LAKE SUPERIOR ISLAND FERRIES

ISLE ROYALE
If you like your islands wild where you can hear the wolves howl at night and a moose is likely to wander through your camp site, this is your kind of place. Take my word for it, Isle Royale is simply magical. Great for hiking, paddling and fishing. And you are likely to find me there at toward the end of the summer -- when the moose are still around, but the black flies are long gone.
Getting to his 45-mile-long island off Lake Superior's north shore is something of a trick however. Fortunately, you can get there by any of three ferries or by sea plane.
Isle Royale has no entrance fee, but you do pay $4 a day per person to stay on the island. No your Golden Eagle Pass will not help you here.

RANGER III -- This is the biggest piece of machinery owned by the National Park Service. It is 165 feet long and can carry 128 passengers, plus their boats, backpacks and other luggage. And it's about as smooth a ferry ride as you are going to find to the island. It carries passengers from June 2 to September 13. It runs from Houghton, Michigan to Rock Harbor on the island every Tuesday and Friday, leaving at 9 a.m. The return trips are on Wednesday and Saturday, also leaving at 9 a.m.
One-Way Fares For adults, $50 before July 15 and after August 15; $60 from July 15 to August 15; Ages 7 to 12 are $20; Ages 6 and younger are free; Canoes/kayaks $20.
Isle Royale is celebrating two 50th anniversaries this year. It is the 50th anniversary of service by the ferry Ranger III and the 50th anniversaries of the wolf-moose study on the island.
To celebrate, the Ranger's birthday, the ferry will run same-day round trips to Rock Harbor on the island from June 17 through 21. Price: $50 And it will run same-day round trips to Windigo at the far south end on July 10 and 24, August 7 and 21 and September 4. Price: $75.
And for the wolf-moose study celebration, the Ranger will sail to the island on July 25, stay that night and the next and then return to Houghton on July 27. Price: One-way, $50; Round trip, $75.

VOYAGEUR II gives you a great way to get to Isle Royale from Lake Superior's North Shore at Grand Portage, Minnesota. The Voyageur makes clockwise round trips around the island. Leaving Grand Portage at 8 a.m. CDT every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, stops first at Windigo to leave at 10:30 and arrives at Rock Harbor at 3:30 p.m. to spend the night Then on Tuesday, Thursdays and Sundays it leaves Rock Harbor at 8 a.m., Windigo at 12:30 p.m. and arrives at Grand Portage at 3:30 p.m.
In addition to Rock Harbor and Windigo, the Voyageur will drop off and pick up passengers and their gear at other locations around the island. These are McCargoe Cove, Belle Isle, Daisy Farm and Chippewa Harbor.
One-Way Fares: For adults to Windigo, $59 for an stop beyond Windigo on that same day $69. Same deal for the trip back from Rock Harbor. For children, $39 and $46. The price for going from one place on the island to another is between $42 and $54.

ISLE ROYALE QUEEN IV makes a shorter commute to the island than the Voyageur by leaving from Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. This crossing takes three hours instead of six, but it tends to be a bit bumpier in the smaller 100-foot boat.
All trips start at 8 a.m. from Copper Harbor and 2:45 p.m. from Rock Harbor on the island. In May, the Queen sails on Mondays and Fridays, June 2-30, every day but Wednesday and Sunday; July 1-14, every day but Wednesday; July 15 to August 15, every day of the week; August 16-31, every day but Wednesday; and September 1-29, Mondays and Fridays only.
One-Way Fares from July 15 to August are $65 for adults, $31 for ages under 11 and $25 for kayaks. From May 12 to July 14 and August 16 to September 29 are $54 for adults and $27 for 11 and under.

ROYALE AIR SERVICE Or you can fly, the shortest commute of all. Just 35 minutes from Houghton County Airport to Rock Harbor. The Cessna 206 seaplane carries four passengers and goes to either Rock Harbor or Windigo for the same price. One-Way Fare is $185; Round-Trip is $269.

APOSTLE ISLANDS The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore has 21 islands (yes, I know the apostles only numbered 13) and part of the shoreline and is one of the big lakes' most wonderful cruising areas and a terrific place to kayak. You can camp on the various islands and even get some great photos of sea caves along the shore and at Sand Island.
Bayfield, the jumping off place, elicits only one word. Charming. It is a bit of New England seaport transported to the Lake Superior.
Of the islands, which once hosted farmers, fishermen and miners, only one now has a resident population. It is Madeline. It's a great place to bicycle, pick up a fine meal, learn some of the islands fur trading history and drop in for a beer at the zaniest bar in the Great Lakes -- Tom's Burned Down Cafe. To get there, you need to take the ferry.
Madeline Island Ferry Line runs every half hour from Bayfield to Madeline Island. One-Way Fares: $5.50 for adults, $2.75 for ages 6-11, $11.50 for a car, $2.75 for a bike and $6.75 for a motorcycle. For the round trip, just double those numbers.

GRAND ISLAND is a small island compared to, say, Isle Royale or Manitoulin. But it is great fun -- with a terrific mountain bike trail that encircles the island, a couple of fine lighthouses, an interesting old cemetery and places to camp.
Grand Island Ferry leaves from, appropriately enough the Grand Island Ferry Dock which is about three miles west of Munising. As you go over the top of a hill, look carefully to your right for the road to the dock. The ferry -- really sort of a pontoon boat -- runs every hour on the hour in the mornings and on the half-hour in the afternoons. The whole trip takes about three minutes.
Round-Trip Fares: $15 for adults, $10 for ages 6-12 and $5 for a bike.
You also can rent a bike to ride on the island right there at the dock. Price: $30 a day for a rusting beater. But it will get you around.

Remember for insights on all these islands, you can check my book Islands: Great Lakes Stories available at Pen & Compass, at Amazon and, as the saying goes, at fine gas stations everywhere.