Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield, WI - 2025

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Another bucket list item crossed off out list, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. We checked out the shops in Bayfield, had a really yummy white fish dinner at Hoops Dockside, we went on a Apostle Island Boat Cruise and our favorite was a kayaking tour in and around the sea caves of Devil's Island.

We stayed at a campground that had these cool themed cabins you can rent.


Saw this license plate on a car at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Visitor Center 😂


Pictures from Hoops Dockside Restaurant


 


 

 

 

 



Our boat for the Apostle Islands Grand Tour Cruise



Some Apostle Island Facts: 
1) There are 22 islands, 21 of them are in the National Park. Madeline Island is not in the National Park.
2) There isn't a reason why they are called Apostle Islands.
3) Stockton is the 2nd largest island to Madeline.
4) Oak Island is the tallest.
5) There is a fish camp on Manitou Island.
6) Bear Island is named for its shape.
7) Otter Island was clear cut for logging in 1960.
8) Ironwood Island is known for the slow growing Ironwood tree.
9) Cat Island looked like a cat when it was first charted.
10) North Twin Island is environmentally protected.
11) On Rocky Island the buildings were privately leased prior to becoming part of the National Park system. Early owners had to sell to the federal government and could lease back as a lifetime lease. The youngest owners  are in their late 50's.
12) Devil's Island is named due to the crashing water sounds the natives thought those sounds were demons or spirits.

Lake Superior is 350  miles x 150 miles. Average water temperature is 40 degrees. Water temps reach 70 in mid-August. There are 90 species of fish.

Our tour was great however we couldn't see a lot of the islands due to smoke from Canadian fires. Our Captain and tour guide was excellent. The tour is a 55 mile nonstop tour that takes 2.5 to 3 hours.


You can see the hazing background which is caused by the Canadian fires.


Lighthouse on Raspberry Island.


Sea Caves on Devil's Island


Lighthouse on Devil's Island


We also did sea cave kayak tour and we really enjoyed going in and out of the sea caves. Our guide Freddie was phenomenal and even took a bunch of pictures. There were 3 tandem kayaks to our group so it was cool to talk to Freddie and get to know him a little.

Start and stop around Devil's Island


It was an hour boat ride out to the location they drop you off. 


The crew and guides unloaded the kayaks from the racks down to the small platforms so we could get into them.


Ready to go




The group before us exploring the first of many sea caves.






Coming out of a sea cave the clearance was a little low, we had to duck.


Our guide Freddie









The boat waiting for us when we finished.






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