The Best Way to Backpack Isle Royale

Hint: it's not an end-to-end hike on the Greenstone Ridge

How do you tackle visiting a new-to-you park? Do you go for breadth and try to see all the hot spots, even if it means more time driving between scenic overlooks than spent hiking? Or do you go for depth and focus on a smaller area, knowing that you’re likely to miss out on some of the iconic views? Unless you have infinite time or the park is tiny, compromises have to be made.

Looking out from Scoville Point at the Dassler cabin, which is currently used for Isle Royale’s Artist-in-Residence program

Though Isle Royale National Park doesn’t look particularly expansive on a map, all exploration requires a bit more effort because travel can only be done by foot or boat—no cars allowed! However, there is one particular itinerary that I see asked about online all the time by prospective visitors that isn’t as great as it seems at first blush—an end-to-end hike of the island via the Greenstone Ridge Trail. I’m here to tell you that I’ve got a better itinerary for your first trip! (And yes, I say first because Isle Royale is one of the most revisited national parks¹ in the United States, so chances are you’re going to want to plan a return adventure at some point.)

When looking at a trail map for the park, one of the first things that draws the eye is a line that spans the entire spine of the island. The idea of traversing the length of the park and (ostensibly) seeing all of the highlights along the way has a way of capturing the imagination. So many of us—myself included—feel a desire to complete things—hike the entire trail, see the entire park. The Greenstone Ridge is the longest trail in the park at 40 or so miles, but is it representative? One trail doesn’t make a park.

The expansive views you expect to see constantly while hiking on the Greenstone Ridge

I got lucky when I started planning my first trip because I stumbled upon the greatest possible resource for Isle Royale that I could have ever hoped for: the Isle Royale Forums. With an abundance of Facebook groups, subreddits, and blogs out there sharing all sorts of contradictory information, there is something amazing about a no-frills, but highly searchable message board from 2007 that is moderated by enthusiasts who have been to the park a dozen or more times.² And one of the first things I learned upon reading old posts was that many of the experienced parkgoers are lukewarm about an end-to-end hike on the Greenstone Ridge.

Comments focused on the lack of water on the ridge, the “green tunnel” views, and the transportation logistics that meant either an additional travel day on a ferry or a hefty price tag for a seaplane reservation. No one’s favorite campground seemed to be along the Greenstone Ridge³, but everyone had a story about algae blooms on the inland lakes next to those backcountry campgrounds that meant they had to haul multiple days worth of water from safe sources elsewhere.⁴ The more I read, the more I let go of my “hike the length of the park” idea and instead started paying attention to the spots that people couldn’t stop raving about.

The views you actually get most of the time on the Greenstone Ridge

I haven’t hiked end-to-end on the Greenstone Ridge, so who am I to offer my opinion on whether it would be a great experience for you? Well, I have visited the park twice for multi-day backpacking trips and hiked sections of the Greenstone on both ends of the island and so far I agree with the somewhat discouraging comments I read on the forum. The Greenstone is fine, it’s even quite lovely in places! But there is so much more that makes the park truly special.

What I love about Isle Royale is not one singular feature or one long trail, it’s the variety all crammed into a small footprint and that’s what is missed when sticking to the Greenstone Ridge. It may be the backbone of the island, but don’t you want to explore the limbs as well? In addition to the Greenstone Ridge and the Minong Ridge, both of which have trails named after them, there are smaller ridges which contribute to a “distinct ridge and valley topography [that] continues underwater.”⁵ On every ridge and in every valley, there is seemingly some new plant to see—and once you leave that area, you may not see it again elsewhere!

Hot and exposed trail between Daisy Farm and Moskey Basin

On my first visit, delicate orchids bloomed on the edge of the Tobin Harbor Trail. Daisy Farm was ablaze with a patch of Orange Hawkweed, a plant originally from Europe that was likely brought (along with the apple trees) to Isle Royale when mining companies established settlements on the island.⁶ On the tops of ridges, the flora was short and scrubby, growing in thin dirt atop the billion year old lava flow. When we dipped into the valleys, we found ourselves in lush vegetation—miles of skunk cabbage that suddenly gave way to enormous ferns. It’s truly an endless buffet for any aspiring naturalist.⁷

Cool and damp trail between Moskey Basin and Lake Richie

So, how do you plan a trip that shows off the diversity of the park? Make a loop. It sounds simple, but hiking a loop pretty much ensures that some of your trip will be traveling along the ridges and some of it will be crossing the ridges perpendicularly, some part will be spent in view of Lake Superior and some park will take you along the shores of placid inland lakes. (Also, go into your trip knowing that you aren’t going to see everything and that your appetite will just be whetted.)

I wrote a full trip report on the Isle Royale Forums about my first visit⁸, a loop that started and ended in Rock Harbor. I loved that itinerary, which was the result of nearly two years of research.⁹ For those not interested in more of my words and photos, the quick rundown is we stayed at Three Mile, Moskey Basin, McCargoe Cove, Lane Cove, and one final night at Rock Harbor, plus did some side excursions to the Minong Mine and Scoville Point. Daylight is practically endless in June, so combined with our low daily hiking mileage¹⁰, we had plenty of time to relax in incredibly scenic spots on the shore of Lake Superior.

My second trip, on the other side of the island, was a figure 8 loop on the Feldtmann Trail and the Huginnin Cove Trail, which included red rock beaches that aren’t seen anywhere else in the park and miles of thimbleberries. I have dreams of a third trip that includes the Minong Ridge Trail and even more distant dreams of a fourth trip with my canoe. I’m not saying that I’m never going to hike the entirety of the Greenstone Ridge, but if you want to fall in love with Isle Royale the way that I have, don’t start there.

1. I don’t have a citation for this, but I heard park rangers say it during my visits and the phrase “one of the least visited, but most revisited parks” has wormed its way into just about every article ever written about Isle Royale.

2. One of the moderators has visited Isle Royale 34 times! Truly, the wealth of knowledge on that site is unmatched.

3. Below is probably a word than along. Since the backcountry campgrounds are situated near water sources and there is no water up on the ridge, hikers need to descend the ridge to get to camp. Which also means starting every single day with a climb up the ridge.

4. On my first trip with a friend in June 2021, there was an algae bloom on Lake Richie. While we relaxed at Moskey Basin, we watched a group of eight portage four canoes, all their gear, and more than five gallons of water for 2.1 miles from Moskey Basin to Lake Richie. They started around noon and didn’t finish until dinnertime. The next morning, my friend and I saw one of their canoes left along the side of the trail, about halfway between the campgrounds, as we hiked on towards our next site.

5. https://www.nps.gov/articles/nps-geodiversity-atlas-isle-royale-national-park-michigan.htm

6. To read more about Isle Royale’s mining history:

7. Why I think Midwest hiking is great for aspiring naturalists:

8. Be aware that the food storage rules in the park in 2021 were very different than they are now in 2025. The food storage system I describe in the trip report was suggested by the rangers at the time, but is no longer allowed.

9. Our original plan was to visit in June 2020, but that was postponed a year when the ferry service was suspended for the 2020 season due to COVID.

10. NPS says, “Recommended mileages are 6-8 miles per day for beginning backpackers and 8-10 miles per day for experienced backpackers.” Those numbers are very conservative and readers of this blog may remember that on my second trip I actually did an (unplanned) twenty mile day:

Sometimes an Extra Five Miles is Easier than Talking to Another Person