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Discover the Park – Activities

Wave Watch buoys are LIVE for the 2026 season

Wave Watch buoys are LIVE for the 2026 season

Ice may still be clinging to some of the cliffs of the northernmost islands, but boating season 2026 has officially begun. On Wednesday, May 20th, Friends of the Apostle Islands joined the National Park Service and representatives of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to splash the Wave Watch buoys for the new boating season.Ice on Devils Island cliffs - Jeff Rennicke photosFive solar-powered spotting buoys were deployed at strategic boating locations throughout the Lakeshore and are already transmitting data to the Wave Watch real-time data page. From now until fall, these buoys will...

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...

Ageless in the Apostles: Are you ever too old for an island adventure?

Ageless in the Apostles: Are you ever too old for an island adventure?

At what age should one stop kayak camping in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore? Sixty? Seventy? Even eighty years old?  For more than 30 years a group of us has been spending a long weekend over the 4th of July holiday kayaking and camping in the Apostle Islands. We are all aging (the median age of the group was 70 this year), but we are still strong paddlers and competent campers. Perhaps it was only the oldest one of us who had been giving the “at what age …” question serious consideration. Come along with us on this year’s holiday trip. Perhaps you can help answer the question. Maybe...

Watch now: Paddling the Apostles – Sense of Adventure series premiere

Watch now: Paddling the Apostles – Sense of Adventure series premiere

Paddling the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is an experience like no other in the world. Only in the park can you experience the combination of stunning sandstone sea caves carved by wind and water, pristine beaches and by area, the largest freshwater lake in the world. The park includes an archipelago of 21 islands, 155 miles of shoreline and more than 27,000 square acres of water. Sometimes the big lake is glass calm. Sometimes it can generate massive powerful waves, just like an inland ocean. Even during the hottest days of summer, the lake is cold enough to take your life if you’re...