Could anyone point me to planning resources for Apostle Islands? A local group is in the beginning stages of planning a trip for later this year, and is just starting to try and make decisions as to guided/outfitted or self-guided, etc. The group will be of various experience levels, but very few if any will be newbies. I'd suspect that most or all will have at least some open water and wilderness/island camping experience and gear. But we need some details to give us an idea of whether a guide would be worth the expense and how much experience should be required for the trip. I'd anticipate group size to be large 8-16 people or so.

Probably doesnt help, but last year there was a guy doing a presentation at canoecopia. He had me ready to forget all about the bdub to go to the apostle islands. Maybe if you look at the canoecopia website it might show him. there might be a contact number or address of some sort.

I just did a quick searh of canoecopia this year and saw that a guy by the name of Grant Herman is going to have a presentation on kayaking the apostle islands. He has an email address on his biography. good luck.

The Apostle Islands are actually part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Sort of like the National Park System. Plenty of great info on their website. If you are looking for guides or outfitters try looking at the Bayfield, WI Chamber website . Both are great resources.

I live in Ashland WI and have been up there a few times although have never paddled the islands. There would be a lot of cool stuff to see including: Sea caves, ship wrecks, and lighthouses.

Bayfield is a cool little town so be sure and take a day to do the tourist thing. If your here in the fall, there are plenty of apple and beery orchards that are worth visiting.

I believe Grant Herman is a professor at Northland College. He is a tough guy to get ahold of... fyi

Do some searching. If you have more questions let me know and I will ask around for you. Lots of outdoorsy types around here.

If your group does not have big water experience, I'd go with a guide, for sure. Superior is not like any other lake in the US.

We ended up going late last summer without a guide, and taking only those who had big water experience. The nice thing about experience is that you know when the conditions are beyond your level - we ended up blowing off a couple of days due to weather conditions. Was rainy and stormy most of the time we were there, but we had a great time. The group was the type that doesn't let the weather dampen their spirits.

There's a mini trip report in another thread.

We're planning a trip to Georgian Bay this year. Should be another great trip.