On August 28 Isle Royale National Park closed every tent site and group site at four campgrounds for the rest of the season, because wolves keep walking into tents. The park’s own words: it “continues to receive reports of wolves being interested in tents at these campgrounds, pawing and digging at tents and entering tents to drag packs and sleeping pads away.” Thirteen tent sites and eight group sites are out through October 31. The 32 shelters at those same campgrounds are open.
Where this is, and where it is not
The four campgrounds are Three Mile, Daisy Farm, Moskey Basin and Caribou Island. Coverage has placed them on “the island’s northern end.” They are not there. All four sit along Rock Harbor channel on the east end of the island, the first three strung out on the Rock Harbor Trail at roughly 3, 7 and 10 miles from the Rock Harbor dock, and Caribou Island on the western tip of West Caribou Island, boat access only.
Another number went sideways. One national outlet reported “32 campsites throughout Isle Royale expected to remain open.” The 32 are shelters at the four affected campgrounds: 8 at Three Mile, 16 at Daisy Farm, 6 at Moskey Basin, 2 at Caribou Island. Every other campground on the island is open as usual. Superintendent Denice Swanke: “Fall is a lovely time to visit the park, and all Isle Royale campgrounds remain open.”
The fourth closure of the year, and what came before it
This did not start in August. On July 9 the park closed the tent and group sites at Three Mile through the end of the month for a single wolf that had been “sniffing and pawing at tents, dragging backpacks away from tents, and entering a tent.” The release described it as “increasingly bold, showing signs of habituation and a growing reliance on human food.” Rangers hazed it with shouting, airhorns and paintball guns and installed motion-triggered noise devices at Rock Harbor, Three Mile and Daisy Farm.
Duncan Narrows on the north shore closed twice in July. On the second closure the park reported that a wolf or wolves got inside a shelter “by tearing, scratching and pushing through the screen,” pulled out clothing and chewed a cooler. No one was in it.
And in August 2025 the park killed a wolf. That year at least two animals were taking food at campgrounds, “seen dragging away food storage bags and backpacks at numerous campsites,” and one was lethally removed. Swanke called it “deeply unfortunate” and “necessary due to a growing public safety risk.” Most coverage of the new closures leaves that out.
The food rule is older than the headlines
Several outlets describe hard-sided food containers as a 2026 response. The rule dates to April 16, 2025, when the park began requiring approved animal-resistant containers for all overnight camping. Soft-sided bags do not count. What is new this summer is packs. Since late July, backpacks at Three Mile and Rock Harbor go into a storage cage, and the park’s conditions page now says packs at closed-tent campgrounds must be stored inside shelters.
In the closed areas, hammocks are banned along with tents, and off-trail camping zones 10 through 13 and 30 through 38 are shut.
If you still want to go this fall
The season runs to October 31 and the boats stop well before that. Ranger III’s last run out of Houghton is Friday, September 11, back Saturday the 12th. Sea Hunter III from Grand Portage finished September 5. Voyageur II runs a Wednesday-out, Thursday-back schedule through September 24. The seaplane, which flies from Hubbell, not Hancock, stops September 19. Isle Royale Queen IV from Copper Harbor is listed through September 30 on Mondays and Fridays with no trip on the 28th; check the operator for the actual last sailing.
Plan on shelters at Three Mile, Daisy Farm and Moskey Basin, or tents anywhere else. Bring an approved container. And note the Greenstone Ridge Trail is flooded by beaver between Daisy Farm and East Chickenbone; the park has flagged a reroute north of the trail that rejoins near the west end of Angleworm Lake.
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How this story was reported
Editorial methodAnalysis
Last verifiedSep. 13, 2026
Corrections statusNo material correction note is recorded on this article.
AI assistanceResearched and drafted with AI tools. Reviewed and approved by editor Keegan O’Brien.
Verification note: Ledger carries all five NPS releases the article rests on. The Aug. 28 release confirms the four campgrounds, the 13 tent sites and 8 group sites, the 32 shelters staying open, the Oct. 31 end date and the Swanke quote. The fourth-closure-this-year count checks out against the July 9 Three Mile closure and the two July Duncan Narrows closures. The April 2025 food-storage release confirms the container rule took effect April 16, 2025, which is the correction the article makes against coverage that framed it as new for 2026. Two things are softer than the article implies: the per-campground shelter breakdown is not stated in the Aug. 28 release text, and the line that soft-sided bags do not qualify is an inference from the IGBC-certified-container requirement rather than NPS wording. The outlets the article disputes are not named, so that dispute cannot be checked against a specific piece.
Primary sources
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Isle Royale Closes Tent and Group Campsites at Four Campgrounds — National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park
Published Aug. 28, 2026. Accessed Sep. 13, 2026.
Closure date, campgrounds, site counts, shelter count and quote all confirmed against the release.
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Isle Royale Closes Tent and Group Campsites at Three Mile Campground — National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park
Published Jul. 9, 2026. Accessed Sep. 13, 2026.
Quotes and deterrent detail match the article.
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Isle Royale Closes Duncan Narrows Campground Until End of July — National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park
Published Jul. 14, 2026. Accessed Sep. 13, 2026.
The release states it was the second Duncan Narrows closure of the month, which supports the article count.
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Lethal Removal of Food-Conditioned Wolf at Isle Royale National Park — National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park
Published Aug. 15, 2025. Accessed Sep. 13, 2026.
Quote matches the article exactly.
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Isle Royale National Park Implements New Food Storage Regulations — National Park Service, Isle Royale National Park
Published Apr. 15, 2025. Accessed Sep. 13, 2026.
Effective date confirmed. The release requires IGBC-certified containers but does not itself say soft-sided bags do not qualify, so that line in the article is an inference, not NPS wording.
Photo and media credits
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Daisy Farm Campground Shelter at Isle Royale National Park (49052093422).jpg (featured image) — Tony Webster, via Wikimedia Commons
Featured image record. Accessed Sep. 13, 2026. CC BY 2.0.
File page confirmed via the Commons API: author Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, licence CC BY 2.0, 3906 by 2930. Subject and credit both match the caption.
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