Isle Royale Forums

Greetings,

I'm looking for guidance to see if it is practical to plan to camp in zones 8,9,10,11 in the following order of preference, assuming permission from NPS:

1. 10
2. 8
3. 9 (western portion of this zone)
4. 11

We are a small group of four experienced backpackers who plan to take a water taxi to the Hidden Late dock around 5PM and camp within two hours of arriving at Hidden Lake dock. Any advice/opinions are appreciated. I'm most interested in thoughts regarding terrain being hospitable to pitching a tent and a bivy.

Thank you

The topography on Isle Royale is such that the north side of the ridges (i.e. Greenstone Ridge Trail) are steep and the south sides are much more gradual. I've cross-country camped in the western portion of zone 9 but it is a tangled mess of dead and fallen trees. A better bet would be to camp in zones 10 (preferred) and 11. Bring water as the potential camps will have no water. Preview the topography by looking at topographical maps and satellite images. A good tool for that is http://mapper.acme.com. The "layer icon" in the upper right hand corner of acme mapper switches between topo and satellite views.

Thank you!