Kayak Camping is the Superior Way to Explore Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park
No roads. No cars. Little to no service. My kind of vacation.
Isle Royale is one of the few parks that require travelers to arrive by ferry or seaplane. Here’s how we spent five days in Isle Royale National Park with the Keweenaw Adventure Company:
Every summer I gear up to accomplish one of my yearly goals: visiting two new national parks. With my visit to Virgin Islands National Park in the spring, I set my sights on another remote island park in a state I had yet to visit: Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park.
Being on a remote island in the U.S. felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Since my thru-hike in the most isolated corner of the Adirondacks, I have found myself gravitating to quieter, off-the-beaten path (quite literally in the case of Isle Royale) places.
No roads. No cars. Little to no service.
My kind of vacation.
Not only is Isle Royale Michigan’s only national park, but it is also one of the few parks that require travelers to arrive by ferry or seaplane. It’s also only open seasonally (closed from November to mid-April), and typically it is the least visited park in the lower 48.
As I get closer to visiting all 63 U.S. national parks, I try to find special ways to explore them. While it is technically possible to see Isle Royale National Park in a day, most visitors say they regret not spending days there. With possible ferry delays due to weather, though these are rare, you could end up only spending a couple hours in this incredible park by limiting your visit to a day trip. There’s something about how wild and vast Isle Royale is that draws you in for longer.
I stumbled on a new-to-me way to explore an island park: kayak camping with the Keweenaw Adventure Company. This company took care of everything—from ensuring my safety while navigating the waters of Lake Superior to providing gourmet meals in the backcountry.
Kayak camping is the superior way to visit Isle Royale National Park because the guides at Keweenaw Adventure Company tailor your trip to your interests. When asked what we wanted to do, our only requirements were seeing the Rock Harbor Lighthouse, getting a hike in, and spending as much time on the water as possible.
Our guide through the Keweenaw Adventure Company took us on an adventure in June 2023 that did just that. Here’s how we spent five days in Isle Royale National Park:
Kayaking along Lake Superior to one of our campsites for the night.
Day 0: Orientation
After exploring Houghton, MI, we made the short, tree-lined trek to quaint Copper Harbor. Prior to the trip, we were required to participate in an orientation. Upon our arrival, we were introduced to Bonesy, our guide for the trip. He asked us to place our belongings for the trip on a wooden table. Then, he handed us three dry bags. Our first task: fit all our desired belongings into the bags. After what felt like an hour, and most likely was given how many things we thought we wanted to take, we were ready to go.
Bonesy instructed us to suit up in our wetsuits, and zip ourselves into our spray skirts. We learned skills like the J-lean and hip snap, along with paddling strokes that would help us navigate the waters of Lake Superior. He demonstrated a self-rescue flawlessly and I was in awe. More awe struck me when he told us we were up next to practice.
I absolutely love the cold and all things winter, but nothing prepares you for such frigid waters. Except this Water Safety Course. The chill tingled down to my toes as I leaned to my right to submerge myself to complete the lesson. He made sure we didn’t forget any crucial steps and despite this being the part I was most nervous about, I am beyond grateful that this was part of the trip. A sense of reassurance poured over us after successfully completing a self-rescue; knowing now that if it did happen in any event, we had skills to tap into to ensure we would be okay.
Day 1: Copper Harbor to Rock Harbor
We arrived to the ferry, a 3-hour ride, from Copper Harbor to Rock Harbor. Our park and ferry fees were included in our tour cost and taken care of so we simply had to walk aboard when it was time. As much as I enjoy being on the water, ferry rides are the only ones I have gotten sick on, so I made use of the motion sickness pills I packed.
The 56-mile ride on the Isle Royale Queen IV flies by as you gaze out the window. Being on the world’s largest freshwater lake felt surreal. When we docked, Park Rangers split up visitors into smaller groups and gave a ten-minute safety talk, including fun call-and-responses to ensure we would remember the tips she was providing visitors with. The most important one? Emergency services are extremely difficult to come by due to the remoteness, so to be careful even with what is considered easy, like hiking.
