Camping at Windigo in Isle Royale National Park

 Our family loves to visit U.S. national parks and we have visited most of the ones that are easy to get to. We had pretty much written off going to Isle Royale due to its remoteness and the difficulty of getting there. However, our daughter did some research on what it would take to get there and we decided to give it a try. In this post, I will share some information we gained about making the trip that would have been good to have known as we were planning.

Who does this apply to?

There are several ways to visit Isle Royale. The information I'm providing here will mostly apply to people who:

• want to camp
• who are NOT backpacking
• who are arriving on the west side of the island from Minnesota by ferry.

It generally does not apply to people arriving by float plane, who are going to the east side of the island from Michigan, and who are going to stay in the Rock Harbor Lodge.

I also should mention that our visit was late in the season when there were fewer visitors than during the peak of the season. So, if you go earlier in the summer when it is busier, you may have problems that we did not encounter. Also, this information is current as of September 2025. As time passes, it will become less accurate as conditions change on the island.

Getting there

There were three reasons why we decided to visit the western end of the island. One reason was that our daughter lives in Minneapolis. Another was that the ferry crossing from Minnesota is significantly shorter than the crossing from Michigan (2 hours vs. 6 hours). The final reason was that fewer people visit the west end of the island, and since it is not possible to making camping reservations, we thought that it was more likely that we could get a non-reservable campsite there than on the eastern end.

The ferry terminal is located in Grand Portage at the extreme northeastern tip of Minnesota. It takes five or more hours to drive there from Minneapolis. So unless you want to start driving in the middle of the night, you'll probably want to stay in Grand Portage the night before a morning departure. Pretty much the only place to stay there is in the hotel of the casino (Grand Portage Lodge; no AirBNBs or other hotels there). The nearest other U.S. town is Grand Marais, MN, which has places to stay, restaurants, and stores, but is about a 45 minute drive from Grand Portage. (Thunder Bay, Ontario is under an hour away, but involves the additional complication of a border crossing.) There is a large parking lot at the ferry terminal where you can park your car while you visit the island. Be prepared to pay a small parking fee to the Village of Grand Portage, which owns the lot (credit cards accepted).

Sea Hunter III at the Grand Portage dock. This is the smaller ferry that runs between Minnesota and Windigo

There are two ferries that run from Grand Portage in the morning, and during most of the summer season there is at least one leaving on most days of the week except Tuesday.  There are ferries returning in the afternoon most days except Monday. Check the schedule for detailed information on days and times. You need to make reservations well in advance of your trip, as the ferries have limited capacity and fill up weeks or months in advance. The cost per person is about $200 round trip and is probably the largest expense in visiting. 

Voyageur II at the Windigo dock. This is the larger ferry between Windigo and Minnesota

One important thing to pay attention to is the time. The terminal in Minnesota is on Central Time and Isle Royale is on Eastern Time. The ferries from Minnesota express all departure times on Central Time regardless of whether you were departing from Grand Portage or Windigo. If you have a conventional watch and don't change it, then their times will make sense. However, if you use your phone to set an alarm or to use as a clock, and if you use the Internet on the island (yes, there is Internet -- see below), your phone may automatically update to Eastern Time. The main point is to PAY ATTENTION to what time it is when your ferry is arriving to take you back to Minnesota and what time your timekeeping device thinks it is. 

Washington Harbor from the Windigo boat dock

The crossing itself was interesting and provides the best opportunity to see Lake Superior and the shores of Isle Royale. The park facilities at Windigo are located on the long and narrow Washington Harbor, so once you arrive, you aren't likely to see Lake Superior again before you leave unless you do significant hiking. 

Road from boat dock to Washington Creek campground. This is one of the backpacks we rented.

The ferries are passenger-only and there are no vehicles on the island, so that means that you need to plan to carry everything that you will need on the island, or buy it in the camp store in Windigo. One of the key pieces of information that we had trouble finding online was just exactly how far the Washington Creek Campground was from the boat dock. It is 0.4 miles on a flat and easy road from the dock to the campground entrance and you could wind up walking a few tenths of a mile further depending on how far your campsite is from the entrance. So even if you aren't backpacking, you'll need to have some means to carry your gear and to keep the weight down to what you can carry that distance.

