Awesome day on the island! We took the inaugural ferry of 2026 and had the inaugural tour at the lighthouse! Just a really nice day hiking and having a picnic lunch. The lodge/boat house is really cool; take time to review the exhibits inside. (Enjoy some great soup at Jackson Harbor Soup Shop afterwards!) read more

This island is definitely worth the ferry rides to get there. You can tour the lighthouse and hike the entire island. The lighthouse attendants are so friendly and knowledgeable. Very beautiful place to see. read more

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Rock Island is, well, rocky. Make sure you have sturdy soled shoes or hiking boots because hiking around without them will sincerely tire out your feet. Unless you have your own boat access, you will take two boats to get there. The first is from the tip of the Door County peninsula to Washington Island, and the second is from Washington Island to Rock Island. Now, you may take your vehicle to Washington Island, but Rock Island is pedestrian traffic only. That is because there is nothing on it....it's uninhabited forest save for birds and some ground dwelling animals, like squirrels and chipmunks. You may hike around the island (it's large, but not huge, it doesn't take all day), and primitive camp. There are a few buildings you can visit and some you can even go in. Food and beverage is allowed, but you must bring it with you, and take all trash with you when you leave. Make sure to get back to the dock at one of the scheduled departure times, especially if you need to make the ferry back to the mainland. If you miss the last boat on either island, you're stuck until the following day. 6/2025 read more

I went to Rock Island State Park back in October of 2022 and I got to say that this island has to be my favorite state park that I have been to of Door County and I would love to revisit this this beautiful island again in the future. read more

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Camping at Rock Island is perfect for someone that wants to be a bit more secluded than a standard drive-up campsite at a state park, but also less "intense" than true backpacking. The trail around the island is just long enough to get a light workout, but easy enough for most people to handle. The light pollution is minimal at night, so you'll get a much better view of the stars than most other places in Wisconsin. You need to time your transportation correctly with two different ferry rides, but the travel is well worth it. Highly recommend camping at Rock Island to anyone looking to get away from society for a bit. read more

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I lived in Wisconsin for a long time, so I am no stranger to the delights of visiting Door County. I have visited at least once a year for the last 5 years. Rock Island has to be probably the most beautiful location that you can visit in the entire state. The Island once belonged to wealthy Wisconsin industrialist, Chester Thordarson. Most of the buildings contained on the Island now (with the exception of the lighthouse) were used by Thordarson and his family. As you will be able to tell from the tour, the man spared little expense in creating his own little tranquil paradise. The property on the Island is now under the control of the Wisconsin DNR. Getting to Rock Island requires two ferry rides for most of us. You are also allowed the option of mooring your boat to the island's pier, but since I have no boat I have never investigated this. They also allow for snowmobiles across the water in the winter, but this I have also never attempted. The first ferry you take is from Northport Pier on the mainland to Washington Island. Then you have to board another ferry from Jackson Harbor on the North side of Washington Island to take you to Rock Island. I was staying at a rented house on Washington Island anyway on my most recent trip, and this is the best way to do it IMO. No need to rush around to get it all done in a day. One thing you will quickly learn if you have never visited Northern Door County before is people are generally never in a hurry to do anything. Follow their lead and relax and enjoy yourself and your surroundings. Cars are allowed on Washington Island but not on Rock Island. Even bikes are not allowed on Rock Island per the Wisconsin DNR. There is also nowhere to buy any supplies on Rock Island with the exception of firewood and drinking water. So if you plan to camp out like I did you will have to haul most everything you need over on your back. It's 20 bucks for a campsite if you are a Wisconsin resident, and 25 bucks for everyone else. The campsites are basic with no electrical hook ups, and I can tell you from experience that if you have either At&T or T Mobile your cell phone will be completely useless to you this far North anyway. What Rock Island does offer is some of the most beautiful landscapes you have probably ever laid eyes on. Aside from the tour and the lighthouse, there are several miles of hiking trails of varying degrees of difficulty and a very active wildlife and ecosystem to take in. If you take the ferry over in the AM you should be able to knock out most of what you want to see on Rock Island in one day and you can head out the following morning on the ferry back to Washington Island.The Island is less than 1000 acres in total size after all. If you show up on a good day when the weather cooperates, you will have a metric ton of wonderful pictures that are worthy of a post card rendering. Also be sure to take in the spellbinding display of the stars at night from your campsite as this is quite stunning indeed. You are probably located about as far from any light pollution as anywhere in the entire midwest, and taking this in at night is a unique experience. read more

