Bayfield Visitor Center - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Continuing our July 2016 visit to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, we stopped at the Bayfield Visitor Center. The visitor center is located on the ground floor of the old county courthouse on Washington Avenue. The second floor houses the headquarters offices of the lakeshore. The center has an information desk, bookstore and gift shop, exhibits, restrooms, and a meeting room. An excellent 20-minute video, On the Edge of Gichigami, is shown on request in the meeting room.

Gift shop

Lighthouse Fresnel lens...

...lit with a low-wattage bulb

Bookstore

Exhibits

More exhibits

Entry to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is free. However, camping, docking, interpretive programs, and most parking areas require a user fee. There is no daytime parking fee at the visitor center. Free on-street parallel parking is available on many streets in Bayfield while on the cruise. Expect to walk several blocks during peak summer season.

The lakeshore website is https://www.nps.gov/apis.

Apostle Islands Cruise - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Our July 2016 visit to Lake Superior continued with a cruise at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The Apostle Islands consists of twenty-two islands, of which twenty-one are part of the lakeshore. The lakeshore also includes twelve miles of the mainland shoreline on the northwest coast of Bayfield Peninsula.

The official concessionaire of the lakeshore is Apostle Islands Cruise Service. The Grand Tour normally goes north all the way to Devils Island, but our tour was abbreviated due to high winds on the lake. By staying in the wind shadow of the Bayfield Peninsula, we missed seeing the Devils Island Lighthouse, but had a comfortable ride on a very pleasant sunny day. The cruise departed from the City Dock in downtown Bayfield, Wisconsin at 10 AM. The cruise followed the North Channel between Basswood and Madeline Islands, then skirted the eastern shore of Hermit Island before heading north between Oak and Stockton Islands. After viewing the sandbar at Manitou Island, we continued north to our turnaround point between Rocky and South Twin Islands. Passing through the channel between Rocky and Otter Islands, we headed to the Raspberry Island Lighthouse on the west shore of the island before heading southeast past Frog Bay and following the west coast of Basswood Island down the West Channel back to Bayfield.

In 2016, the 3 ¼ hour Grand Tour cruise was priced at $39.95 per adult plus sales tax. The 2017 adult price has increased to $41.95 with children aged 6 to 12 charged $23.95 and children under 6 charged $1.00.

Topographic map with GPS route

Bayfield City Dock with Basswood and Madeline Islands on the horizon

A beautiful day to be sailing in the sheltered waters between the islands

Leaving Bayfield

Basswood Island

Old quarry on Hermit Island

Sandstone cliffs

The lake continues to undercut the rock

A large slab of rock has been undercut

The beginning of a small sea cave

An unnamed "sea stack" at the north end of Hermit Island

A closer view

Fish Camp on Manitou Island

Fish Camp dock

Private boats at South Twin Island

Sandbar on South Twin Island

Benson Fish Camp on Rocky Island
(National Register of Historic Places)

The Grand Tour was so popular that a second boat had to be put into service

First glimpse of the Raspberry Island Lighthouse

Raspberry Island Lighthouse

Raspberry Island Lighthouse, Fog Signal Building, and boat house

Several sailboats on the lake with Oak, Stockton, and Hermit Islands on the horizon

Floating Rock at the north end of Basswood Island

Bald eagle on Basswood Island

Sailing vessel in West Channel

Entry to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is free. However, camping, docking, interpretive programs, and most parking areas require a user fee. There is no daytime parking fee at the visitor center. Free on-street parallel parking is available on many streets in Bayfield while on the cruise. Expect to walk several blocks during peak summer season.

The lakeshore website is https://www.nps.gov/apis.
The Apostle Islands Cruise Service concessionaire website is http://www.apostleisland.com/.

Miners Castle - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

After our Lake Superior cruise to see the Pictured Rocks from the water, we headed to Miners Castle. From the Interagency Visitor Center in Munising, we drove east for five miles on route H-58. We then turned north on Miners Castle Road and drove another five miles to the large, paved parking area at the end of the road and the Raymond F. Clevenger Visitor Information Center. The center includes restrooms with running water, a small bookstore and gift shop and a large outdoor area for rangers to give interpretive talks and answer visitor questions. Immediately adjacent is a small picnic area.

Short paved trails lead to two overlooks of the Miners Castle rock formation. The first trail is listed as 265 feet in length and ends at a wood-decked overlook at the top of the bluff with excellent views of Miners Castle. This path is wheelchair accessible, but some assistance heading back up the slight grade to the parking area might be helpful. Once at the overlook, the high, solid railings that keep visitors from falling into the lake also limit the view for children and those in wheelchairs. Fortunately, the designers included plastic windows in the railings to allow all visitors to experience the beauty of the rock formation.

The second trail is listed as 1,000 feet long and descends to a viewing platform adjacent to the Miners Castle. This trail is also paved, but includes a set of wooden stairs at the top of the descent and a series of steep switchbacks to reach the first of two platforms. While the wooden stairs can be bypassed by using a combination of trails through the picnic area and then on the North Country Trail, the first platform is raised a couple of steps above the trail. A wide set of wooden stairs descends from the first platform to the second platform. The lower platform provides closeup views of the Miners Castle formation and longer range views of the Pictured Rocks. Once again, plastic windows provide views for children.

We stopped at Miners Castle on our late July 2016 trip to Lake Superior.

Visitor Center from the road

Picnic area

Rangers providing information

Covered and open deck is used for ranger talks and exhibits

Wheelchair ramp to restrooms and bookstore

Rear of the visitor information center

Paved trail leads to upper overlook

Solid railings are designed to prevent climbing and falls

Miners Castle

A Pictured Rocks Cruises boat passes Miners Castle

Kayaks in the shallow water at Miners Castle

Plastic window and interpretive sign on the upper platform

Grand Island from the trail to the lower overlook

Wooden stairs on the trail

Beginning the steep switchbacks

Steps lead to the interpretive platform and stairs beyond lead down to the viewing platform

Miners Castle from the lower observation deck

A closer view

Pictured Rocks

Entry to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is free.

The lakeshore website is https://www.nps.gov/piro/index.htm.