| Traveler Edge | Isle Royale National Park - How to Get Here |
| Isle Royale National Park - How to Get Here | |||||||||
| Visits : | |||||||||
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Isle Royale Home
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Rock Harbor Lodge
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Copper Harbor
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Scoville Trail | Suzy's Cave | Animal, Plant, Rock |
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| Isle Royale Queen III | |||||||||
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Unless you go by your own boat, you need to take passender ferry or use the seaplane service to get
to the island.
There are 3 options for ferry. For those who come from east you may depart from Copper Harbor, MI or Houghton, MI. For those who come from west may depart from Grand Portage, MN. Isle Royale Queen III from Copper Harbor, MI offers the shortest ride to Rock Harbor. It takes about 4 hours 30 minutes. Their new Queen IV starts the service this year (2004) and just needs 3 hours to reach Rock Harbor. However, they still operate the Queen III unless they have enough passengers. Here is the scheduling information : Isle Royale Queen III from Copper Harbor, MI. | |||||||||
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| Isle Royale Queen IV | |||||||||
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We rode on Isle Royale Queen III. It operates daily to and from the island. Convenient and reliable,
but the vessel is smaller than Ranger III. The way back from the island was in the afternoon. We had
a difficult time struggling with motion sickness. It felt like riding on a roller coaster for more than
4 hours with no stop.
2004 fares are $50 for adult, $21 for child one-way. | |||||||||
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| Ranger III | |||||||||
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Ranger III is the largest passenger ferry to Isle Royale. It departs from Houghton, MI to Rock Harbor.
One way takes 6 hours. Every Tuesday and Friday 9:00 AM departs from Houghton to Rock Harbor and
every Wednesday and Saturday 9:00 AM returns from Rock Harbor to Houghton. 2004 fares are $50 for adult
and $24 for child one-way.
Here is the scheduling information : Ranger III from Houghton, MI. Voyageur II and Wenonah depart from Grand Portage, MN. Wenonah only reaches to Windigo on west of Isle Royale. It takes 3 hours, 2004 fares are $36 for adult and $20 for child. Voyageur II reaches Windigo first then circles the island. It takes 2 hours to Windigo, 7 hours to Rock Harbor. 2004 fares are $50 (to Windigo) or $58 (to Rock Harbor or other locations) for adult, $34 for child. These two vessels are the smallest but the route is closer to lake shore so they probably offer more comfortable ride. However, it takes a long time to reach Rock Harbor. Here is the scheduling information : Voyageur II or Wenonah from Grand Portage, MN. | |||||||||
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| Seaplane | |||||||||
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Seaplane departs from Houghton airport. It takes 30 minutes to reach Isle Rolaye. Each plane may carry
up to 5 passengers. The 2004 fares are $230 round-trip or $160 one-way per person. Expensive, but consider
the time you saved, it probably is a good deal. The other major benefit is that you have opportunity
to overlook the Isle Royale. NPS website has a very beautiful
picture taken at sunset time from a seaplane.
Here is the scheduling information： Seaplane from Houghton, MI。 Whatever kind of transportation you choose to get to the island, make sure that you make reservation for your seats by contacting the operating company. | |||||||||