Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Overview

Early French fur traders called this region the Chequamegon (pronounced She-wah-me-gon), a Chippewa (Ojibway) word meaning "soft beaver dam." The fur trade, which was mainly in beaver pelts, was one of the region's longest lasting commercial enterprises. Among these forested, sheltered islands on the world's most expansive freshwater lake, traders built posts for shipping furs bound for Europe via Montreal and, later, down the Mississippi River. Shipping became an economic mainstay, making eastern and midwestern markets accessible to local fishing, quarrying, logging, mining, and tourism.

Loggers cut both conifers and deciduous trees extensively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sandstone cliffs on the lake's edge were quarried to provide building materials for the Midwest's growing cities. As industries following the fur trade rose and fell, an ebb and flow of tourists pilgrimaged here for the natural beauty and lakeshore recreation of the Apostle Islands and Bayfield Peninsula.

Wisconsin's northernmost landscape juts out into Lake Superior as the scenic archipelago of 22 Apostle Islands. Long a vacation mecca, the area realized new recreational value in 1970 when Congress named 20 of the islands and 2,500 acres of the peninsula as a national lakeshore managed by the National Park Service. In 1986, Long Island was also included.

Today's national lakeshore offers myriad water and wilderness recreation pursuits amid occasional glimpses of past human activity on the islands. Recreation at Apostle Island revolves around water. Hiking either involves hiking along the lakeshore or crossing water to an island. So get on the water! The islands are a premier sea kayaking destination.

Don't kayak? No problem. Excursion trips leave from Bayfield daily in summer. Water taxis provides service from Bayfield to island points for one to six passengers. Obtain information on schedules and rates for boat trips and services from the visitor center in Bayfield.

Boat launch facilities are available at Little Sand Bay and at several locations outside the national lakeshore boundary. Marinas in the Bayfield/Madeline Island area offer all the usual services.

Apostle Islands offer no inland fishing, but Lake Superior provides good sportfishing for lake, brown, and rainbow trout and other salmon species. Peninsula streams harbor brook, rainbow, and brown trout and spawning salmon. You can rent sailboats and arrange daylong and half-day trolling trips for trout and salmon at area marinas.

Apostle Island remains open in the winter for a range of winter sports, including cross-country skiing and exploring the amazing ice caves that form when Lake Superior freezes over.

Even in the summer, Lake Superior waters seldom are warm enough for comfortable swimming except in shallow, protected bays.

For divers, shipwrecks and sea caves are among the diving opportunities found here. You can pick up permits at mainland visitor centers permits may be issued at island ranger stations. Dive charters and equipment rentals are available in Bayfield.