Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor lighthouse

Edisen Fishery, Isle Royale

The Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor lighthouse, accessible only by water, can be visited via the Sandy or by private boat. The Sandy sets out from Rock Harbor on Thursday afternoon from 2 to 6 or Saturday morning 9 to 1:30. The 1855 lighthouse, one of Superior's oldest and most picturesque, is much photographed. This cruise affords good vantage points. The lighthouse was a navigational aid built when the island bustled with copper mining exploration that ultimately yielded few rewards. Today excellent exhibits here interpret the island's ten shipwrecks.

The fishery, restored to the 1930s, is largely as it was left by commercial fisherman Pete Edisen. He lived here from the 1920s until 1978. Today the resident fisherman catches fish for the restaurant at Rock Harbor Lodge, or as an environmental sample. The fisherman might be an insightful retired commercial fisherman. Former resident fisherman Les Mattson had a lot to say about the drastic unintended consequences of monofilament net on the Lake Superior fishery.

Ben Kilpela

The Rock Harbor lighthouse at the entrance to Rock Harbor is now a museum open to boaters and to passengers on the M.V. Sandy tour boat.

Cruises cost $38, half off for children 12 and under. They are first-come, first-served and weather-dependent. You could also arrive by your own boat from nearby Daisy Farm or Rock Harbor. Visitors who have time can look for the trail from the fishery to the nearby Bangsund Cabin, another former fisherman's home. It is an informal summer headquarters of Michigan Tech's wolf-moose research. A self-guided tour is set up here in case Rolf and Candy Peterson are not on hand to welcome visitors.
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ROCK HARBOR AREA
POINTS OF INTEREST

Edisen Fishery and Rock Harbor lighthouse. The island lighthouse is one of the oldest on Lake Superior. A 1930s commercial fishery here is wonderfully brought back to life by a resident fisherman ... more

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