Camping gear

As I mentioned earlier, one of the complications of doing non-backpacking camping on the island is that you have to carry everything on the ferry and to the campground. If you exclusively do car camping, then you probably don't have backpacks. One extremely useful thing that we learned was that the University of Minnesota recreation center will rent backpacks and other gear to the general public. We rented backpacks and bear canisters from there. Although there are no bears on the island, there have been cases of wolves being habituated to camp food, so all food must be kept in bear canisters to keep the food secure from any animals it might attract. Because bear canisters are pretty expensive, it was nice to be able to rent rather than buy them. The type of canister we rented from them was BearVault BV 500. For more information about outdoor gear rentals, see the recreation center website. NOTE: The location shown on Google Maps for 244 Walnut St. SE, Minneapolis is the correct location for the loading dock where you pick up the rental equipment. However, using Google Maps to navigate there will send you to the other side of the building. So look at the map to find your way there rather than following the directions given by Google Maps.

Although you will probably want to bring your food, it is good to know that there is a camp store near the dock and visitors' center in Windigo. Supplies are somewhat expensive, but it is good to know that you can pick up most of the basics if you run short on food. They do have standard size butane cylinders for sale and there was even a box outside the store where people left partially used cylinders for anyone to take. We had bought an extra cylinder in case we ran out and that was unnecessary because of their availability on the island. (Note: depending on where backpacks are being stowed on the ferry, you may have to place butane cylinders in an outside location on the boat. So make sure that you have written your name on your cylinders and kept them near the top of your pack before you get on the ferry.) The store also sells a limited selection of prepared foods like pizza and hot dogs in the event that you get tired of rehydrated backpacking food.

Because of the necessity of carrying everything, we packed backpacking tents rather than our larger (and heavier) car camping tents. When we arrived at the campground, we were surprised to discover that there were multiple shelters available. Supposedly you pitch your tent in the shelter, but we just left our tents packed and slept in our sleeping bags directly on the wooden floor of the shelter. However, since there's no guarantee that a shelter will be available, you probably will want to bring a tent even if you hope to get a shelter.

Amenities detail

Campsites. In contrast to the relatively expensive ferry, camping on the island is free. When you arrive, you can get a free permit to camp. When we arrived, one of the rangers met us to issue our permits at the kiosk by the dock. However, you will need to pay an entrance fee for the park, unless you already have an annual or permanent park pass. 

At the Washington Creek campground, there are 10 shelters and 5 tent campsites without shelters. The signs at the shelters said that it was not allowed to pitch tents on the site outside of the shelters, although this apparently is not enforced and we saw people doing it. One of our major concerns was what we would do if we got off the ferry and discovered that there were no sites available. Online information indicated that one could potentially appeal to those who were able to obtain a site to share their sites with you. However, the dynamic we observed was that when all of the sites were taken, people camped in the group campground next to the regular campground. So the group campground was effectively an overflow campground.

Shelter, back view

Shelter, front view

Inside of a shelter

When we visited at the end of August, at the time of our arrival on a morning ferry there were several shelters available, and most of the tent campsites were unoccupied. However, as the day progressed and backpackers arrived from other parts of the island, all of the shelter and tent sites were full and people were having to go to the group campsite. As far as I know, site sharing was not necessary. It is likely that earlier in the season when visitation is higher all of the main and overflow campsites might be full, at least by the end of the day.

Water. Potable water is available, so we did not end up using the water purifier that we brought. There is a spigot near the boat dock that was the most convenient one for us since we regularly went from the campground to the dock area to use the nice bathrooms there. We later discovered that there was another spigot located at the second entrance to the campground (see map), but the spigot shown on the map at the first entrance was no longer there.

