Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

 Sunday, 21 June 2026

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is on (and in) Lake Superior at Bayfield, Wisconsin. We booked a late afternoon cruise with Apostle Island Cruises, and it was a wonderful, but cold and windy, boat ride. By the time we finished the cruise, almost everyone had left the open top deck for the comfort of the enclosed deck below.

Lots of herring gulls in the harbor at Bayfield.

Some of the islands are fairly close together.

The remnants of the landing where blocks from the brownstone quarry on Hermit Island were loaded on ships and taken to the mainland.

Rocky shoreline - probably Hermit Island.

I was trying to get a photo of the bald eagle at the top, and I managed to get its mate as well.

A lichen covered rocky overhang. In the shallow water you can see fallen rocks.

Even though it's in a lake, these detached rocks are still called "sea stacks".

Historic fish camp on Manitou Island.

The open waters of Lake Superior. The barely visible land on the other side is Minnesota's North Shore.

The Devil's Island Lighthouse. The building to the right is a maintenance shed. The more substantial Keeper's House (not visible) is inland and to the left.

The north shore of Devil's Island faces the full brunt of Lake Superior's storms and has been eroded into fanciful shapes. Tour boats can only go around Devil's Island on relatively calm days. Today was an exceptionally calm day!

More of the eroded Devil's Island shoreline.

Headlands and islands.

The shoreline of Raspberry Island.

The Raspberry Island Lighthouse. The Keeper's and Assistant Keeper's quarters are on either side of the lighthouse. No need to go outside to go to work!

A solar-powered beacon has replaced the lighthouse for navigation. In the daytime it's barely discernible.