Hiking the Greenstone Ridge Trail in Isle Royale National Park

Isle Royale National Park

There simply is no where quite like Isle Royale National Park.  An island located in the middle of Lake Superior, Isle Royale is a wilderness haven unlike any other.  While it is the least visited National Park, it is one that many who venture here return to as it is that freaking awesome. Because of its remote location, a trip to this National Park does take some advance planning but is well worth the effort.

Greenstone Ridge Trail

Greenstone Ridge Trail

The Greenstone Ridge Trail runs the length of the island and we hiked the 40 mile length plus several side trails over the coarse of a 10 day trip during mid-summer.  Read about how we planned for our adventure and what a wonderful experience it was.

From Copper Harbor Aboard the Isle Royale Queen IV

Hiking to Lane Cove

Lookout Louise

Daisy Farm

Moskey Basin

West Chickenbone Lake

Hatchet Lake

A Long Day to Windigo

Exploring Windigo

Back to Rock Harbor

I hope you go to Isle Royale and take a hike on the Greenstone Ridge Trail. I can promise you it will be an adventure you never forget.

Happy Travels!

More from Tricia
Adventure Van Travels – Sequoia National Park
We arrived in Sequoia National Park and we are in love! The...
Read More
5 replies on “Hiking the Greenstone Ridge Trail in Isle Royale National Park”
  1. says: travelingfamily

    I found your site a couple weeks ago when searching for Isle Royale. I’ve really enjoyed reading about your trips and experiences. I also enjoyed the article “keeping it real”, as I wondered how you managed all of these trips and still have smiles in every picture! 🙂

    When you went to Isle Royale, how old were your youngest kids at the time? Did they do ok hiking the Greenstone trail? Could they have done it at a younger age? What month did you go? How were the mosquitoes? I’ve read they can be really bad at certain times of the year.

    1. says: Tricia

      I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it! Maya and Garrett were 9 when we visited Isle Royale and they did great hiking there. If they were much younger, I would just add in a couple of rest days. Staying longer at Moskey Basin and Lane Cove would have been lovely and a great place to rest up. Campgrounds on the trail are spaced fairly close together so there is no need for very long hiking miles if you have the time to spare. We were there in late July and were pleasantly surprised that the mosquitoes were no where near as bad as we had heard. While very active at dawn and dusk, during the day they pretty much left us alone. You could hear them buzzing overnight though and definitely attacked during late night bathroom runs! We did use head nets for early morning hiking which helped a lot and jumped into our tents or shelter when the sun went down. Isle Royale is an amazing place to visit and one of my very favorite National Parks.

  2. says: Carla BeDell

    Great article. I grew up in Illinois and we hardly ever went to the Great Lakes. I do remember a vacation where we came back through Canada and visited Lake Huron, but never got to Lake Superior. That will definitely be on our list for next summer. When is the latest in the year you could hike there?

    1. I’m pretty sure the ferry stops running in late September. It would definitely be chilly by then and storms can be fierce during that time. Happy travels!

Comments are closed.