Grand Island National Recreation Area

When making our reservations for this summer's trip, we picked a small, new campground in Christmas, Michigan, just west of Munising, in the upper peninsula. We hadn't visited the upper peninsula in over 36 years. We arrived on July 15 for a twelve-night stay.

Pictured Rocks RV Park, Site #24 offered spacious sites, complete with a cement pad.

GRAND ISLAND

This National Recreation Area was purchased by the National Forestry Service in 1990. The island is about four times the size of well-known Mackinac Island, or about the same size as Manhattan Island. It is accessible by boat in the summer.

At noon, we took the ten-minute, one mile ferry ride over to the island. The ferry terminal was located conveniently across the street from our RV Park.

Williams Landing on Grand Island

We purchased the fourteen-mile bus tour around the southern half of the island on one lane improved dirt roads. We were told during the four-hour bus ride that we would be in the bus for only thirty minutes. The balance of the time we would be touring the many points of interest with our guide, Harry.

This is Farrell Cottage, one of several large summer cottages on the island. After the Forestry Service purchased the island, the cottage owners were given the option to lease back the property for life. When the owners of the homes choose to sell their property, they must offer it to the US Forest Service first.

We took a short trail to a small waterfall behind Farrell Cottage.

Stone Quarry Cabin was built in the 1840's. The cabin is currently being restored by volunteers.

The Williams Family Cemetery is the oldest white cemetery in Alger County. The two-acre cemetery is where Abraham Williams (original owner of Grand Island) and his descendants are now buried. All the gravestones are oriented towards the east to catch the sunrise. Newer occupants must be cremated before interment due to the shallow rocky soil.

Much of the island's shoreline is sand.

There are two inland lakes on Grand Island, Duck Lake and Echo Lake. Echo is the largest and both provide fish and wildlife habitat.

Trout Bay Overlook with views of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the distance.

Mather Lodge was at one time a hunting lodge and guest house and now belongs to the Forest Service.

Our guide gave us a tour of the inside.

The Lodge sits on the edge of a cliff and provides beautiful westerly views of Lake Superior from the screened back porch.

Next, we stopped at Thunder Coves Trail for a walk along the cliffs.

This view was at the high point of the trail.

The Forest Service provided a viewpoint at Waterfall Beach Overlook.

The tour ended and we took the 4:00 ferry back to the mainland.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin

We made a final one-night stop back in Duluth having spent forty days exploring Northern Minnesota. On Tuesday we entered the Bayfield Peninsula in Wisconsin for a six-night stay.

Our site is at the top of the hill at the Apostle Islands RV Campground one mile south of downtown Bayfield, Wisconsin.

APOSTLE ISLANDS NATIONAL LAKESHORE

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore comprises a stretch of shoreline and 21 islands at the northern tip of Wisconsin, on Lake Superior. This Archipelago was established as a National Lakeshore in 1970 and in 2004 the islands were designated as the Gaylor Nelson Wilderness.

The Bayfield Courthouse is now the National Lakeshore Visitor Center and Headquarters building. There are exhibits and an orientation film.

The Park has two visitor Centers. The Little Sand Bay Visitor Center is only open in the summer. We started our circle tour here continuing on the Apostle Islands Scenic Byway.

Commercial fishing was once a very large part of the local economy. This 1920's boat was named the Twilite because the brothers who custom built this fishing boat would fish at night during the fall herring season.

Standing on the dock looking out at Sand Island, one of the Apostles.

SISKIWIT FALLS HIKE

We stopped for a short hike to one of the many waterfalls in the area.

Falls cascade over many thin layers of sandstone.

BAYFIELD MARITIME MUSEUM

 This local museum showcases the nautical history of the Bayfield area.

APOSTLE ISLANDS CRUISE

Motorized and sailing boat tours begin at the Bayfield Marina.

Similar to Voyageurs National Park, this is primarily a water-based park and mostly accessible by boat.

We selected the 3-1/2 hour, motorized Grand Boat Tour, traveling 55 miles.

Sandstone cliffs can rise over fifty feet above the lake surface.

The Basswood Island Quarry, on Basswood Island was operational from 1868 to 1893. Some of the quarried brownstone blocks, weighing 1,320 pounds, can still be seen stacked at the shoreline.

This is called Honeymoon Rock. These odd formations known as sea stacks are formed when rock erodes along closely spaced joints and then become isolated from land. Over time, ice and wave action sweep them away.

A Historic Commercial Fish Camp on Manitou Island

Devils Island, the outermost island, is home to many sea caves.

Ice, wind, and waves carve shorelines forming caves, windows and arches.

After time, the sea caves collapse forming inlets.

Devils Island Lighthouse first lit in 1901.

Those adventurous enough to journey out in a kayak, enjoy paddling around and though these caves.

Raspberry Island Lighthouse has been restored and is open for tours.

LES VOIGT STATE FISH HATCHERY

This historic fish hatchery in Bayfield is still active.

We took a self-guided tour of the hatchery.

This brought back vivid memories of our volunteering at the Green Lake Fish Hatchery in Maine.

NORTHERN GREAT LAKES VISITOR CENTER 

Near Ashland, this facility opened in 1998 and is operated through a partnership that includes the US Forest Service, National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wisconsin Historical Society.

This is a very well-done facility with many interactive exhibits. We actually went there twice, stopping one warm afternoon to watch a History Channel documentary on Lake Superior Shipwrecks.

The five story Observation Tower overlooks the Whittlesey National Wildlife Refuge which has some nice walking paths around the ponds and wetlands.