We’re getting lots of questions about what to expect when you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore this summer, especially during this time of signficant change in the federal government, which includes the National Park Service. Generallly speaking, Lakeshore facilities are open and available as they have been in prior years, although there are changes in how you pay fees in some locations, and some construction projects in the park may affect speciic locations.

The Secretary of the Department of Interior has ordered National Parks to remain open and accessible despite workfore reductions.  Secretarial Order 3426 mandates that parks maintain their posted operating hours and visitor services. It also requires park superintendents to seek approval from the DOI before making any changes to those hours or services.

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore has provided the following scheduling information. Check the National Lakeshore website for updates.  

Sand Island: Volunteers will be available for Sand Island tours daily through September 1, 2025. Apostle Islands Cruises is doing scheduled Sand Island Lighthouse trips on Wednesdays. A park ranger will lead those tours.

Michigan Island: Scheduled tours with a ranger will be available through Apostle Islands Cruises Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Michigan will not be staffed by volunteers this season.

Manitou Island: Volunteers are available for Manitou Island tours daily through September 1, 2025.

Oak and Rocky Islands: Volunteers will be on site for most of the operating season, through Sepember 5th, 2025.

Meyers Beach on the mainland: Lakeshore staff will be onsite daily for preventative search and rescue (advising paddlers about safely accessing the mainland caves) and basic visitor service).

Fee payment changes

An Executive Order, “Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account” issued in March, 2025 mandates that “As soon as practicable, and to the extent permitted by law, all payments made to the Federal Government shall be processed electronically.” This directive primarily affects how you will pay parking fees at Meyers Beach.

The National Park Service piloted a new cashless option at Meyers Beach via Pay.gov last summer. You can use your phone to scan a QR code at the Fee Kiosk to pay your parking fee. Fee envelopes will be available this summer, for those that are unable to pay electronically. However the Park Service says you will need to mail them in, or drop them off at either Bayfield Headquarters or the Little Sand Bay Visitor Center.

You can still buy an annual Meyers Beach parking pass at Park Headquarters in Bayfield.

Guests on the Apostle Islands Cruises lighhouse tours will also use Pay.gov to pay those fees. Park headquarters is mostly cashless. The Eastern National store in park headquarters is open during normal operating hours. Boaters will continue to use dock fee envelopes on the islands while the National Park Service works on a way to make cashless payments possible in locations where cell phone service may not be available.

Construction projects

The National Park Service is coordinating a number of construction projects in 2025 and 2026. Some of these will impact your experience in certain parts of the National Lakeshore. Projects will include the Marina Rehabilitation on the south end of Devils Island and Raspberry Island Lighthouse Painting in 2025. Construction of the Meyers Beach accessible ramp and Little Sand Bay Marina rehabilitation are scheduled for 2026. You can learn more about these projects and see construction updates on the National Lakeshore website.

National Park Service graphic

The Park Service says trucks and equipment being used for the Devils Island marina project this summer will leave and return to the mainland at Little Sand Bay and the Town of Russell boat ramp. You can expect some early morning activity and mid-afternoon there. First you may see trucks hauling demolition debris from the island and later this summer cement trucks being loaded onto barges in the early morning and returning during the afternoon. A section of the Little Sand Bay parking lot is also fenced off to facilitate this activity.

Campsite availability

At this point, campsites are operating normally, with the exception of the Devils Island marina campsite which is closed during the custruction project. We encourage visitors to be bear aware, to use the provided bear boxes to store food and to follow established bear safety protocols in reporting any bear activity. You can always get updates on closures on the current conditions page on the Lakeshore website.