Bathrooms. There were three pit toilets located at the campground (see map) but be aware that they were not stocked with either toilet paper or hand sanitizer. There were nice bathrooms located near the dock that had toilet paper, hot running water, soap, and electric hand driers. So we used them in preference to the pit toilets when practical. The bath house also had pay showers and laundry facilities, but we did not use them so can't comment on their quality.

Kiosk with WiFi near boat dock

Technology. We had been warned that there was no cell service on the island, although it may be possible at some high places on the island to pick up Canadian cell towers (possibly resulting in large international charges depending on your plan). We were therefore very surprised to discover that there was free public WiFi at the kiosk near the boat dock. So it is possible to send emails and iMessages, and to do limited Internet audio calls from that location. The bandwidth is pretty narrow, so video calling would be sketchy. 

There are electrical outlets by the sinks in the bathrooms, so it's possible to recharge mobile phones and portable power supplies there.

Trash. You should be prepared to pack out the trash that you generate when camping. There were trash cans in the main bathroom, but they are intended for bathroom trash only. There was a trash can outside of the store, so it is possible to discard small items there (e.g. waste from prepared food purchased in the store), but don't plan to discard your camping waste there.

Food locker for tent campers

Backpack cage at kiosk near boat dock

Food storage. As I mentioned earlier, it is required to store your food in bear canisters. The campground has metal lockers into which you can place the canisters if you are sleeping in a tent. If you are able to get a shelter, we were told that it was OK to keep the canister in the shelter. When arriving and departing, there is a cage by the kiosk where you can put backpacks while using the bathrooms and visitors center. 

Bear canisters rented from U of M rec center

Since anything with food scent needs to be secured inside the bear canisters, we ended up primarily eating the type of backpacking meals that you prepared by pouring hot water into the pouch containing the dehydrated food. That avoided the need to clean cooking utensils and dispose of gray water from dishwashing. The used pouches can then be rolled up, closed, and returned to the canister. Scented substances like toothpaste also need to be kept in the canisters, so careful planning is necessary to keep the food volume below the capacity of the canisters. We were (barely) able to fit food and snacks for three people on a 3 night trip (two full days and two half days) into two canisters.

Visitor Center. The National Park visitor center is the place to go for information about trails, wildlife. There is also a part of the center that sells postcards, books, and maps.

Activities

Paddling a canoe in Washington Bay

Paddling up Washington Creek from the bay

View of Lake Superior from Grace Creek overlook

Using Windigo as a base, we were able to enjoy three days of activities with no problem. One day we rented a canoe at the camp store and paddled around the relatively sheltered Washington Bay and up Washington Creek. We also did a nice, easy day hike to the Grace Creek overlook, which gave us our only look at Lake Superior proper from the island and a panoramic view of the pond and wetlands associated with Grace Creek. We also did the short nature trail loop near the visitors' center and took the Feldmann Lake trail as far as Washington Creek. If we had been more ambitious, it would have been feasible to hike to the Minong Ridge overlook as a day hike.

Moose in Washington Creek from our campsite

We were relatively lucky with animal sightings. From our campsite we twice saw a moose wade along Washington Creek, and we also saw a moose (possibly the same one) in the bay in the shallow water near the mouth of Washington Creek. We spotted a red fox and saw two river otters playing in the bay. At the Grace Creek overlook, we saw a family of kestrels doing aerobatics below. We did not see or hear any wolves, but did find a fresh wolf footprint on a trail. We met some people who did not see a moose during their entire visit, so what you see may just depend on your luck.

Conclusions 

With some careful planning, we were able to execute a three night camping trip on the island at a reasonable cost. Although much of the scenery and vegetation were similar to what you might see in Michigan's upper peninsula or northern Minnesota, the isolated location and wilderness character of the island made it a nice place to visit if you enjoy nature.

Favorite Nebula Award-winning Novels

 After finishing reading all of the Hugo Award winners for best novel, I decided to keep up the momentum and read all of the winners of the Nebula Award for best novel. I just finished the last one yesterday and decided to write a follow-up post to my earlier one where I talked about which of the Hugo books were my favorites. 

