Access for All
GIVE NOWPhoto courtesy of Wilderness Inquiry
Tracy Tabaka looks out at the blue horizons of Lake Superior. There, just beyond the Meyers Beach parking area, lie the green jewels of the wild Apostle Islands, the famous sea caves. She smiles, thinking of the freedom she will feel with a paddle in her hands, the wind in her face. She has been dreaming of this moment for years.
But that smile fades as she looks down at the barrier before her — 45 steps tumbling down the 23-foot bank to the launching area below – and then at her wheelchair.
“When I pick up a paddle, I am no more disabled than anyone else,” she has said of that moment. “The only real difficulty is all those stairs.”
Current Meyers Beach Access
You can help change this.
All Those Stairs!
National parks, like the Apostle Islands, belong to all of us. Yet for the 1-in-5 Americans like Tracy who live with mobility challenges, “all those stairs” can spell the difference between the adventure of a lifetime and a lifetime of being left behind.
The First Steps
A 2012 “Accessibility Self-Evaluation,” made clear both the challenges and opportunities facing the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in its effort to become more accessible. Since then, the NPS in partnership with Friends of the Apostle Islands, has made much progress:
- A wheelchair accessible overlook on the dock at Little Sand Bay
- Accessible campsites, restrooms, and more than a mile of boardwalk on Sand Island
- An accessible amphitheater and campsite on Stockton Island
- Audio and tactile interpretative materials at Visitor Centers and online
Little Sand Bay Viewing Platform
Stockton Island Amphitheater
Little Sand Bay Interpretive Exhibits
Amber Mullen/Wilderness Inquiry
“As a wheelchair user, I believe I am more proud, knowledgeable, happier, and braver person through this integration of living and learning through our national parks. Access to the Apostle Islands is an experience all should be able to see, breathe in, and feel.”
Julia Schweitzer/Wilderness Inquiry
Annie Hickman/Wilderness Inquiry
Much Work Remains to be Done
With the establishment of the Access for All Fund campaign, Friends of the Apostle Islands, an official philanthropic partner of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, seeks to increase its support of the projects making our park more accessible to everyone.
Our initial goal, to raise $325,000 in our Access for All campaign, was primarily to fund construction of an accessible pathway gently traversing the hillside and providing handrail free access to the kayak launching area at Meyers Beach and beyond.
Beyond that, Access For All will strengthen the park’s ability to implement projects that may otherwise go unfunded for decades, opening key areas of the park for use by a wider range of visitors, removing “all those stairs” as a barrier.
In April of 2023, the National Park Service released a draft environmental assessment on the project, which concludes that the Meyers Beach ramp and companion trail projects at Little Sand Bay will have significant benefits for park users and no significant negative environmental impact.
By the fall of 2023, Friends successfully raised $325,000 to leverage matching funds provided by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation.
Planning and securing bids from contractors began in 2024. Bids received in 2025 did not meet expectations so the project went out for a second, successful round of bids in 2026. The contract for construction was awarded in April, 2026. Completion is expected in the fall of 2026. You can track progress on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore infrastructure page, and on our website and Facebook page.
And there’s more work to do. Friends is committed to the belief that our Lakeshore truly belongs to all of us. The Access For All fund helps make that happen, through the exciting new pathway and future opportunities. Click here to read our Access For All coverage.
Let’s make access possible for all of us.
Advisory Committee Members
Honorary Chairperson
- Greg Lais – Founder and former Executive Director of Wilderness Inquiry
Committee Chair for Friends
- Erica Peterson – Friends Board Chair emeritus
Committee Members
- Jeff Rennicke – Friends Executive Director
- Kelley Linehan – Friends Board Chair
- Lynne Dominy – Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Superintendent
- Bill Botten – Training Coordinator, U.S. Access Board
- John Boyle – Friends Board Member
- Sam Cook – Duluth News Tribune (retired)
- Mike Friis – Wisconsin Coastal Management, Department of Administration
- Bob Jauch – Wisconsin State Senate (retired) Friends Board Member
- Eric Larson – Adaptive Sports Supervisor, Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Center
- Larry MacDonald – Bayfield Mayor (ret) and WI Coastal Management Board
- Katie Napiwocki – Writer, Accessibility Advocate, Bloom Consulting
- John Needen-Durst – Assistive Technology & Benefits Specialist, INDIGO Wisconsin
- John Nousaine – North Country Independent Living (retired)
- Jill Nyberg – Executive Director, INDIGO Wisconsin
- Jon Okerstrom – Friends Board Member
- Erika Rivers – Executive Director Wilderness Inquiry
- Daniel Skenderian, PhD – Clinical Psychologist, Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Health Care
- Cheryl Schiltz – Author, Silencing the Noise of Disability
- John Strattee – Pine Forest Lodge
- Peter Tropman/Virginia Graves – Black Spruce Fund
- Patrick Walters – Wickcraft Boardwalks
- Mark Weller – Friends of the Apostle Islands Vice Chair & Board Member
Conceptual Drawing of Meyers Beach Accessible Pathway scheduled for construction during summer, 2026 – NPS graphic
There are “all those stairs” kinds of barriers in other places as well. Your support will help the park as it continues construction of boardwalks on Sand Island, builds more accessible campsites and docks, and increases access to vital park interpretive information for those with hearing or vision challenges both in the park and online.
With distant islands, sheer cliffs, and big blue waters, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore can seem impossible for some but let’s invest in making it possible, in making the freedom and the beauty experienced in these islands available to everyone. Invest in Access for All with Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
There are many ways to help – a recurring monthly donation, a matching fund pledge, planned giving, gifts of stock. Every donation helps remove a barrier. Friends of the Apostle Islands believes that our national parks belong to all of us. With your help, they can.
“Nature is not flat. She didn’t have a level when she created the wilderness and that is part of the challenge. I have balance issues. I fall over a lot. But once you are in a kayak, it is not an issue and these trips let me experience the wilderness that I appreciate so much.”
Access For All Donors
With Your Help
To be a part of the solution, join the Access For All campaign by making a donation now, or by contacting us at P.O. Box 1574, Bayfield, WI 54814 | (715)449-6900 | info@friendsoftheapostleislands.org.
Access for All Media Coverage and Resources
Click each item to view.
Basswood Island - Accessible features, camping, dock, hiking, popular
Bear Island - Camping
Cat Island - Camping
Devils Island - Camping, dock, hiking, lighthouse, popular
Eagle Island - No amenities
Gull Island - No amenities
Hermit Island - Camping
Ironwood Island - Camping
Little Sand Bay: Mainland - Accessible features, dock, mainland, popular, visitor center
Long Island - Dock, hiking, lighthouse
Manitou Island - Camping, dock, hiking
Meyers Beach: Mainland - Camping, hiking, mainland, popular
Michigan Island - Accessible features, camping, dock, hiking, lighthouse, popular
North Twin Island - Camping
Oak Island - Camping, dock, hiking, popular
Otter Island - Camping, dock, hiking
Outer Island - Camping, dock, hiking, lighthouse
Park Headquarters: Mainland - Accessible features, mainland, popular, visitor center
Raspberry Island - Dock, hiking, lighthouse, popular
Rocky Island - Camping, dock, hiking
Sand Island - Accessible features, camping, dock, hiking, lighthouse, popular
South Twin Island - Camping, dock, hiking
Stockton Island - Accessible features, camping, dock, hiking, popular, visitor center
York Island - Camping