Michigan's Remote and Wild Isle Royale National Park

Wilderness mecca

Stranded in the vast waters of northwest Lake Superior, Isle Royale quietly shines as an example of what a national park should be: a wild, native landscape, buffered from the outside world. No development threatens, and no traffic jams plague its rare beauty.

Even though fewer visitors come to Isle Royale in a year (less than 18,000) than Yellowstone National Park receives in one July day (26,000-plus), the island's backcountry gets the most per-acre use of any U.S. national park. It also claims one of the highest return rates and longest average visitor stays (4.7 days) of all the national parks.