Escape the crowds at the lower 48’s most remote national park
Lake Superior’s Isle Royale, an archipelago of 400 islands, is one of the least visited national parks. Here’s why you should see this little known island wilderness.
By Stephen Starr
At a time when record crowds are seeing visitors to some U.S. national parks asked to pre-book access, Isle Royale National Park, an archipelago of around 400 islands on western Lake Superior, is the very definition of off the beaten track.
Its main island is about 50 miles long and nine miles wide—19 times the size of Manhattan—and sees less than one percent of the average number of visitors to Yosemite National Park when it opens to the public on around April 15 every year.
As the least-visited national park in the continental U.S., Isle Royale National Park is only reachable by ferry, private boat or seaplane from mainland Michigan and Minnesota.
It’s a place where the only vehicles are canoes and kayaks, and moose, wolves, beavers and smaller animals are the sole year-round residents. For many, its attraction—centered on its 36 campgrounds and 165 miles of back country trails—lies in the fact that it’s one of the few national parks with no instant Instagram gratification; cell phone coverage is patchy at best.