In this post, I’ll discuss the Nebula winners that were not also Hugo winners, and list those double-winners that I already described in the previous post.

The Nebula Award started in 1966, so there are over 10 years of generally poor-quality books that were Hugo-eligible but that were out of contention in this quest (all of my 5 worst Hugo books were before 1962). Nevertheless, there were two that I disliked enough to put in the category of worst Nebula winners.

List of favorites

Not surprisingly, many of the really good books won both awards. So the list of favorites that won only the Nebula is rather short. It’s hard to be sure that I’m holding them to exactly the same standard as my Hugo favorites – I may be a little more generous here. But all of these favorites are solid and worth a read.

NOTE: to read my full reviews of all of the Nebula Award-winning novels see my Goodreads books.

Samuel R. Delany: Babel-17 (1967)

I’m not sure that this falls into my top books of all times, but it was one of my favorite of the Nebula winners. It was pretty weird, which often is a negative for me, but somehow this one was weird in an interesting way and also pretty good for 1967. In particular, I liked the strong female main character, which was refreshing for a book from that decade. Like Babel, the 2023 winner, it was in the “power of words and language” genre, but did not drag on for page after dull page as Babel did.

Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (1967)

It’s hard to place this book relative to the others since I haven’t read it since I first did in about 1974. But I think it made a big impression on me at the time and was a really solid story. Very different in style from the other 1967 winner that I just described.

Greg Bear: Darwin’s Radio (2001)

This was a really exciting and interesting book that I had trouble putting down. Not one of my all-time top books, and I found the biology a bit hard to swallow (as a biologist). But worth reading.

Elizabeth Moon: The Speed of Dark (2004)

This is not your typical sci-fi book: the focus was not really on the advanced technology, which was only tangential to the real story line: seeing our world from the eyes of someone with autism. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, but otherwise it was a really engaging and thought-provoking book.

Favorites that also won the Hugo

The following favorite Nebula winners were already discussed in my previous blog post on favorite Hugo winners, so I will just list them here and let you read about them in the other post.

Frank Herbert: Dune (1966)

Ursula K. Le Guin: Left Hand of Darkness (1970)

Frederik Pohl: Gateway (1978)

Orson Scott Card: Ender’s Game (1986), Speaker for the Dead (1987)

Connie Willis: Blackout/All Clear (2011), Doomsday Book (1993)

N. K. Jemisin: The Stone Sky (2018)

 

Lois McMaster Bujold: Falling Free (1996) 

I’m putting this in a special category. This book did not win the Hugo and is actually not one of my favorite Bujold books, but I am including it because of my general love of the other Vorkosigan Universe books, some of which did win the Hugo.

5 star book that didn’t make my favorite list:

NOTE: there are other Nebula 5 start books that are not listed here because they were listed on the Hugo 5 star list of my other post and are therefore not repeated here.

Vonda N. McIntyre: The Moon and the Sun (1998)

Perhaps I was generous to give this 5 stars, but I liked the story. A bit slow to start and too much detail about the French court, but I really liked the characters and how different “good” characters had different viewpoints on topics like sex and religion.

Worst Nebula books

No “best” list would be complete without a corresponding “worst” list. Here it is:

Samuel R. Delany: The Einstein Interaction (1968)

Very weird book that was probably trying to make some point about myths that was lost on me. Interesting that Delany makes both my best and worst list!

Robert Silverberg: A Time of Changes (1972)

Preachy and depressing premise, disgusting attitude towards women, poor writing.
 

Favorite Hugo Award-winning Novels

 In May 2023, I completed a quest that was on my bucket list: reading all of the winners of the Hugo Award for best science fiction/fantasy novel. At that time, there were 71 books on the list (not counting “Retro-Hugo” winners). I’m not sure when I read my first one – the first one that I can unambiguously remember reading was Dune in about 1975 or 76. I read a number of the winners from the 70’s through 90’s soon after their publication, before having kids and going to grad school cut back on my pleasure reading time. Starting in 2021, I resolved to spend more time reading for fun and a number of the more recent winners were recommended to me by my daughter. This enticed me to take up the challenge of finishing all of them and Goodreads tells me that I read 31 of them in the 12 months preceding May 2023.

