Bayfield WI and The Apostle Islands – Discover These Hidden Gems

The Apostle Islands consistently make the list of Best Places to see in the US.  Located at the Southern end of Lake Superior in Bayfield, Wisconsin, the Apostle Islands are a group of 21 small islands. All but one island are uninhabited. Therefore, there are tons of hiking and camping opportunities in Bayfield and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  Yes, it’s a National Park, so bring your National Park Pass and National Park passport for this stamp!

From Duluth to Bayfield

We left Duluth (see previous day’s adventure here) for Bayfield after an amazing breakfast at The Duluth Grill.  Ok, seriously, a little hometown breakfast joint that has a side of curried kale on the menu, and it was fantastic; you gotta go!  And I happily recommend the Chicken and Whaaaaaaat?  Just wrap your brain around maple bacon coffee syrup and the amazing way it smells!

And we hit the road.

Now, I hate to insult any Minnesotan/Wisconsinite out there, but we were told this drive was BEEEE-UTIFUL.  And, sorry, but we were quite unimpressed. It was just ok, and we barely saw the water even though we were driving from one lakeside town to another.

And it seemed to stretch on FOREVER, even though it was only 2 hours of actual drive time to Bayfield.  However, take the drive, detour to some of the smaller lakeside areas on Lake Superior, and then get to one of the cutest little towns in the entire Midwest.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – Patti resorted to searching out and taking pictures of the County Road signs…they are lettered….she found F, C and K. Yes, we are easily entertained.

Bayfield

Bayfield is located on the shores of Lake Superior in Wisconsin, and is the gateway to the Apostle Islands.  It is a sweet little vacation beach town of the northern variety. Not like a Florida or SoCal beach town, but definitely unique in a Midwest quaint kind of way. 

The town of Bayfield itself is mostly about the water. You can take kayak tours, charter or rent sailboats, or just lounge around by the water.  There is a Maritime Museum, some great funky local shops, and lighthouses and hiking trails to explore along the water. This is definitely an outdoorsy paradise.

Madeline Island Ferry

From Bayfield you can catch the ferry over to Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostles. The ferry runs every half hour and takes about 20-25 minutes to get there. That’s 20-25 min of beautiful Lake Superior views!

Being a mom to my own Madeline, this was a definite draw for me, gotta go see my babygirl’s little island.

Madeline Island

There is great camping and biking and hiking on Madeline island. However, don’t expect much more than several restaurants, an ice cream parlor and gift shop, and sleepy laid-back atmosphere.  It was a wonderful, charming town.

Tom’s Burned Down Cafe

Absolutely make your way to Tom’s Burned Down Café!  And go with an open mind, you will know it by the “Sorry, We Are Open” sign out front and the big, worn down circus tent cover.

True to its name, it was a funky bar until it burned down.  Now it’s a half indoor, half outdoor, covered with an old circus tent eclectic paradise.  Watch your step on the uneven flooring, and belly up to the old trailer to order your own drink.

It was a fun place, and one of the funkiest places we have experienced in our travels. If dive bar meets beach bar is your draw, then this is one place you need to check out.

Unless you are staying on the island, you really only need a couple of hours to hang out here. An afternoon to just chill, and maybe enjoy a good meal lakeside, and take a ferry ride.

BTW, you can NOT see Canada from the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior is much too large. And if you ask (like Peggy did) you will be met with shock, horror, dismay and a “Jesus Christ, NO!” from the ferry staff. 

ssn – I know it loses something in translation, but you have to say this in your head with the MN/WI accent. Hilarious. Turns out, “if Canada was on fire we could probably see the smoke”

Back to town

But back in Bayfield it really is a charming little vacation-style town. There are a few locally owned restaurants and lakeside hotels to stay in. My fantastic sister, however, went above and beyond when she discovered that you could rent a sailboat to stay overnight in.

Dreamcatcher Sailing offers charters for day trips around the islands, and for a little bit extra you can spend the night on the boat.  We got checked in for our overnighter aboard that sailboat and then set off for a few cocktails. 

A memorable evening

A late lunch/early dinner scenario was found at the Pickled Herring Grill. Great patio on the corner of the main street, with a view of the water. The perfect kind of place for fish and chips and a beer – the fish in WI is mostly “white fish”, that’s pretty generic, but still a solid choice.  After food it was cocktail time, naturally.

The Bayfield Inn

It was a beautiful evening and The Bayfield Inn has a rooftop bar, that is just so close to perfect!  It faces the water, and overlooks a park where we watched the cutest old couple dancing to the music from the patio.

You can order food downstairs and then bring it up.  Cocktails are available at the walk up bar, and they have daily frozen drink specials.  A very island theme kinda vibe.  Their food is upscale-ish bar food, with selections like Poke Bowls and ceviche, but also nachos, burgers and fried fish. They have live music when not in Covid time, and it is one of the best views in town of the water.

ssn – The kind of place with a laid-back vibe where you make friends with the people around you. Everyone is on vacation and chitty-chatting about their plans and the things they’ve experienced. We LOVE making vacation friends! We invited some of our new friends to come hang out on “our” boat so we grabbed more drinks and went back down to he marina. The marina was pretty lively with sailing teams in town for a race the next day. It turned into one of those unexpectedly fun nights!

Overnight on the Sailboat

We stayed down on our sailboat that night.  And it shockingly wasn’t bad.  Not a lot of head room, but super cute and fun to have the boat to ourselves to just hangout and rock with the tides.

ssn – it had been hot out so our hosts opened all the hatches for some ventilation. However, it started pouring rain overnight and in my half-asleep, half-drunk state, I couldn’t remember how to get the hatches closed! OMG, it was crazy – I ended up throwing towels everywhere and sleeping squished against a corner of my bunk so I didn’t get rained on. I’m not sure Patti even woke up for it.

Sailing the Apostle Islands

The next morning, we were greeted by our tour guide, Bronte, and we were off on our sailing adventure. This is a half day excursion, and a half day is really all you need.  You get a full tour of the islands, learn some fun facts, see some amazing scenery and cool geological formations, and you even get some lessons on sailing.

Learning to Sail

So Peggy turned pro behind the helm (you know, her whole need to be in control – that’s the nice way to say bossy). I learned about trimming the sails and how to tack and a bunch of other cool nautical terms that really just means pull this rope really fast.

It wasn’t overly taxing, but was cool to be able to say we did it.  They tow along a small boat (like my sister, a little dinghy) so that you can take off and go exploring the island cave formations along the shorelines.

Enjoying the Day

A little sun, a cool breeze, a little knowledge; really a fantastic day, just to be able to get away from it all and chill out, definitely something I would recommend!

ssn – it was truly a remarkable experience. It started out a little rainy (and we may have been a little slow to rally, but like true professionals, we did) but soon turned into the most perfect sunny day! The water was every shade from grey to blue to green and we learned so much from Bronte. He had lots of info about each island and the history & lore from the area. And he really did make us work!! My only regret (if I had to name one) in not taking a full day sail was that we didn’t have time to go out to Devil’s Island to see the most impressive sea caves.

The Apostle Islands are definitely worth the trip to Northern Wisconsin to experience.  And another stamp in our National Park Passport, Whoop!!!

Check out our other adventures from this trip: Minneapolis Day 1 and Day 2 and St. Paul to Duluth