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A beautiful day, and a great island to spend it on! This is a small island at the tip of Door County, Wisconsin, designated a State Park. As such, there are no vehicles (not even bicycles) allowed - only foot traffic. Because of this, the area is wonderfully quiet, with only the noise of the wind in the trees and an occasional bird or squirrel - barring, of course, the rampant tourist. ;-) I took my wife on the gem of Fernwood Trail, which crosses through the middle of the island. If it's too crowded on the main shoreline trail (Thordarson Loop), take this quiet and magical path through the ferns. There is a boathouse with some history about the island when you get off the ferry. It's a beautiful building, and the acoustics are fantastic - according to my friends who played a chamber concert there a couple years ago. The camping here is also magical, with only campers as company once the last ferry leaves. We didn't camp this time, but walking the campsites brought memories. At one time, I used to ride my bike from the main peninsula to camp here, now you'll have to either leave the bike on Washington Island or just drive your car to the pier and unload with everyone else. Still, well worth the effort! One word of advice is that you allow enough time! By the time you get to the island, including driving and 1 or 2 ferries, depending on where you're coming from and spend enough time to see what you want, of which there is plenty, leave yourself at least 1/2, if not the full day! read more

I camped here a couple weeks ago and had a fantastic experience even though the weather was uncooperative. First off, you must take a ferry from Door County to get to Washington Island, and then leave your car and take a little boat out to Rock Island. There are only a limited # of ferries in a day, so plan accordingly! The boat rides are fun but for two people and a car (which we needed to take to Washington Island to drive across and catch the ferry to Rock Island) it cost us 70 dollars in fees to get there. Didn't anticipate this so it was a bit of a shock. The Island is quaint and charming. We stayed at a backpacking site on the far side... about a 1.4 mile hike from where the boat drops you. This was fine except if you want to start a fire... the wood shack is near the boat launch. They have wheelbarrows that you can use to haul the wood to your site, but beware, this is not as good of an idea as it seems. The path is not well maintained! Wearing backpack and pulling unwieldy (and full of wood and therefore heavy as all get out) wheel barrow through rugged mountain path for more than a mile = 40 minutes of misery. But, we sure did enjoy those fires! The park has 10 miles of trails; the weather sucked so when we got to the lighthouse to look around the lighthouse docents invites us in for a tour/coffee/spot by the fire. We ended up chatting for an hour or more, it was an unexpected surprise! It was a much different experience than most of my camping experiences; because the island is so small, and because you're all marooned there together, you get to know the other campers and the hosts/docents much better. There is a great boathouse and shelter to hang out in during inclement weather; they have fireplaces and are stocked with books and games. All in all, a great place to camp! It's quiet, beautiful, and unique... just make sure you budget your ferry money carefully! read more

Rock Island. Let's have some real talk. As far as the campsites go, they are alright. I'd say unless you are going hardcore into the wilderness ie hauling gear, putting up bear bags. So for casual camping what you want is open ground, flat & grassy, picnic tables and available firewood. Here the sites are not huge but they're fine, sadly thought it seems the woods have been really picked over for firewood. This kind of forces you to have to buy firewood there and haul it back, not a big deal, but just FYI. Walking around the island is a fun little day trip. You can stop by the lighthouse and let the lovely ladies tour you around the tower. Don't forget to take off your shoes! And you can pass by a couple of cool spooky mini-cemetery plots on the trek. The coastal areas for dipping a pinkie toe in the water are okay. Though lots of dead fish wherever we went around the island and the in the water areas tend to be really rocky so that pinkie toe will be getting stubbed. The island is pretty quiet and it's nice to roam and take photos. But now time it's time for that there Real Talk--for all that's actually on the island and for all the effort, mileage and dollars getting there it's probably not worth it. Sure it's pretty and it's remote but it takes the time navigation of TWO ferry timetables, which are inconveniently not close to each other, as well as fares to the tune of $32 dollars a person basically to arrive at what essentially is a standard state park with a handful of camp sites and little else besides the lighthouse and some walking trails as incentives. There's just not enough unique draw to merit going thru all the hurdles of getting this far off-shore. I'd advocate for simply spending a weekend just on Washington Island with mayyybe a day trip to Rock Island. Or if you're just keen on going hiking, pitching a tent and making some pudgie-pies just find a central and inland government preserve. read more

