McCargoe Cove Campground

McCargoe Cove Campground is a 12-site backcountry camp on Isle Royale’s north shore, with six shelters as well as tent sites. It makes sense for a trip using the Indian Portage or East Chickenbone trails, or for a private boat, canoe, or kayak. There’s no road access. Private boats can stay overnight at the dock, which has a normal depth of seven feet. From Chickenbone Lake, canoe and kayak access includes a 1.2-mile portage.

Island services are limited, so bring what you need. Every Isle Royale campground has an outhouse and a water source, but the water at McCargoe isn’t identified as potable; backcountry visitors need to collect, filter, and chemically treat drinking water. Camping requires a permit. From June 1 through Labor Day, the stay limit is three nights. Sites are more likely to fill during the busy season, especially mid-June through August.

McCargoe Cove is a roughly two-mile inlet that follows a large northeast-trending fracture zone. The campground lies along an ancient portage route and near the Minong Mine, so the cove is part of a landscape shaped by both bedrock and long travel across the island.

The wider cove area includes evidence of Indigenous occupation and the remains of the historic village of Cove. Indigenous copper mining on Isle Royale began at least 4,500 years ago; more than 1,000 ancient mining pits have been identified on the island, especially around Minong Ridge. Miners cold-hammered copper into tools and ornaments. Mining at Minong continued into the 1880s, and Minong is the Ojibwe name for Isle Royale.