rock harbor

My husband and I stayed four nights at the lodge during our honeymoon. It more than exceeded our expectations. It was a perfect, peaceful getaway. The staff was both professional and fun, and we had a wonderful experience every time we interacted with them. There was even a service that brought our luggage to and from our room. All the rooms at the lodge have a balcony overlooking Lake Superior, and it was very nice to open our window at night and fall asleep to the sounds of the waves. The trailhead was only steps away from our room, making us feel very close to nature. We hope to return every year.

1) Took the ferry from Grand Portage, the Voyager II. It's a seven hour trip. There is open air seating in the front and back. The back is best for those prone to sea sickness. If this is of interest to you, head straight to the back as there is limited seating. The other seating areas are inside and relatively warm. I sat outside in the back and the stability and the view were much better there. Kids travelling on the boat LOVED the front. The trip there was relatively calm, but the return had 6 foot waves. Even so, I managed to avoid getting sick. Water and coffee is available....that is it. Bring your own food and beverages. If I were to make the trip again, I think I would look into bringing a book on tape to listen to, as I am not able to read while moving.2) The harbor is nice. It is protected. There are a few gift shops (one that also sold groceries and essentials) and two restaurants. Little known fact...there is wifi in the lobby of the resort for guests of the hotel and cottages. I did not see that publicized anywhere, so thought you might like to know. The setting of the harbor is picturesque. You can rent fishing boats and non-motorized vehicles at the harbor.3) There is a great dock on the other side of island (just a five minute hike across) from the harbor where the canoes and kayaks are kept, and where you can read, lounge or fish. It is where the sea plane docks.4) There are several hikes easily accessible from the harbor. I highly recommend renting a canoe/kayak and crossing Tobin Harbor to Louise lookout. One mile hike to beautiful view.5) Stayed at the cottages with friends. Grossly overpriced, but what are you going to do? Five of us stayed in one cottage....two bunks, a queen size bed and two single roll aways. The towels were nearly thread bare, the cooking facilities and utensils barely adequate....small room....very basic....but clean....and dry!!!! A nice option if you would prefer not to camp.6) Lastly, paddeling in Tobin Harbor is like being in the boundary waters. It's nothing like being in the big open water. It's beautiful. Lots of islands, and the lake is fairly shallow in parts. One of my friends went swimming....and this was late August!

Though we were not excited about Isle Royale, we had a beautiful room and patio overlooking Lake Superior. Though we had no towels in the room when we got there, that would be our only complaint. The staff was nice, the food was good. We enjoyed staying there. Highly suggest to check into their daily activities so you know the best days to stay there. We were there Friday-Monday, and only one activity was to visit the Rock Harbor Lighthouse and Edisen Fishery. It was ok, not an oh-wower.

I started and finished my trip to Isle Royale at Rock Harbor; after arriving on the Ranger III. It is a nice place to visit, but hopefully you will be able to hike and explore the rest of the island. Rock Harbor is a poor retreat spot compared to other resorts. The real reason (to me at least) to come to Isle Royale is the experience the other 99% of the island that is a wilderness and accessible only by trail. However, if you want to vacation at a spot away from cell phones and other overwhelming facets of civilization, Rock Harbor is great. I did indulge in the Grill for a wonderful pizza after 8 days of backpacking and freeze dried foods. I enjoyed it immensely and the price wasn't bad. I didn't try the restaurant. Be aware that the grill and restaurant are both in the same building, just on opposite sides. And they do shut down relatively early at night with no other options for food available.The store (by the main dock) has a very small selection of food and goods, at a higher price than on the mainland. Save it for souvenirs and other necessities that you may have forgotten. I spent my last night on the island in the Rock Harbor campground in a shelter. The campground wasn't full in June, but I'm told it does fill up during the high season. I wanted to be sure of catching the boat in the morning. I did use the public showers. $6 for a token (purchased at the camp store). I also stored a bag of clean clothes and showering gear at the lodge; $3 per day. That cost seemed a bit high, but I really did enjoy changing into clean clothes after 8 hard days on the trails. It was well worth the cost to get cleaned up and be able to sit among the normal people at the restaurant and on the boat going back. I did greatly enjoy the Ranger talk in the evening; plus it was the only entertainment available at night.