Sweet island with beautiful architecture, interesting history and great hikes. We did the one and a half miles and back to the light house and then a half mile to and back from one of the beaches. We had a great time. The volunteers at the light house were very friendly, light hearted and very knowledgeable. You can tell they love it there. read more

Beautiful. What more can I say? I have been here twice already while I was visiting Washington Island. It's just a short 10 minute ferry ride off of Washington Island that brings you to a remote island that seems like it is miles away. So the backstory of Rock Island is that a wealthy inventor used to own the island.. Chester H. Thordarson wanted to create a vacation island for his employees and their familes on the island. He had come up with the models of this huge lodge that would rest on the shore of the island, and it would have been a fully filled resort. However, upon his death, his family sold over the property to the state of Wi. The island, since being open to the public is a great place to come and spend a relaxing day, or camp (which I have yet to do.. but really want to) and be, literally away from other people. The views of Lake Michigan are breathtaking. If you are ever in Door County, make the trip, it is worth it. read more

The only reason I decided to write a review is because no one mentioned the absolute best reason to visit Rock Island. THE STARS! It's worth much more than the ferry costs and hike, and all the trouble previous reviewers complained of (growing up we called that camping). Camping in itself is something you have to research, plan, and be ready for the unexpected. That morning waking up to animals raiding your cooler, your sleeping bag soaking wet, bugs in your tent, collapsed tent in your face, or even just running out of toilet paper...these are all terrible AND make great memorable stories and learning experiences. It's too bad you can't comment on other's reviews. Like the girl that was angry with the Washington Island Ferry workers for not telling her the Rock Island Ferry boat schedule. These are entirely different islands and different companies. Not everyone that visits Washington Island is also going to Rock. It shouldn't be their responsibility to make sure you planned your trip well. It seems that people make mistakes when vacationing and those become a reason to give less than stellar reviews. Go for the trees, dirt, sandy beach and best of all--stay the night, have a campfire and walk up to the boathouse to see the STARS! Be sure to get the weather report. Also, come during a scheduled meteor shower and no moon! Wouldn't that be fantastic! Don't forget a flashlight. Even on Washington Island I nearly walked into a white truck when there was no moon. read more

First off here's a problem with Yelp in my limited experience: Addresses may be wrong and the location on the map can be off. This is even more of a problem when you have a place like Rock Island State Park which IS an island only accessible for most by ferry from Washington Island. Perhaps the address shown on Yelp and on the map is for the park's administrative office. Getting to Rock Island State Park is part of the fun. You have to take a large ferry by car, motorcycle, bike or foot from the northern tip of Door County to Washington Island. You arrive on Washington Island at the southern port. Then you have to travel to the Jackson Harbor on the northeast part of the island. Then you take a small ferry (no bikes or cars) to Rock Island. What a great place for backpackers (according to the ones we talked to) and light house lovers. The ranger is a fun, cool guy. Some rich early settler built a cool boat house and some other buildings on the island. The boat house, modeled after a Viking or Icelandic building is really fun to check out. Volunteers have remodeled and staff the light house-fascinating, fun tour. I can't find my notes on the place; I hope to do so and add to this review. read more

Great state park which is a small island off of Washington Island (which is off of the tip of the peninsula of Door County.) You can camp on the island, although no vehicles of any sort are allowed so you have to take a small ferry to the island and hike with all your equipment and you must bring back your own garbage. The ferry drops you off at the beautiful boat house, and it's as picturesque as it comes. A short hike takes you to a wonderful beach on the east side of the island. To hike all around the island it's really not much more than a few miles. If you are going you will want to check the ferry times to schedule either your day trip or camping trip accordingly. Really gives you a nice feeling of seclusion and beauty at this park. read more

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Wisconsin is so good at hiking and camping. The camp sites here are spacious and well distributed so you don't feel crowded by other families. They have mountains of firewood for sale (bring cash!) and wagons you can borrow to get it back to your site. There's about a five mile loop around the island that's gorgeous, and an old lighthouse on the northwest corner. I hope we can get back up here soon! read more

