Isle Royale Lighthouse

Isle Royale Lighthouse, also called Isle Royale Light, is a historic station on rocky Menagerie Island at the entrance to Siskiwit Bay off Isle Royale's south shore. Treat it as a landmark to look for from a boat rather than a stop to explore: it is not open to the public and is reachable only by private boat. No landing or tower visit is documented. If you get a view from the water, keep the tower and house together with a strip of rocky shore in frame; that shows how the whole station sits on the island.

The lighthouse was authorized during Isle Royale's second copper boom, which began in 1873, to mark the hazardous entrance to Siskiwit Bay near the Island Mine Company and warn lake traffic about the island's south shore. The station was completed in 1875, when ships were again working the island's rocky harbors.

An octagonal red sandstone tower rises 61 feet, connected by an eight-foot covered passage to a 28-by-45-foot keeper's dwelling with eight rooms. The tower has cavity walls: inner brick and outer stone are separated by a two-inch air space. From the water, look for the tower and house together; they were built as one light station.

The original fourth-order Fresnel lens has been replaced by a solar-powered acrylic optic with a 10-mile beam. Isle Royale's four historic lighthouses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.