Entering Isle Royale National Park
After the talk, we were off to snag a campsite nearby. Once we secured our spot, we explored while Bonesy prepared dinner. I don’t usually do guided trips, but this part alone was worth it. To be able to go with the flow and not worry about logistics, or the need to prepare a meal, truly felt like a vacation. My friend and I watched the sun set at 9:30pm. As we returned to our campsite, the smell of stir fry filled the air and soon after both our stomachs and our hearts were full.
Day 2: Rock Harbor to West Caribou Island (Base Camp)
Bonesy took us on a short hike while we were still in Rock Harbor. I was eager to start kayaking to truly start the trip, but he said an early morning hike to Scoville Point made the most sense before starting our adventure on water. And he couldn’t have been more right.
Not even ten minutes into our walk to the trailhead, we turned a corner and were thirty yards away from a moose.
If this was any indication of how the rest of the trip would go, I was in for possibly the best trip of my life. It took years hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains to encounter a moose once. Apparently, all I had to do was go for a hike on a remote island off the coast of mainland Michigan to make this dream come true.
We embarked on the Stoll Trail for 4.6 miles (roundtrip) to Scoville Point. A very moderate hike with stunning views of Lake Superior for most of our trek. Bonesy pointed out an eagle’s nest along the trail that I would have missed otherwise. In less than a mile, I had two incredible wildlife views, and we hadn’t started kayaking yet!
Afterwards, we loaded up our kayaks alongside Rock Harbor’s dock. Soon enough we were off to base camp. Two hours and about six miles of paddling took us to West Caribou Island.
While we explored our new home for the next two nights, our dinner was quite the feast when we returned. Despite being in the backcountry, my food tasted gourmet. A major upgrade from last year’s thru-hike meals I prepared myself.
Unreal Meals in the Backcountry
A major perk of this guided trip is that not only are meals delicious and prepared for us, but our tent, camp equipment, water purification, and even bug spray were included in the trip. My friend and I could truly just enjoy ourselves and the wonder of Isle Royale, without having to run through a to-do task list in our minds multiple times day, like other camping trips we’d gone on.
Day 3: Rock Harbor Lighthouse to Daisy Farm
West Caribou Island was a great jumping off point for day adventures. The island has very limited spots for camping as it is only accessible by watercraft. We had a lean-to to ourselves and could offload some gear to go exploring for the day.
Our first stop: Rock Harbor Lighthouse.
I have always had a fascination with lighthouses and couldn’t pass up the chance to paddle up to one, dock there, and head inside.
Afterwards, we ventured off to Daisy Farm – Isle Royale’s largest campground that doubles as the trailhead for Mt. Ojibway, the highest point on the island. The sunshine finally greeted us on this hike after a couple chilly days. Isle Royale’s weather is as everchanging as New England’s – rain jackets and pants one day, a t-shirt and shorts the next.
This hike reminded me of hiking in Acadia – where the land meets the ocean. In Isle Royale’s instance, the land meets the lake. The hike, part of the Greenstone Ridge, is a little over 5 miles and about 1,000 ft of elevation gain. I love a lookout tower view and Mt. Ojibway delivered! Mt. Ojibway’s summit, at 1,150 feet, was the only spot I had phone signal for the entirety of the trip. We ended our evening enjoying a nice campfire back on West Caribou Island and slowly the stars outshined the fire’s flames as the night went on.
Day 4: West Caribou Island (Base Camp) to Merritt Lane
Bonesy knew we were an adventurous pair and at this point had earned our paddling arms (the equivalent of sea legs on a ship to me), so he set his sights on Merritt Lane for our last night. We loaded up the kayaks to backpedal to Rock Harbor, but first made a lunch stop at Three Mile. This would be our longest day in the kayaks, so Bonesy did a great job of breaking it up for us to also see more in the meantime. After Three Mile, we kayaked a little over 2.5 miles to Rock Harbor, giving us the chance to move our legs and buy a couple refreshments from the park store before departing for the last stretch.
