Parking
McCargoe Cove has no road access or vehicle parking. Start behind the campground on the Minong Ridge Trail; visitors reach the cove by foot, canoe or kayak, or private boat.
Overview
About Minong Mine Trail
Why go
- A short route reaches a landscape shaped by thousands of years of copper mining.
Heads up
- Steep, rocky footing; the start can be confusing among campground paths.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Isle Royale map
Full mapElevation600–883 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
8 active Isle Royale alerts
- ClosureSeasonal park closure begins November 1Isle Royale closes to public use November 1–April 15 because extreme winter weather threatens visitor safety; the closure extends 4.5 miles into Lake Superior from the island.Official details
- ClosureCamping closures at east-end campgrounds and Zone 9Camping restrictions are in effect at four east-end campgrounds and Off-trail Camping Zones 9–13 and 30–38 because of increased human-wildlife interactions and food-storage concerns.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Isle Royale Tour Guide
Your drive to Minong Mine Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Isle Royale National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
- 17 audio storiesacross Isle Royale’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Moose, Wolf, Bald Eagle, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 39 trails, 83 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Minong Mine Trail
A short, rough detourThe Minong Mine Trail is a roughly 2.2-mile out-and-back from McCargoe Cove Campground.
The Minong Mine Trail is a roughly 2.2-mile out-and-back from McCargoe Cove Campground. It follows the first mile of the Minong Ridge Trail to a signed spur, then drops steeply through pine to the old mine. Give it about two hours; rocks, roots and steep grades make this more demanding than its distance suggests. The same route brings you back to camp.
Find the spurThe Minong Ridge Trail starts behind the campground.
The Minong Ridge Trail starts behind the campground. Paths around campsites can make the start confusing, so look for the uphill route and stay on the main trail until the Minong Mine spur, about a mile from the cove. The ridge section is narrow, rocky and rooty; wet rocks can be slick. The spur drops down the south side to the mine, so save energy for the climb back to the ridge.
Copper older than the trailsMinong, the Ojibwe name for Isle Royale, is also the name of this mining district.
Minong, the Ojibwe name for Isle Royale, is also the name of this mining district. Indigenous miners worked copper here at least 4,500 years ago, and mining continued into the 1880s. Look across the pits and later mine remains from outside the openings: this is a nationally recognized archaeological landscape. Seasonal composting toilets are at the campground; there is no camp store or food service.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Isle Royale
308 sightingsMooseMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
93 sightingsWolfMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
77 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
150 sightingsLoonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
24 sightingsTrumpeter SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
71 sightingsBeaverMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Isle Royale. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
