Michipicoten Island

Trip Description

Michipicoten Island, the mysterious “floating Island”, is one of Lake Superior’s largest yet most remote and inaccessible islands. Approximately 20 x 40 km in size, her past is rich with Ojibway spirits, copper mining rushes, lighthouses and shipwrecks, wacky sea beavers and, most recently, a growing woodland caribou population.

Your sea kayak trip begins with a half-day group safety and paddling skills workshop at our paddling centre on Rock Island Lodge located on Lake Superior at the mouth of the Michipicoten River. A hearty meal and trip orientation will take place in our front room facing west towards Michipicoten Island. The next morning we’ll shuttle to Hattie Cove in Pukaskwa National Park to meet Captain Keith McCuaig and charter the Melissa June, a 30 x 11 foot aluminum landing craft catamaran, for the trip out and later return from Michipicoten Island.

This island circumnavigation captures the remote, forgotten nature of Michipicoten. Once shunned by First Nations peoples as a place of malevolent giants, Michipicoten became one of Ontario’s most promising sources of copper and provided easy access to Lake Superior’s seemingly endless bounty of fish in the early 1900s. Since then, the copper mine and fishing village have been abandoned. All that remains are old mine shafts, ramshackle buildings and flourishing populations of woodland caribou and beaver. Throw in a couple of lighthouses and a few shipwrecks and you’ve got everything all wrapped up in this island expedition.

This trip is designed for intermediate paddlers. Your enjoyment will be enhanced if you are in good physical condition and comfortable with wilderness camping. Lake Superior is mostly calm in summer, but when it gets rough we enjoy the view from shore.

You will be responsible for carrying a portion of the group gear in your kayak, as well as your tent, sleeping bag and personal gear.