Having read them all, I am enjoying thinking back on them and pondering which were my favorites. I decided to write this post to list them.

Why a favorite?

There are several criteria that must have been met to make my “favorites” list. First and foremost, the book must be deeply engaging. To me, a great fiction book draws me into its world, and while I’m reading I’m transported to that world and barely aware that I am sitting in this world reading. Second, the story needs to be clever, creative, or explore a universe that has some really interesting and different twist. Third, the story can’t be ruined by being overtly sexist, dated, or transparently preaching about the author’s pet peeve. It is fine for the book to have a point, but that point needs to be made through the storytelling.

Another characteristic (but not a requirement) is that I found myself pondering and thinking about these stories for days or weeks after reading them, and years later thinking how I would like to re-read them.

List of my favorites

NOTE: to read my full reviews of all of the Hugo Award-winning novels, see my Goodreads books.

 

N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season (2016), The Obelisk Gate (2017), The Stone Sky (2018)

This trilogy was so different and interesting that I was quickly intrigued by it. The narrative style of The Fifth Season was also really cool. Some parts of The Stone Sky were a bit hard to believe, but the trilogy's overall the story was very satisfying.

Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep (1993), A Deepness in the Sky (2000)

I was not familiar with Vernor Vinge before I started reading the Hugo books, but I now really appreciate his creativity and storytelling. Both of these books have a compelling story arc, but also have fascinating and creative alien species whose interactions with humans form an integral part of the story. One interesting character overlaps in the two books.

Frank Herbert: Dune (1966)

It is a bit difficult for me to objectively compare Dune to my other favorite Hugo books, since it was probably the first “epic” sci-fi/fantasy book that I read. But at that time, I was blown away by the complex vision that Herbert created in the book. Queen’s Night at the Opera had come out not long before I read Dune and I listened to “The Prophet’s Song” many times while reading. It has become indelibly associated with Dune in my mind. If you’ve read Dune, listen to The Prophet's Song and see if you can tell why it made such a strong connection for me.

Connie Willis: Blackout/All Clear (2011), Doomsday Book (1993)

Although both of these books involve pretty depressing topics (WW II and the plague), the story telling really immersed me in those time periods. The character’s struggle to survive and return to their own time, overlaid with their efforts to recognize the humanity and dignity of the people of those times in the most trying circumstances, made for a compelling plot.

Orson Scott Card: Ender’s Game (1986), Speaker for the Dead (1987)

Although these books might be classified as young adult books, they had really interesting and surprising plots.

Lois McMaster Bujold: The Vor Game (1991), Barrayar (1992), Mirror Dance (1995)

I include these books not because they were my particular Bujold favorites, but rather because the entire Miles Vorkosigan series were so clever, funny, and entertaining. They are certainly one of my favorite book series, with The Warrior's Apprentice (not a nominee) as the very best.

C. J. Cherryh: Downbelow Station (1982), Cyteen (1989)

I include these Cherryh books for a similar reason as the Bujold books. They weren’t necessarily my favorite Cherryh books (that would probably be the Chanur books, nominated in 1983 but did not win). But C. J. Cherryh is overall one of my favorite sci-fi authors and her Alliance/Union universe is complex and fascinating.

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness (1970)

It would be difficult to not include Le Guin somewhere on my list. The Left Hand of Darkness is certainly one of her best books, although probably the Lathe of Heaven (nominated in 1972 but did not win) is my favorite. Le Guin is perhaps unmatched for her ability to situate interesting plots in worlds and cultures that are thought-provoking.

Frederik Pohl: Gateway (1978)

I read Gateway many years ago, so I’m not sure how I would feel about it now. But at the time, the novelty of the story premise and narrative style really appealed to me.

