Rock Island SP, Door County, WI, US - eBird Hotspot
Habitat: Open Water, Beach, Northern Hardwood Forest.
Best Birds: The 5 mile long Thordarson Trail circumnavigates the entire island providing opportunities to encounter waterfowl, shorebirds Caspian and Common Tern, American White Pelican, and gulls. The spit that juts out from the campground is an advantageous point for scanning Jackson Harbor for waterfowl. The Havamal Trail cuts across the south end from the ferry dock and harbors many of the breeding birds that can be found on the island, including Brown Creeper, Cedar Waxwing, Blackburnian, Black-throated Green and Mourning Warbler. Peregrine Falcon is currently nesting on the island as well as Merlin and Broad-winged Hawk in the recent past.
Rock Island is at its finest soon after Labor Day when the biting flies are suppressed by cooler temperatures. As with any island in the Great Lakes, it is attractive for migrants leapfrogging from the U.P. down the shoreline, During late August, September and October the numbers of songbirds passing through can be impressive.
Jackson Harbor, where the ferry lands on Washington Island, has a beach attractive to gulls and terns and a ridge and swale habitat on it’s south shoreline where Merlin nest.
Directions: 92 miles northeast of Green Bay at the tip of the Door County peninsula. To get to Rock island takes two ferry rides – one a car ferry from Northport at the tip of the peninsula to Washington Island and a second ferry, the tug Karfi, from Washington Island to Rock Island. You can come for the day, or camp overnight, but only on foot as there are no roads or bicycles allowed on Rock Island.
From Sturgeon Bay take Hwy 57 north to Sister Bay then Hwy 42 north to Northport where you buy tickets for the Washington Island Ferry (45.29063, -86.97792). On Washington Island drive County Hwy W (Lobdell Point Road) to Jackson Harbor Road (still W) and continue to the opposite side of the island to the Jackson Harbor ferry landing on Indian Point Road (45.40055, -86.85688).
Site Address & Additional Information:
This 912-acre island has 10 miles of hiking trails and 5,000 feet of beach.
Northport/Washington Island Ferry Line, 215 Hwy 42, Ellison Bay, WI,
Jackson Harbor Ferry Dock, 1924 Indian Point Rd. Washington Island, WI,
Rock Island State Park | Wisconsin DNR
Jackson Harbor Ridges State Natural Area - Wisconsin DNR
Washington Island Ferry | Door County, Wisconsin (wisferry.com)
Carl Schroeder, Steve Betchkal