Beautiful. Best backpacking experience ever. I can't wait to go back. Saw moose. Gift shop and food at the harbor. Then off into the wild . Met great hikers. And had a great time.

What a great bug free trip. We took the Ranger III out of Houghton May 31st 2014. There was a fascinating presentation by the NPS on the history of the island, how the shore line has actually increased over the years, and some cutting edge DNA testing they had done on some local copper artifacts (cutting tools) that revealed DNA evidence of what animals met their end by this ancient blade. The lecture inspired me to research more at home. It was our first time on the Ranger III and we now prefer it over the transports out of Minnesota. The Ranger III does not get tossed around as much as the others so no one got sea sick this time like the last few times we went out to Isle Royale on the smaller boats. We had a unfortunate canoe rental and water taxi cancellation on the part of the boat marina concessions at Rock Harbor due to the crane on the Ranger III having their repair time line pushed back, but they (especially Mr. Kim A.) were very sympathetic, refunding all of my prepaid rental/taxi money since they were not able to get their equipment out there at the start of the season as planned. We made the best of it, pushing Grandpa a little harder then we wanted to physically to get to get to our secrete fishing spot, hiking in some inflatable’s we bought from Walmart. We got into some nice Pike and celebrated his 73rd birthday in prime Pike waters making it in and out without killing the old guy. Cheap, inflatable rafts are a bad idea even on the inland channels due to the wind pushing them around. We got lucky with the wind shifting to our favor at the right times. They are even a worse idea to try to land a 25 pound treble hooked Northern Pike in. LOL.GPS was a good friend, as one of the return portages was extremely well hidden by vegetation. We reported this to the NPS along with a freshly downed tree across one of the portages. I am confident they will rectify these issues as it is quite obvious they take great pride in their park and value their customers. See attached photos for secrete fishing spot info (Pike as big as rail road ties.)All the NPS employees we met (and we spoke to a lot of them) were eager to answer questions no matter how busy they appeared to be. They all presented as being sincerely interested in making our experience the best they possibly could. $6 hot showers and beer at the end of the trip were very nice at rock harbor and worth every penny. Makes me glad to see my tax money going to support such a dedicated Federal organization.

the Ranger III is the boat from Houghton, MI to Rock Harbor, Isle Royale National Park. The ride takes 5 hrs because there is a stopover on an island used for maintenance. Lots of cargo is dropped off here. The Ranger is an extremely clean, comfortable boat. The two young girls who work in the kitchen and serve at the lunch counter, Theresa and Miriah, could not be more pleasant and helpful. The food is delicious, especially the chili and tuna salad sandwich. The crew, especially Ranger Paul is helpful and very personable. The Ranger is an excellent way to begin your adventure to Isle Royale. Plus, you will meet nice, friendly people on board who you will see again and again on the island. All are pleasant, friendly and offer a good source of sharing information and experiences.

We took 2 of the sightseeing cruises - the Edisen Fishery/Rock Harbor Lighthouse and the Wednesday cruise to Belle Isle and Crystal Cove. The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is really beautiful - amazing views!

If you're coming for the day, for a few days or for a few weeks, don't miss this national treasure. It's a beautiful and unique national park. We stayed at the lodge for 3 nights (four days) and were able to get in several great hikes and a really fun canoe trip. We also took several of the boat tours (arranged through the lodge office) which were really worthwhile. The hiking, even close to the lodge, is fairly rugged. I would recommend good, sturdy shoes and come prepared for all types of weather and temperatures. Also, get the good bug spray! Mosquitos...And don't forget your camera. We saw some interesting birds, insects, and amazing wildflowers- heard some wolves calling but never did get to see a moose or a wolf. Saw plenty of evidence that the critters are there though! Maybe next time!

