Come with us to experience one of the least-visited and most remote national parks in the country. Isle Royale is a backpacker’s dream destination, and a place you’ll yearn for time and again.
Chilling in the middle of Lake Superior, Isle Royale National Park is famous for its remoteness and wildness, only reachable by passenger ferry or sea plane. Come with us to the western side of the island as we backpack through its gorgeous north woods scenery and experience a trek very few people will ever get the chance to do.
We’ll spend 7 days and 6 nights on the island, starting at the Windigo ranger station, hiking through moose country and beautiful maple forests. Early June is a great time to still catch wildflowers before summer heat sets in. We’ll backpack 30 miles across the western side of the island (the more remote side) before making our way back to Windigo for a rest and day hiking day. We’ll get to the island by ferry from Grand Portage, MN, starting and ending our trip in Grand Marais, MN, where we’ll enjoy a luxurious celebration dinner and a peaceful private hostel stay, perfect for basking in your accomplishment and bad-assery.
This trip has become a favorite of ours—it’s very special for us to take folks to one of our favorite places every year and show them the unique beauty of the island. This year, we’ve built the trip around the ideals of really immersing ourselves in the island’s remoteness, and giving ourselves intentional time to appreciate its place in the Great Lakes ecosystem. We can’t wait to be back!
Adventure Rating: Challenging
This trip is rated Challenging because it involves backpacking in remote wilderness for multiple days. The trails of Isle Royale are rugged and require solid footing while carrying a 35-40lb pack. Weather on the island can be sporadic and intense. There is rarely access to cell signal.
Backpacking with Wander Women: Things to Consider
Wander Women backpacking trips are physically exerting as you will be carrying up to 35-40 pounds of weight in your backpack while hiking in hilly, wild terrain.
If you are looking for a trip where you can sneak away for lots of alone time, this is probably not the trip for you. Although, there will be chill time built into the trip!
This is a very hands-on trip. You will be expected to help with different aspects of setting up and tearing down camp, and general camp duties. This will all be done under the guidance of experienced guides.
There will be personal items you will need to pack. We will provide you with a detailed packing list prior to the trip.
Be prepared to camp in all types of weather (rainy, cold, hot, stormy)
ACTIVITIES
Backpack 30 miles on the west side of the park leaving from and returning to the Windigo ranger station
Enjoy a celebratory dinner in Grand Marais after your trek is complete
ACCOMMODATIONS & LOCATION
The first and last night of your trip, you’ll be staying in a private bunk room in a privately owned hostel in Grand Marais, MN, with access to showers and flush toilets. We love this hostel! While on the island, we’ll be staying in group backpacking sites close to water sources. All backpacking sites on Isle Royale have pit toilets, a luxury in the backcountry!
About Isle Royale National Park
Surrounded by Lake Superior, Isle Royale National Park encompasses 850 square miles of natural wilderness, spacious lands, and aquatic life.
A cool climate, crystal-clear waters, and the wild North Woods forest characterize Isle Royale National Park. The park encompasses a total area of 850 square miles including submerged lands which extend over four miles out into Lake Superior, and 99% of the land mass is federally designated wilderness. The archipelago is composed of numerous parallel ridges, the result of ancient lava flows which were tilted and glaciated.
Isle Royale has 165 miles of scenic hiking trails and 36 campgrounds for backpackers, paddlers, and recreational boaters. There is excellent fishing, historic lighthouses, and shipwrecks, ancient copper mining sites, and plenty of spots to observe wildlife. Isle Royale is accessible only by boat or float plane. Source: National Park Foundation
“I attended the August 2024 Isle Royale trip. This was my first WW trip so I wasn’t sure what to expect but any expectations I had were blown out of the water! It was honestly the best trip. The guides and other participants were amazing. The trip was well organized and I learned so much.”
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Your registration provides you:
Two Wander Women guides to help make the trip as seamless, safe and fun as possible
Isle Royale National Park backpacking permit
Ferry voyage to and from the park
All backpacking food, including a snack pack
A Wanderer swag bag full of goodies
Group backpacking supplies, including water filters, satellite communicators and first aid kits
Hostel accommodations the first and last night
A detailed pre-trip online guide with everything you need to know for your trip
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED
Participants will be responsible for providing/paying for:
Transportation to/from the trip (we always encourage carpooling and can connect you with other participants to ride with!) and to trip activity locations
Gear: Participants are able to rent backpacking gear from Wander Women
First & final dinner in Grand Marais
INVESTMENT
$1500
PAYMENT PLAN
We offer payment plans for all our trips, so you can pay a deposit now and the rest over time! WeTravel (our booking platform) easily lets you make a downpayment (this is also your non-refundable trip deposit!) and set up automatic payments for the remainder. For the payment plan schedule, just check the WeTravel page for details. There is NO fee for choosing the payment plan option!
Deposit for this trip: $750