Made our first day trip to Rock Island. As we were late in the season we opted to stay in a cottage on Washington Island and just go to Rock Island for the day instead of camping there. This was a parents only trip (no kids), so if you have kids you may want to allow for a little more time. That in mind, we spent four hours on the island. We hiked the complete loop (5+ miles) around the island at a leisurely pace, stopping here and there for a snack and to enjoy the scenery. We did not stop to tour the lighthouse as we had done that before. If you want to do the loop and the lighthouse tour you will want to allow for more than four hours. Check the ferry schedule the day before your trip and plan accordingly. In the spring and fall the ferry runs much less frequently. read more

We spent a day here touring the lighthouse & hiking around the island. We would love to come back & camp as the area is gorgeous & the views stunning. read more

I can't give this five stars because we didn't spend a ton of time here. But what we did experience was amazing! The view cannot be beat! We walked up to the lighthouse which was nice and ended up going down the stairs to the lake. It's exactly like it sounds, stairs that lead to the lake. Very nice addition to the hike. read more

Rock Island State Park - Parks Near Me - Washington Island, Wisconsin

This was our third year and fourth visit to Rock Island State Park. I can't say enough about how much we love this park. It's easily one of my favorite places to camp in the United States. A few recommendations: 1. Don't come for just 1-2 nights. It's a massive pain to get to this island. For me, that's part of the appeal. But if you only want to camp for a night or two, the effort of getting there would be a major negative. 2. Come prepared for a variety of weather. Bring your rain gear. Think about taking a knit cap even in summer. Not kidding: the winds were bad enough on our recent trip that I was glad I had a knit cap along during the worst of it. 3. Make your campsite reservation way in advance so you can get a lakefront site. 4. Take a screen room for eating in during August. The black flies can be vicious, although they weren't bad this year. 5. Tour the light house. Ask lots of questions. The docents are the best. 6. Hike the nature trail. It's really informative and fun, but easy to miss. 7. Firewood is $6 a bundle as of 2014, available from 4:30-5:30pm daily. Well worth the cost. Nice dry wood, great for campfires. 8. If you're in a west facing site, drag your chairs down to the rocky beach for some spectacular Lake Michigan sunsets. 9. Show some patience and kindness toward the staff. They're a hard working crew and some great people if you get to know them. 10. Buy the book Thordarson and Rock Island by Richard Purinton if you want to know more about the boat house and Thordarson's vision for the island. You can get signed copies at some Washington Island shops and can sometimes meet the author on the Karfi ferry, where he is sometimes a crew member. 11. Relax. Enjoy. Take deep breaths. Enjoy the experience. Oh, and if you have an AT&T iPhone, don't count on it working on Rock Island (the best part, IMHO). read more

Going camping on Rock Island was an item on my bucket list. What a wonderful time! Our campsite was one of the most remote (campsite A). As we are both in our sixties (well, I turned seventy on the trip) dragging our camping wagon was a bit of a chore. Didn't help that our "heavy duty camping wagon" fell apart on us. But the campsite was a magical spot. We were mere feet from the shoreline. I agree that the sky was absolutely spectacular. The Milky Way was brilliant. When is the last time you saw all of the stars in Ursa minor? I hadn't heard whip-poor-wills in years. On Rock Island they were vocal at night. As a long time birder I was delighted with the bird life on the island. I particularly liked all of the redstarts around our site The first night we slept to the sounds of a light rain on our tent and the waves hitting the shore. Best night's sleep I've had in years. As everything was damp, my fire starting skills were put to the test. But with a bit of bark off downed and dead birch trees and a magnesium stick my skills came through with a nice toasty cooking fire. I totally agree with the premise that you need to do a bit of planning to camp on the island. I reiterate that no bicycles are allowed. You can forget WiFi and cell phone reception. On the island you are off the grid. As I was recovering form a broken leg six weeks healed, we took it easy on the hiking. If you want it you will have to pack it in. The only things available on the island are water and firewood. Camping on Rock Island is a great way to spend a few days. But it will take a bit of stamina and some intelligent planning. It is for the adventurous and stout of heart. If you're an entitled wimp, this is not for you. read more

amazing. remote. quiet. unspoiled. in other words, don't go and ruin it for me.