Rock Harbor to Merritt Lane
This portion of the trip was roughly four miles, and as we approached Merritt Lane, I couldn’t believe how lucky we were. There was a small opening among the trees just for this site. It felt like we stumbled upon the perfect one. The mosquitoes swiftly brought me back to reality as they were hungrier than I was for dinner. They made sure they ate well. We layered up and ate our final feast, overlooking the water that just days ago felt so foreign and cold, and now felt familial and warm. I truly didn’t want to leave.
Day 5: Merritt Lane to Rock Harbor
Our final paddle was our slowest four and a half miles because I kept resting my paddle on my legs to soak in the moments. In a couple hours, I’d be back on the ferry heading home, and I wasn’t ready to leave. Each paddle stroke was one step closer to leaving a place that I felt so at home in, in only a matter of days.
We splurged on a timed shower token (mostly to not take away from others’ experience on the ferry ride back since we hadn’t showered in days), bought a few postcards, and disposed of the trash we accumulated over our time in the park at the Rock Harbor Camp Store. We settled onto our ferry seats, and after docking in Copper Harbor, I was ready to do it all over again.
Check out our route (including our two hikes) below. The first image is zoomed out to show just how much more there is to explore on Isle Royale, and the second image is zoomed in to show the route we took on our five day kayak camping trip.
Tips:
Bring layers!
I didn’t think we’d face such chilly weather, followed by mosquito-biting summer sunshine, but I’m glad I packed for it.
Pack your camera. You won’t want to miss the wonderful wildlife.
Book your adventure with Keweenaw Adventure Company. It truly made this trip special and stress-free. Give the owner, Raymond, a call at 906-289-4303 or send him an email at info@keweenawadventure.com.
Add these other national parks to your bucket list:
Thru-Hike the Northville-Placid Trail in 9 Days (as a First-Time Backpacker)
I had never camped in the backcountry, nor had I thru-hiked. Yet, I found myself in Northville embarking on a 9-day, 138-mile thru-hike in the most remote part of the Adirondacks…
The start of the Northville-Placid Trail in Northville, NY.
In July 2022, summer felt like it was rapidly coming to an end. I set my eyes on either traveling to Isle Royale National Park in Michigan or backpacking for the first time.
To my surprise, almost all accommodations for Isle Royale were booked months in advance. I thought it was a difficult national park to access due to the only modes of transportation being an hours-long ferry ride or a small, costly seaplane. Apparently a remote island with no roads in Michigan is a highly sought-after vacation destination!
Disappointed that I wouldn’t be kayaking along Isle Royale, I pondered where else to venture to. My gaze lifted from my computer screen to where my wall calendar was.
July’s image was a summery scene in the Adirondack wilderness. It took seven months of this calendar year for me to realize the map illustration next to the days of the month. The illustration followed lakes foreign to me in an area I felt so at home in. I discovered this seemingly endless web of rivers and wooded forests was the Northville-Placid Trail.
I looked the trail up. The Northville-Placid Trail began construction in 1922 and was completed two years later. It is one of the oldest hiking trails in the United States taking hikers along a 138-mile point-to-point trail from Northville, NY, and ending, of course, in the town of Lake Placid.
This would be amazing, I thought to myself. Naturally, I pitched it to my best friend despite knowing she’d say no. It’s an eight-to-fourteen day thru-hike in some of the most remote corners of the Adirondack mountains. We day hiked 4,000 footers a handful of times, but we’d never done anything like this.
The surprises that summer continued. “Let’s do it” was her answer. It didn’t take her (and myself) long to realize we had no idea what we were in for.
