a great canoe landing! Quiet little cove, sandy bottom, nice flat grassy area to unload......In comparison, the other side is kinda unspeakably bad. There is also a very nice big rock to sit on for a break, just a couple steps north of the trail crossing on the ridge. Just before you start the steep descent.

OldTownTraveler wrote: ↑Fri Jul 16, 2021 8:50 pm We crossed the Greenstone Ridge Trail and stared down the "cliff" toward Duncan Bay. My wife said "with a canoe?" and we then headed to Lookout Louise. Ha.

Did that portage once, with 3 kayaks. Hope to never so it again. Ingo has done it a few times.