Kayaking Articles

Discover the Park – Activities

Most Wave Watch buoys pulled for 2026 boating season, planning for 2027 and beyond begins

Most Wave Watch buoys pulled for 2026 boating season, planning for 2027 and beyond begins

We saw it in the first hints of crimson and gold in the mainland treeline. We felt it when the water temperature dropped 20 degrees and the air temperature followed as we approached the mainland sea caves. And we appreciated it, as we enjoyed relatively calm seas and sunshine after a week filled with small craft advisories and six-foot waves. In the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, fall hits in all kinds of ways.  It marks the end of the summer boating season, and for us, the annual mission to retrieve the Wave Watch boater safety buoys.The NPS Ajijaak en route between buoys - Jon...

New horizons: 2026 Access Opportunity scholarship winners explore the Apostle Islands and new possibilities

New horizons: 2026 Access Opportunity scholarship winners explore the Apostle Islands and new possibilities

Far out on the blue horizons of Lake Superior, Whitney Martens got a surprise visit. Martens lives with Cerebral Palsy which can affect her balance, mobility, and energy levels. As part of a Wilderness Inquiry trip made possible by the Access Opportunity program of Friends of the Apostle Islands, she was experiencing both the excitement and the nervousness of her first time on Lake Superior, her first time in a sea kayak and wondering if she could really do this; that’s when she saw the butterfly.“It seemed so little out on that big lake,” Whitney says. But watching it flitting around above...

Meyers Beach accessibility project under way

Meyers Beach accessibility project under way

With a turn of the shovel, the long-awaited Meyers Beach accessible path project has begun. A partnership between the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, and Friends of the Apostle Islands, the $690,000 project will replace the 47-step stairway down a 23-foot sand bank with an accessible 3% grade pathway leading to one of the most popular beaches and kayak launching sites in the Islands and the starting point for viewing the famous Ice Caves in the winter.“The units of our national park system belong to all of us,” says Jeff Rennicke, Executive Director of Friends of the...

Business Member Spotlight: South Shore Adventures looks to cultivate a welcoming vibe with “Midwest Aloha”

Business Member Spotlight: South Shore Adventures looks to cultivate a welcoming vibe with “Midwest Aloha”

Thousands of miles separate the beaches of Hawaii from the Apostle Islands, but that isn’t stopping the newest area kayaking company from shooting for an Aloha kind of vibe. “Think of it as Midwest Aloha,” says Jared Kirschmann, who along with his wife Sydney, have opened South Shore Adventures just outside of Bayfield.Jared and Sydney Kirschmann - Jeff Rennicke photoBorn and raised in Kailu-Kona, Hawaii, Jared says that his love and passion for the water began at a young age, surfing, diving, and kayaking. Those skills would take him to many other places – whitewater rafting on the Pigeon...

It’s happening at Meyers Beach!

It’s happening at Meyers Beach!

Thanks to the support of people like you, the National Park Service and Friends of the Apostle Islands are proud to announce the awarding of a construction contract for the accessible pathway at Meyers Beach. “As the access point for kayakers heading for the caves and to Meyers Beach, the new accessible walkway will be a kind of bridge to the beauties of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore,” says Jeff Rennicke, Executive Director of Friends. “It is another big and important step in our commitment to the idea that our Lakeshore belongs to all of us.”NPS graphic with diagram of Meyers Beach...

Apostle Islands lullaby: Local author creates children’s book

Apostle Islands lullaby: Local author creates children’s book

Anyone who has spent time on Lake Superior knows that this lake has a voice. It is with the voice of Mother Superior in mind that local author and artist Michelle Lee has created a new children’s book that sings of sea caves and lake waves.Written, in large part, while on a sailboat on Lake Superior, Paddle Paddle Splish Splish is a lyrical lullaby for children set in the Apostle Islands. Its arc takes the reader on a paddle through a litany of famous spots in the Apostle Islands from Bark Bay’s quiet water, deep into the mystery of the Meyers Beach sea caves, around Sand Island, to the...

Wave Watch buoys pulled for 2025 boating season as boater safety plans for 2026 start to take shape

Wave Watch buoys pulled for 2025 boating season as boater safety plans for 2026 start to take shape

A growing number of power boaters, paddlers and sailors made smarter, safer choices thanks to Wave Watch buoys positioned in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore during the 2025 boating season. The buoys provided real-time wave and water temperature information for five important locations in the Lakeshore. This week a team from the National Park Service and Friends of the Apostle Islands conducted the annual end-of-season buoy recovery mission, as Friends and our partners work on plans for 2026 and beyond.The recovery team, led by Supervisory Park Ranger Karl Carlson boarded the 28-foot...

Love Our Lakeshore: How you can help keep Apostle Island National Lakeshore privies open

Love Our Lakeshore: How you can help keep Apostle Island National Lakeshore privies open

We Love Our Lakeshore for so many reasons, including the natural beauty, the multicultural history and the remoteness of the Apostle Islands in the vastness of Lake Superior. While that remoteness is a blessing for campers, boaters and other Lakeshore visitors, it is also a big challenge for the National Park Service team tasked with keeping island facilities, including 36 privies on 19 islands clean and open for public use. In this Love our Lakeshore report, learn how you can do your part to keep the privies open and get a behind-the-scenes look at the logistics and hard work required to...

Love Our Lakeshore: So much to do on Sand Island

Love Our Lakeshore: So much to do on Sand Island

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. He says...

What’s new and what’s unchanged about the Meyers Beach paddling experience

What’s new and what’s unchanged about the Meyers Beach paddling experience

We are now in the heart of the summer paddling season in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. July and August typically provide the warmest, calmest conditions for kayakers but in every season, safety must remain your top priority when you're on Lake Superior. Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore board member Neil Howk takes us along for the maiden voyage of his new kayak to share what's new and what's not, about the paddling experience at Meyers Beach and the mainland sea caves.My son and daughter-in-law surprised me with a kayak for my birthday. I decided to do its...