About two weeks after we decided to try backpacking out for the first time, we found ourselves waking up before sunrise in our cabin in Lake Placid to pack our bear cannisters and our packs before our ride in the morning. Yes, we were packing for our trip the morning of. Again, total amateurs.
We had an honest-to-God Cheryl Strayed moment attempting to put our packs on for the first time to get them into the trunk. We were successful (and a little scared at how heavy they were) and met our incredible driver at the Lake Placid Historical Society’s History Museum parking lot.
Bob’s cheerful smile alleviated the stress built up from the backpack fiasco. He talked to us about fishing in Alaska, stopped for us to grab coffee, and told us stories of every town we passed through on our way to Northville.
Bob runs Bob’s Shuttles out of Piseco, New York. I found him through the Northville Placid Trail Facebook group a week before. He gave us tips for the trail and even stores hikers’ re-supply boxes in his garage. I couldn’t imagine having to carry 8-14 days’ worth of food. He’s a true gem.
Update: Though he stopped his services in summer 2024, he was a pivotal part of our NPT thru-hike. There are other driving services advertised in the Facebook group.
He dropped us off at the starting point in town, took our photo where we look incredibly vibrant and naïve, and said he’d see us in a few days in Piseco. Fingers crossed.
Here’s a breakdown of my nine days thru-hiking the Northville-Placid Trail:
Day 1: Northville to Woods Lake (13 mi, 2,300 ft gain)
The beginning of the hike is anti-climatic. We hiked three miles in the blazing sun during one of the most humid days along an asphalt road. Cars honked and people waved to cheer us on. At the end of the three-mile trek, we met a woman who told us of a bear sighting in the woods we were entering. Shortly after, a firefighter told us the same thing. Truly a lovely start for two girls who had never slept in the backcountry before.
We welcomed the tree-covered trails once we got there, and after about a mile, we took a lunch break. We regretted only grabbing coffee for breakfast when Bob stopped for us, and begrudgingly ate lunch early. A tortilla, two buffalo flavored chicken packets, and a little Nutella after sweetened the deal.
Pro-tip (from a beginner backpacker): figure out high caloric food because that lunch will get squashed rapidly down your throat on a hot, humid day carrying thirty-pound packs.
West Stony Creek Crossing
The West Stony Creek crossing, the water crossing I was nervous about getting through, was low, and easy to traverse. However, after heavy rains, we heard it could be impassable.
We made our way to Woods Lake, where our driver Bob told us to not camp at because it can get rowdy. The gorgeous Woods Lake is easily accessible by cars and only a .1 mile walk –making it an easy spot to access for the lake views. As we approached sunset, we decided to stay despite Bob’s warning. We took a dip in the lake we had all to ourselves, and I experienced the most magical sunset.
We woke up abruptly in the middle of the night to a couple locals having a good time. They went out on the water blaring music in a boat and returned the boat right next to our tent. Should have listened to Bob.
Day 2: Woods Lake to Canary Pond (14.6 mi, 2,000 ft gain)
After disrupted sleep at Woods Lake, we slept in and ate our oatmeal gazing at the gorgeous lake in front of us. We passed a few tiny bodies of water (Rock Lake, Meco Lake, and Silver Lake) before reaching our destination.
I was thrilled to have our campsite to ourselves with no easy access for cars to drive up to. We were beyond sweaty from another grueling heat wave day, so a dip in a pond was starting to feel like an NPT routine we could get behind.
Little did I realize that something in the water kept leeching onto me and turns out, it was actually a leech! We swiftly jumped out and decided maybe it wouldn’t become a daily ritual on trail.
