62. Explore Rock Island State Park

Experience your park with the Park Manager of Newport and Rock Island State Parks. Rock Island State Park’s wilderness features over 900 acres of protected ecosystems. Explore miles of rustic trails, Pottawatomi Light House, pristine shoreline while on this adventure. During this tour we will dive into the rich history and experience the park as you never have before. We will explore the pristine beaches, traverse the beautiful mixed hardwood forest, and take in the views of northern Lake Michigan. 

Please review the following information before choosing to register for this field trip. 

Hike – Our trip will begin and end at the dock were the ferry lands. The Park Manager will meet you here at 10:30. We will be hiking approximately 7 miles clockwise around the island. We will start by heading to the lighthouse which about a 30 min hike. Here we will take a tour of the lighthouse, eat lunch, refill our water. There is an outhouse available at the lighthouse. From here we will continue our hike around the North and East portion of the island. We will eventually end up back to the dock area were we will tour the boathouse. The trip will end at this point and you can take the 4:00 (last ferry) back to Washington Island.

What to bring:

Clothing – Clothing appropriate for the weather. Rock Island can often be quite cool in early June depending on the wind direction. Please bring extra insulating and wind layers and be prepared for variable conditions.

Food - There is no food on Rock Island so please bring a sack lunch and enough snacks for the entire day.

Water- Please bring a refillable water bottle. Water is available on the South end of the Island (near the dock) and the North end of the island (at the lighthouse)

Equipment – Daypack, trekking polls or walking stick (optional), small binoculars(optional)

Logistics:

Ferry out-  Take  either the 8:00 or 9:00 ferry from Northport to Washington Island

Take the 10:00 ferry from Jackson Harbor (Washington Island) to Rock Island

Important Notes:

• Plan on arriving at the Northport terminal 30 min before ferry departure time
• You can buy both ferry tickets at the Northport terminal. Visit the Ferry website for more detailed information about the ferry: https://wisferry.com/. 
• If you buy tickets separately you will need cash to pay for your tickets at Jackson Harbor.

This will be an all day adventure but well worth the effort. If you have any questions you can e-mail the Park Manager, Brian Grube at brian.grube@wisconsin.gov