J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2001)

This is actually my least favorite Harry Potter book. But the Harry Potter saga is one of my top fantasy series, so I included it on that basis.

Runners up:

Robert Sawyer: Hominids (2003)

This book was borderline and did not quite make the cut, but I have to say that I was quite intrigued by the underlying concept of the world, and I just really liked the story and imagining how the world would be different if a different Homo species had come to dominate the earth.

Walter M. Miller Jr.: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1961)

I had first heard the NPR radio dramatization of this in the early 1980’s and was not overly impressed. I am also not a big fan of post-apocalyptic books. But when I read the book recently, I really enjoyed the story-telling and premise of the first two parts of the book. It was far superior to most other sci fi books I’ve read that were written in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. But it got booted from the favorites list because of the “no preachiness” criterion. The third part of the book was just transparently an anti-euthanasia sermon and that ruined the last part of the book for me.

Vonda N. McIntyre: Dreamsnake (1979)

When I started reading this book, I was expecting to dislike it. As I said, I don’t really like post-apocalyptic stories that well, and the beginning of the book seemed pretty hokey to me. But as the story was built out, I really found myself enjoying it. As a post-apocalyptic novel, it was pretty unusually in emphasizing kindness as a basic human characteristic. That was really refreshing to me.

John Scalzi: Redshirts (2013)

This was a short and very funny parody of Star Trek. Surprisingly, it was actually built into a somewhat clever story. Definitely work a read.

Other books I gave 5 star ratings to:

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (2014)

Very interesting take on A.I.

Arkady Martine: A Memory Called Empire (2020), A Desolation Called Peace (2022)

Intriguing world told from the perspective of someone confused about another culture.

Neil Gaiman: The Graveyard Book (2009)

Did not think I would like, but did.

Mary Robinette Kowal: The Calculating Stars (2019)

Pretty interesting overall plot concept, but bordering on unbelievable.

Larry Nevin: Ringworld (1971)

Clever world-building, but too sexist for my tastes now.

Victor Vinge: Rainbows End (2007)

Enjoyable and interesting book, but not up to the level of his two books I put on my favorites.

Paolo Bacigalupi: The Windup Girl (2010)

Very interesting world, but a bit too violent and depressing for me to fully enjoy

Robert Charles Wilson: Spin (2006)

Engaging and suspenseful, but not top tier.

Roger Zelazny: Lord of Light (1968)

Really interesting presentation: not sure what was real and what was mythological. Far superior and more creative than many of the books from the 1960’s. 

William Gibson: Neuromancer (1985)

Story line not amazing, but very prescient and the storytelling was vivid. The origin of "cyberspace" and cyberpunk. 

Philip K. Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1963)

One of the rare excellent winners from the early 1960's. An early entry in the alternate universe genre and well-written.

Worst Hugo Books:

No "best" list would be complete without a corresponding "worst" list. 

It seems to me pretty clear that the quality of science fiction and fantasy writing has generally improved over time. Anyone who thinks that the 1959’s and early 1960’s was some kind of golden age for science fiction clearly has not read these terrible books. One thing I cannot figure out is why Robert Heinlein is considered a great sci-fi author. The books of his that I have read ranged from mediocre to downright awful.

Robert A. Heinlein: Starship Troopers (1960)

This was just a deplorable book. One of the few I’ve given a one-star rating. Almost no plot and transparent right-wing ax-grinding.

Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1962)

Despite this being a “famous book”, it was really terrible. Disgusting sexism (female character says “Nine times out of ten, if a girl gets raped, it’s partly her fault.”), characters droning on about Heinlein’s pet issues, etc.

Fritz Leiber: The Big Time (1958)

No real plot, stereotypical characters, dumb premise.

James Blish: A Case of Conscience (1959)

Lack of imagination about technology, shallow and stereotypical female characters, pages of pontification by characters with no plot development, …

Mark Clifton: They’d Rather Be Right (1955)

Almost impossible to obtain, and for good reason. An implausible story with annoying political overtones, masquerading as a science fiction story. Really, really dumb portrayal of A.I.