Not all Islands are tropical with palm trees and volcanoes. Some are filled with nature trails and rocky shorelines. And as beautiful as the palm trees and sand can be, the unharnessed nature of the Apostle Islands is a welcome natural playground for kids and adults alike.
When I say that we had no real plans for summer 2020 other than to do our best to keep my kids active in the wide outdoors as possible. If you ever get the idea that all of our adventures are well thought out, and well planned far in advance, this should prove that theory false. We made it all the way up to the tip of Michigan’s upper Peninsula and Copper Harbor, when it occurred to me that our grand road trip next year will not take us past Apostle Island National Lakeshore. We were geographically pretty close, and since we had no plans, and were winging our adventure one day at a time, we turned around and headed back west for two days well spent in the Apostle Island area.
Much of the camping in and around the Apostle Islands area is first come first serve. I enjoy a good spontaneous adventure, but when on the road in unfamiliar places, I do like to know that we have somewhat of a secure landing place at night. My parents had stayed at Apostle Island Campground on a previous trip, and raved about the owners of this facility. Though it seemed unlikely to get a last minute reservation, I called anyway, and turns out they were able to accommodate us if we were willing to switch sites for the second night. Though this is never an ideal situation, it guaranteed us a space for both nights.
When driving to Bayfield WI, it seems as though you are driving out into the middle of nowhere. Essentially you are. You would be well advised to do the bulk of your grocery shopping prior to arriving in this remote area.
When we pulled into the apostle Islands campground, it was immediately apparent that it was well maintained, and very welcoming.
We set up the camper, and then scoped out the laundry situation, which was one washer and dryer located near the restrooms. Since it had been several days since doing the laundry, we opted to head south about twenty minutes to Washburn which has the nearest laundromat. Friendly Bubbles also accepted credit cards for their larger washers and dryers, which, during a national coin shortage was always a welcome sight.
While our clothes were washing and drying, we decided to check out some of the county owned campgrounds that were all first-come first-serve. Turns out at both Thompson’s West End and Memorial Park, we would have been able to secure a spot no problem at either location. We would not have gotten a Lakeside spot, but at half the cost of the Apostle Islands Campground, they certainly would have suffice.
Thompson’s End had a nice little adult exercise playground, the type that has the equipment that uses your body weight as resistance. Any excuse for my kids to burn energy is a good one, so I let them explore for a few minutes while I did some research on upcoming destinations.
With freshly laundered clothes, we headed back up to Bayfield, where we would be departing on our boat tour of the Apostle Islands. We used Apostle Island Cruises, which is the official tour company for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. We opted to sit on the lower deck where there were hardly any people. Though this deck did provide a lesser view of some of the island features, it also provided us the social distancing that we were seeking.
This 3 hour tour was very comprehensive, and very educational, however, the later hours during the summer to accommodate the sunset, were a little too late for Bubba. They do sell candy, water, and coffee on board, however we saw people with full out coolers full of subway sandwiches, beers, and bottles of wine, and nobody mentioned anything to them. Lots of snacks might just be the key to a memorable experience for everyone! 
The Apostle Islands Campground did have a very clean restroom facility, that does have a pay for shower feature. You can get a five minute shower for a quarter, and then add additional quarters for one minute a piece. Buddy quickly figured out that if you let the shower turn off, you can insert a new quarter for an additional five minutes. That is the type of smart thinking that happens when you give each kid two quarters to take a shower.
The next morning we got up and moved our camper to an amazing sight up on top of the hill that had a partial view of the Apostle Islands out on the lake. Once we were all settled in at our new spot, we took off to the local grocery store to grab some food for lunch, which did have prepared sandwiches, and baked goods, which came at a small town premium. After that it was off to the ferry dock, to take the car ferry over to Madeline Island. You can read more about our adventure here: A Lazy Day on an Island.
Once we returned home from the island, we got some wood fired pizzas for dinner, and took them to go. While we were waiting on our pizzas, we headed up the hill to find a little wooden public playground. Nothing super fancy, but it always amazes me how much my kids appreciate the novelty of a playground they know they will only get to visit once.
We made the long drive (45 minutes under normal circumstances) up to the Little Sand Bay area of Apostle Island National Lakeshore. Our drive ended up being longer than expected, because due to Covid, the tribal lands had blocked access to the general public. With no service, it was difficult to navigate on the GPS to find the appropriate backroads, which is a good reminder to keep a paper map of unknown areas in your vehicle while traveling unfamiliar areas, but one way or another we made it just in time for a beautiful sunset. 
If you are just on a short adventure to see this region of the park, and looking to catch a sunset, possibly some fishing, or a little beach swim, you can plan an hour or so, but considering that the drive itself from Bayfield will take you an hour each way, you may want to plan more activities, such as kayaking from Meyers Beach, or hiking along Lakeshore Trail to see the Sea Caves. 
Ideally, you would probably want an extra day to venture out onto the water on a more personal watercraft. Kayaks, or other small watercraft would be the perfect way to explore Apostle Islands National Lakeshore if the kiddos were a little older, however, we felt that we got a good sampling of what the region had to offer with our guided boat tour, road trip to the northern section of the park, and trip over to Madeline Island.