We hiked about 20 miles of the 165 miles of trails on Isle Royale. They also offer canoes and kayaks to rent. We did all hiking and most of the trails are of moderate to difficult. There are some very difficult trails further out from the lodge (this according to other hikers we chatted with). Definitely will be coming back to do more hiking and camping. Make sure you bring super bug spray. The Mosquitos are tough! :)

We stayed here for two days and hiked about 12 miles. We did several four mile hikes, a two miles round trip, canoeing and another short hike at dusk (looking for moose). Great hiking, beautiful views, but we never saw a moose.

The lodge, marina, grocery store and Ranger's station are all located here. The Ranger's station and rangers were the best. Very knowledgeable and helpful with resource books to identify flowers. We rented canoes from the marina and the staff assisted us in planning our day. The grocery story is well-stocked for such a small establishment. The lodge's front-desk staff were unfriendly and unhelpful. Management has dropped the ball.

Rock Harbor is a nice place to start on Isle Royale. There is a lodge, bathroom facilities, laundry, marina, general store, picnic tables, guest house, and 2 restaurants. One thing to note re: laundry- it costs a $6 token, (yes $6!) to do one wash load of laundry. You need to buy tokens in the general store to do a wash. However, the dryer takes $2 in quarters. Also, there is no coin machine to convert quarters into tokens in the laundry area, which is really inconvenient (and certainly NOT user friendly) so you need to make sure to get this taken care of while the store is open. We lucked out when we found this out when we were about to do a load of laundry. Greenstone Grill- poor service on the 1st day we arrived due to only 1 wait staff on hand for lunch. The pizza we ordered took 45 minutes! Unacceptable! However, the next 2 times we had pizza, we had a different server and she took good care of us, so that made up for the first bad experience. The pizzas are very good and they have 3 different beers on draft, which was a nice treat for being on a remote island. There are no late night dining hours on Sunday and Monday nights, so you need adjust your day hiking schedule accordingly. Lighthouse restaurant- you need to be aware of very limited dining hours:Breakfast: 7am - 8:30am Lunch: 12pm- 1:30pm Dinner: 6pm- 7:30pm Food is great. The whitefish is good along with the fish tacos. Soups are great. Service was nice and pleasant. Desserts were ok, but we live in a big city so we may have more particular taste when it comes to dessert. All in all, the Lighthouse restaurant may be more expensive, but given that it is in a remote location, it is well worth it... definitely better than eating granola and freeze dried meals all the time!

Good place for a short stay at Isle Royale. There is a lodge, store, and restaurant. Good hiking from here for short day trips. 2 ranger programs a day (12:45 and 7:30). The night program is in an enclosed auditorium.

We arrived for a 2 night stay in the Rock Harbor Marina, which is managed by the Rock Harbor Lodge. The staff at the marina, store, and Lodge were anything but friendly and helpful. For example, we asked for the WIFI password and we were told that it is exclusively for the Lodge guests; even though we were paying $125/night to stay in the marina which is operated by the Lodge. Oh yes, for the $125/night in the marina slip, our fees only included shore power....no free showers ($6 extra), no boaters lounge, and definately no WIFI.There are lots of good hiking trails with beautiful vistas! There are 2 restaurants which share the same kitchen. Be aware that dining hours are limited, for example dinner at the Lighthouse which offers steak & fish is from 5:30-7:30pm. The Greenhouse Grill has longer service during the day, but is limited to pre made breakfast items and salads, sandwiches and burgers the remainder of the day. Our group of 3 boats (10 people) enjoyed much more being at Washington Harbor (Windigo) in the opposite end of Isle Royale. There is a dock that can take at least 3 large boats, no dockage fee, a nice store and wonderful Park Ranger station. Also a great picnic shelter, but bring your own grill. Also great hiking, Ranger talks and guided walks, showers, bathrooms. Only fee is $4 per day national park fee.