During this challenging time of change for our nation and for our national parks, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore wants to shine a bright light – a lighthouse beacon if you will – on this very special place and on the people dedicated to protecting the national lakeshore for future generations. That’s the goal of our series entitled “Love our Lakeshore.”

In this report Friends of the Apostle Islands board member and former NPS ranger Neil Howk tells us what it’s like to be a volunteer for the National Park Service, stationed on Sand Island or Waabaabikaa-minis. Sand Island is home to an iconic lighthouse built with locally-quarried sandstone, old farm clearings, foundations, and existing structures, rocky ledges and second-growth forests. As you will learn, it is also a wet island. 

Neil Howk outside the Sand Island ranger station

Two days into his experience, Neil said, “I wore my water shoes to walk to the lighthouse today.

I was doing a lighthouse tour for a couple camping groups just before noon on Wednesday. One was a group of Boy Scouts from Madison and the other was a Lutheran church group that arrived on Sand Island in Camp Amnicon’s voyageur canoe. As I was talking about the storm that sank the freighter Sevona in 1905, we watched a thunderstorm quickly approach from the west. We all retreated to the lighthouse when the skies opened up.”

Sand Island Light provided shelter from the storm – Neil Howk photo

Neil continued, “25 of us took shelter in the house for more than an hour and a half during the downpour. I took turns taking groups of 6 to 8 up into the tower during the storm. It was so dark that the light actually turned on! We left the lighthouse’s front door open for ventilation and I had to mop up the puddle that collected on the floor.”

Sand Island campsites – Neil Howk photo

“As the rain finally let up, the campers were anxious to escape back to their campsites. I lingered at the lighthouse until about 3 pm when I decided no one else would show up so I put my rain gear on and headed down the trail.

It was immediately apparent why a boardwalk is so important on this trail. The NPS has been working on the project for more than 10 years and built nearly a mile and a half of the boardwalk. As I walked the unfinished half mile section of the trail yesterday, I found much of it underwater! Some sections of old boardwalk near the lighthouse were “slicker than snot”, and a few sections were actually floating!”

Sign warning that wet boardwalk can be slick – Neil Howk photo

Neil says the National Park Service has staged materials along the trail to continue extending the new boardwalk. No work has been done yet this year but the Park Service has scheduled work for later this summer as well as 2026 and 2027. 

Neil says “Finishing the boardwalk all the way to the lighthouse will make this beautiful historic building more accessible for everyone. The boardwalk’s value on this notoriously wet island is even more obvious to me after slogging through the mud. I’m looking forward to a few rainless days so the trail can dry out a bit.”

More about Sand Island

Visitors to Sand Island often arrive at the public dock in East Bay. They may camp at one of the 6 individual campsites or 3 group campsites. Most of the sites are near the dock. Some sites have wooden accessible platforms.

Boats often anchor at East Bay, Justice Bay, and Lighthouse Bay, depending on wind conditions. Paddlers sometimes come ashore by beaching their kayaks on a rock ledge beneath the lighthouse at the northern end of the island.

Sand Island East Bay dock and beach – Neil Howk photo

Raised boardwalk section – Neil Howk photo

To learn more about your next adventure on Sand Island, visit the Discover the Park section of our website. You can also see current alerts, advisories and additional information about Sand Island campsites on the National Park Service website. You can also search our archives for stories about Sand Island’s rich history and more. We want to thank Neil for sharing his experiences as a National Park Service volunteer on Sand Island. He’s still out there so watch for more reports from Sand Island in the days to come.

Read the entire series