Great day hiking trails located on northern Wisconsin’s Madeline Island

Madeline Island Historical Museum. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Bayfield County ranks among Wisconsin’s most popular tourism destinations, attracting skiers, boaters, campers and sightseers. It also offers dozens of miles of trails for those who love hiking.

Consisting mainly of forestland and lakeshore, each Bayfield County village feels like a quaint throwback to years past. Only one of them boasts a population close to 3000 people.

Though technically not in Bayfield County, the main way most people access Madeline Island, its village of La Pointe, and the rest of the Apostle Islands, is through Bayfield on a 20-minute ferry ride – or during winter by driving over frozen Lake Superior on an ice road or via a windsled.

Tiny La Pointe in turn serves as the main launch point to reach the other 21 Apostle Islands that lay north of Bayfield County in Lake Superior. Madeline Island, however, is not part of the Apostle Island National Lakeshore, and it’s the only Apostle Island with with private residences. The island and its Big Bay State Park is popular enough that many visitors never leave it for the national lakeshore.

Popular day hiking trails on or near Madeline Island include:
g Basswood Island (Apostle Islands National Lakeshore)
g Bay View Trail (Big Bay State Park)
g Big Bay State Park’s top trails
g Michigan Island trails (Apostle Islands National Lakeshore)
g Roundup of Madeline Island trails
g Stockton Island trails (Apostle Islands National Lakeshore)

Read more about day hiking Bayfield County in my Hittin’ the Trail: Day Bayfield County, Wisconsin guidebook.