Get Outdoors - Destinations: Day Trips at Isle Royale NP

Whether you come for a day or a week, Rock Harbor, located on the northeastern end of Isle Royale, offers excellent opportunities for day hikes to visit rocky shores, scenic overlooks, secluded coves, and boreal forests.When you arrive at Rock Harbor, visit the information center and ask a park ranger for the latest information on interpretive walks and talks scheduled for the Rock Harbor area. Publication sales and camping permits are also available there. Canoe and motorboat rental and tour boat service may be arranged at the concession office. Whether you visit alone or as a part of a group, you'll find plenty of ways to keep busy or relax.

Short Trips

Scoville Point: 4.2 mile loop
Hike the Albert Stoll Memorial Trail as it winds through spruce, fir, and paper birch trees to scenic Scoville Point, surrounded on three sides by the clear waters of Lake Superior. Exhibits along this self-guiding interpretive walk introduce you to much of the island's natural and cultural history, including prehistoric Indian mine pits, geologic forces that formed the island, and the campaign to preserve this island as a national park. The trip can be shortened by traveling the first half of the Stoll Trail and returning via the Tobin Harbor Trail.

Suzy's Cave: 3.8 mile loop
Follow the Rock Harbor Trail 1.8 miles beyond the Rock Harbor Campground and turn inland at the wooden post directing you to Suzy's Cave. Discover a wave-washed cliff and inland sea arch, both features formed by wave action of an earlier higher level of Lake Superior. From here, the trail leads on to the Tobin Harbor Trail, which you may follow back to Rock Harbor. Along the way, watch and listen for loons, moose, and other wildlife as this route winds through spruce, birch, and wildflowers.

Mt. Franklin: 10 miles round trip
To get to this scenic overlook honoring Benjamin Franklin, take either the Rock Harbor Trail or Tobin Harbor Trail until they meet the Mt. Franklin Trail. Then begin the ups and downs of your ascent to Mt. Franklin, a high point on the Greenstone Ridge. Atop, get a beautiful view of the island?s interior and north shore as well as the Ontario shore across Lake Superior. On this all-day hike, there are chances for berry-picking and observing wildlife. This is a long hike, so be sure to bring along lunch, a supply of water, and rain gear.

Canoe or Boat

Lookout Louise: 2 miles
A 20-minute canoe paddle or a water taxi ride will put you at the start of the Lookout Louise Trail, which culminates at one of the most beautiful overlooks on the island. Before journeying upward, see Hidden Lake, a small lake with a natural salt lick which attracts moose. Halfway up the trail is Monument Rock, an inland sea stack carved by the wave action of Lake Superior when the lake level was higher. At the end of the trail is a tremendous view of the north side of Isle Royale and the Ontario mainland twenty miles distant. Adventurous people with water and rain gear may choose to hike back to Rock Harbor via the Greenstone Ridge, Mt. Franklin, and Tobin Harbor Trails (10.2 miles).

Raspberry Island: 1 mile round trip
Looking across the Rock Harbor Channel from the America Dock, you can see Raspberry Island, just a short canoe or boat ride away. Here is your chance to experience a fragile living bog and scenic rocky shores. Or you can take a Sandy boat tour.
Paths and planked bridges take you past many unusual plants, including the insectivorous sundew and pitcher plants that thrive in this acidic environment. You have to get down on your hands and knees to see the details of the tiny glistening sundew, while pitcher plants, with their alien-like shape, stand out from a distance. Interpretive signs along the route explain the geology and ecology of his delightful and popular destination. If you like, walk west to rugged Raspberry Point and watch the Isle Royale Queen arrive and depart. Take your time and you'll discover enough variety on this island to keep you intrigued for half a day.

Tobin Harbor
For a peaceful day of canoeing or boating, try the calm waters of Tobin Harbor, once a popular resort area. This deep inlet of Lake Superior is good for enjoying scenery, waterfowl, and fishing. Loons and mergansers frequent Tobin Harbor, so keep you eyes and ears open.

Farther Afield

Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor Lighthouse: 1/2-mile round trip
Step back in time to stroll through a restored commercial fishery across the harbor from Daisy Farm Campground. Peter and Laura Edisen lived here, one of many Scandinavian-American families who netted lake trout, whitefish, and herring from island waters. Les and Donna Mattson, Isle Royale employees, use nets to demonstrate fishing as it was done historically here. Their catch ends up on dinner plates at Rock Harbor Lodge.
Walk a quarter-mile to the nearby Rock Harbor Lighthouse, Isle Royale's oldest. It was built in 1855 to guide ships safely to Isle Royale copper ports. Enjoy the lighthouse exhibits and relax on the lighthouse beach.

Ojibway Tower: 3.5 mile retracing your steps or 5.1 mile loop
Starting at Daisy Farm Campground, the Mt. Ojibway Trail climbs up 500 feet over 1.7 miles to the highest point on the eastern end of Isle Royale. The tower room and its equipment serve as part of a nationwide atmospheric monitoring program, and are normally closed. But climb up the tower stairs and see the island's interior lakes and the bays, and the coves of both shores. To return, retrace your steps, or go back via the longer Greenstone and Daisy Farm Trails that cross a wildflower-filled bog and bridge a picturesque pond and stream.