National park · Michigan

Isle Royale National Park

An isolated Lake Superior island park layered with ancient Indigenous copper mining and now famous for its long-running wolf-and-moose study, also recognized as a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve.

Entrance
$7 per person
Hours
Open 24 hours daily Isle Royale National Park Open Season (April 16 through October 31)
Established
April 3, 1940
Region
Great Lakes & Upper Midwest
Isle Royale National Park
Photo: William Wadas · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Isle Royale National Park patch

The real park boundary. Scout checks whether your phone is inside this line.

Collect it

Scout adds Isle Royale National Park to your collection when your phone is inside the park boundary. Already been? A photo you took there counts too.

Collect Isle Royale in Scout

Free on iPhone and Android.

History

Isle Royale National Park is significant for its unique ecosystems and rich history of copper mining by indigenous peoples and later settlers. It serves as a protected area for wildlife and is recognized as a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve.

Key events

  1. April 3, 1940Isle Royale National Park established by Congress on a remote Lake Superior island.
  2. Isle Royale was designated a wilderness area in 1976 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
  3. The park is the seventh least-visited National Park in the United States, with only 25,894 visits in 2021.
  4. 1958Start of the longest predator-prey study in the world (wolves and moose), still continuing today.

Trails

  • Greenstone Ridge Trail 42 mi · Hard
  • Minong Ridge Trail 26 mi · Hard
  • Scoville Point Loop 4.2 mi · Moderate
  • Stoll Trail 4 mi · Easy
  • Lookout Louise Trail 1 mi · Moderate

Plan your visit

Hours · Isle Royale National Park Open Season (April 16 through October 31)

Open 24 hours, every day

Isle Royale National Park is open annually from April 16 to October 31. Transportation services are offered from May to September. The island and its surrounding islands are closed to all visitors from November 1 to April 15 due to extreme winter weather conditions and for the safety and protection of visitors. This closure extends 4.5 miles out into Lake Superior from the island. Park headquarters during the winter is in Houghton, Michigan. Summer headquarters is located at Mott Island on Isle Royale.

Entrance fees

  • Per Person $7

Fees and hours as of May 2026. Check current details on NPS.gov

When to go

  • Summer. Park only open mid-April to late October, warmest weather, all services
  • Early Fall. Fewer crowds, fall colors, moose rutting season
  • Late Spring. Wildflowers, fewer mosquitoes than mid-summer

Wildlife

MooseGray wolvesRed foxesBeaversLoonsBald eaglesSnowshoe haresMink

Nearby patches

Collect Isle Royale in Scout