Day 3: Canary Pond to Piseco (14.5 mi, 1,600 ft gain)
Our saving grace was knowing we would reach Bob on day 3. We had absolutely no service and were hopeful getting into a town would help. We also had a package that Bob kindly let us keep in his garage of our meal refuels and other items. Piseco was the point where my friend was contemplating leaving trail. I enticed her with a hotel stay and when we reached Bob’s Garage, we booked a night at The Inn at Piseco Lake. They offer a thru-hiker’s discount, but even without it it’s worth it. We left behind some oatmeal packs at Bob’s for the next thru-hikers, as we were extremely over it two days in. A nice shower without worrying about leeches was refreshing.
Day 4: Piseco to West Canada Lakes (16 mi, 2,500 ft gain)
Out with Oatmeal… In with Mashed Potatoes
We exchanged oatmeal for mashed potatoes, and used the inn’s microwave to cook this fine dining breakfast of champions.
With renewed spirits (mostly thanks to the shower and an absorbent towel), we embarked toward the part of trail I was most excited for: the West Canada Lakes. We had some turkeys trotting aggressively around us as we started the day, but we avoided the beatdown as soon as we entered the woods. At this point, my feet were blistered and legs bug bitten. My friend convinced me to hike in socks and Crocs… and I finally agreed. It completely down poured our last two miles, but we slogged our way to West Lake Lean-To #2, only to discover a group of college kids embarking on an orientation camping trip. I remember thinking that I wished I had one of those back in college! My other wish was simultaneously that they weren’t there so we wouldn’t have to set up our tent in the rain a little ways away.
Day 5: West Canada Lakes to Cedar River (16.4 mi, 1500 ft gain)
We awoke to dampness, a norm on the NPT in early August. Canada Lakes were rainy, so we didn’t linger too long in the morning. All of our clothes were still soaked, and it was tough to sleep because despite elevating my feet, they wouldn’t stop tingling. I created my own pillow by wrapping my rain jacket around my Ziploc bag of “clean” clothes. Clean is relative on trail.
This morning was rough if the trail images above didn’t give that away. My socks and boots were wet with my first step. The trail’s swamps joined together with last night’s rain to create a large lake. The slog was only two miles, but lasted two hours.
Wakely Dam Camping
As we entered Wakely Dam, we passed by a few campers. To our surprise, a bit of trail magic appeared. A camper saw our packs (and probably our faces) and offered ice cold Pepsi cans. I don’t even like Pepsi, but in that moment, it tasted like pure sunshine. Turns out they were from Northville, NY, so they were delighted to hear we had hiked from their home to this spot.
We washed our dirty clothes in the Cedar River Flow, but with the humidity, they did not dry overnight. Clean, damp clothes may almost be worse than dirty and dry ones.
Day 6: Cedar River to Lake Durant (12.2 mi, 1300 ft gain)
A shorter mileage day in terms of distance, but not feeling. It was wonderful to get into the Lake Durant campground, book a campsite, and set up camp with plenty of daylight left though. I walked down to the lake for a short dip. We finally caught up on journaling and showered in the campground showers. We laid inside our tent for hours before we succumbed to sleep.
I usually sleep well in the woods, but with wet socks all day, my feet were blistered beyond repair. My camp sandals (chacos) only made it worse. One of the top priorities in town the next day was to find a pair of Crocs if I hoped to continue the trail.
Day 7: Lake Durant to Long Lake (14.5 mi, 1800 ft gain)
We left Lake Durant with puffy eyes set on our next resupply in Long Lake. Bob wonderfully left our second resupply at the Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake. To keep spirits high (and to have company on this thru-hike), we booked a night at the hotel to recharge once we made it.
This was the second rainy day on trail and we would reach the highest point of the entire trail just past Tirrell Pond at 3,008 ft in the Blue Mountain Wild Forest. Rain fell consistently as we had the longest stretch of wooden planks, a quarter-mile, lined with wet ferns brushing up against both sides of our bodies. My feet were utterly drenched. Once we reached the parking lot, my shoes came off immediately.
Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake, NY
We barely reached service enough to call Jim, one of the sweet owners of the Adirondack Hotel, who gave us a ride into town. There’s very little a burger, beer, and a Stewart’s milkshake can’t fix. It was just the fuel we needed to explore four stores before finding a pair of Crocs in my size! My hopes of finishing the trail in the next three days were high.
The sunsets along the Northville-Placid Trail were unreal, and this view just steps from the Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake was no exception.
Day 8: Long Lake to Cold River (12.5 mi, 1300 ft gain)
It was tough leaving Long Lake for the trail. We ate at a diner before our ride back to the Northville-Placid Trail. With new crocs in tow, things were looking up. We knew we were roughly 2/3 done, but we still had a third to go. Southbound hikers informed us of plenty of blowdown in this last section to top it off.
We walked along Long Lake, stopping at Plumley Point for lunch. It felt like the best day on trail yet mostly due to weather and views. Long Lake truly goes on for a long time (so it felt) and the heat wave finally broke. If I was to hike the NPT again, I would spend an extra day soaking in the lake views.
We continued on with our sights set on one of the Cold River lean-tos. We would’ve loved Lean-To #3 because of its higher vantage point of Cold River, but a father-son duo celebrating their last hurrah before the son went off to college occupied it. Cold River Lean-To #4 was right along the water. Not a bad consolation prize. True to its name, it was our first chilly night on trail. On one of the last nights, I finally got to wear the leggings I had carried for eight days but hadn’t used. The father and son came by to let us know of a bear sighting, but sadly it never said hello to us.
Day 9: Cold River to Lake Placid (24.2 mi, 2,800 ft gain)
Sitting on the rocks taking in the morning cold, we sipped our coffee. So refreshing after so many sweaty days. Each morning we were packed up and on the trail earlier than the day before. Things were in a groove it felt like.
The smell of pine and sound of the Cold River filled the air during the first few miles of the morning.
We passed through Shattuck Clearing, awed at views of the Seward range (that I was tempted to summit), and explored the Rondeau Hermitage site. We hit ten miles by noon and decided to keep going to our spot for the night.
There was a tricky spot to navigate here with a massive tree log serving as a bridge. I was impressed I managed to walk across with my pack with ease. We approached our lean-to for the night in the late afternoon. Moose Pond had a beautiful lean-to, but the pond wasn’t easily accessible. With 15.2 miles behind us for the day, and several hours of daylight to go, we thought we’d do what we hadn’t done yet: a twenty-mile day.
It didn’t feel like the final night at Moose Pond, so we decided to tackle on the additional nine miles to finish the trail a day early. It felt amazing to hit a twenty-four mile day for our finale, and even better to make it to Big Slide Brewery for their honey pepperoni pizza that might’ve been devoured in record time.
Note: Mileage and elevation gain are rounded up to the nearest tenth.
A few recommendations:
1. Purchase both the Northville-Placid Trail Map and the latest edition of the Northville-Placid Trail book. Both come in a pack for $30 from ADK.org.
2. Use Piseco and Long Lake as refueling stations if you need them, not Blue Mountain Lake. Blue Mountain Lake adds a handful of miles in one direction that you may not be up for. The post office there also could be closed depending on when you make it in.
3. Do not rely on phone signal. We had no service with T-Mobile or Verizon the first three days from Northville to Piseco for us. We only had service at The Inn at Piseco Lake when we connected to wi-fi.
4. The Northville-Placid Trail is extremely isolated. Over the span of nine days and 138 miles traversed, we only saw 1-2 groups (whether it was a solo hiker, a couple, or a college group closer to the end) daily. There is little room for error if you are injured or need assistance until you reach the town milestones: Piseco, Long Lake, Lake Placid. Plan accordingly.
The Northville-Placid Trail only furthered my love for the Adirondacks. I had only hiked a handful of the 46 at this point, but it instilled in me a desire to complete them all. The remoteness of this trail appealed to me, despite the challenges being very isolated in the woods can create.
Have you heard of this thru-hike? Would you do it?
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