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Courtesy Parks Canada
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The impressive White River Gorge at Pukaskwa National Park in Ontario.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
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The Middle Falls at Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota, drops about 30 feet.
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Parks on and near Lake Superior all boast spectacular landscape. Hundreds of thousands of people visit our state, national and provincial parks to hike, camp, kayak or to wander in wonder. Many parks offer wide expanses of shore and wilderness that transport you to a different world.
This year, for our annual Best of the Lake, we’re focusing on our parks “by the numbers.” We contacted 21 state parks, nine provincial parks and six national parks for their statistics. [Full text of all of the parks' responses are available by going to the sidebar story.]
Oldest Park (open date)
1915 - Jay Cooke State Park, Minnesota.
1920 - Pattison State Park, Superior, Wisconsin.
1926 - Brimley State Park, Michigan.
1929 - A tie! Copper Falls State Park, Mellon, Wisconsin; McLain State Park, Hancock, Michigan.
1937 - Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota.
Newest Park (open date)
2010 - Lake Vermilion State Park in Minnesota.
1994 - Grand Portage State Park, Minnesota
1992 - Keweenaw National Historical Park, Michigan.
1983 - Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario.
1979 - Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota.
Most Shoreline (miles)
338 - Isle Royale National Park, Michigan.
156 - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin.
77 - Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario.
56 - Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario.
47 - Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario.
Largest Mainland Parks (square miles)
725 - Pukaskwa National Park, Heron Bay, Ontario.
621 - Lake Superior Provincial Park, Wawa, Ontario.
114 - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
95 - Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
94 - Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Ontonagon, Michigan.
Largest Island Parks (square miles)
894 - Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. (Of the total, 210 square miles are land on 1 main island and 453 small islands.)
141 - Michipicoten Island Provincial Park, Ontario.
108 - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield, Wisconsin, (21 islands in the park, plus Madeline Island.)
Most Visitors (2010)
630,269 - Gooseberry Falls State Park, Two Harbors, Minnesota.
499,281 - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
466,579 - Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Paradise, Michigan.
390,208 - Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota.
327,626 - Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Minnesota
Most Campsites
443 - Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario.
338 - Pancake Bay Provincial Park, Batchawana Bay, Ontario.
277 - Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan.
240 - A tie! Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Michigan, and Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario
237 - Brimley State Park, Michigan.
Oldest Visitor Center (building)
1883 - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield, Wisconsin, in the former Bayfield County Courthouse.
1889 - Keweenaw National Historical Park, Calumet, Michigan, in the former Union Building.
1940 - Pattison State Park’s the nature center, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
1941 - Jay Cooke State Park’s River Inn Interpretive Center, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps near Carlton, Minnesota.
1962 - Isle Royale National Park’s Rock Harbor Visitor Center.
Newest Visitor Center (open date)
2011, October 27 - Keweenaw National Historical Park’s Calumet Visitor Center opens for the park’s 19th anniversary. (see “old” above).
2011, February - Jay Cooke State Park, Minnesota.
2010 - Grand Portage State Park, Minnesota.
2007 - Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota.
2004 - Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario.
Most Weddings (annually)
29+ - Gooseberry Falls State Park (29 at rented shelter, others, not counted, at shore or falls).
27 - Pattison State Park, Wisconsin.
20 - Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Minnesota.
12+ - Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan.
12 - Amnicon Falls State Park, Wisconsin.
Most Hiking Trails (miles)
165 - Isle Royale National Park, Michigan.
90+ - A tie! Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, both Michigan.
84 - Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario (135 kilometres).
62 - Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario (100 kilometres).
50+ - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin.
Most Accessible Trails (miles)
3.5 - Jay Cooke State Park, Minnesota (1/2-mile paved trail, 3 miles grass trail).
3.5 - Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota (1 mile in the visitor center/falls area, and the park’s portion of the paved Gitchi-Gami State Trail, which accesses the center, campground and shore).
1.4 - Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan.
1.2 - A tie! Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park and Pancake Bay Provincial Park (2 kilometres), both Ontario.
1 - A triple tie! Copper Falls State Park and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan and Big Bay State Park, Madeline Island, Wisconsin.
Most Lighthouses/Stations
8 - Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin.
4 - Isle Royale National Park, Michigan.
3 - Keweenaw National Historical Park, Michigan (in partner sites).
1 - A triple tie! Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and McLain State Park, Michigan; Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Minnesota.
Most Waterfalls (that have names)
12 - Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Michigan (seasonally up to 92 falls, most not named).
7 - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan (“and countless others”).
5 - Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota (photo at bottom left).
4 - A four-way tie! Amnicon State Park, Wisconsin; Copper Falls State Park, Michigan; Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario; and Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota.
2 - A seven-way tie! Cascade River State Park, Grand Portage State Park, Minnesota; Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, Pigeon River Provincial Park, Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario; Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan; Pattison State Park, Wisconsin.
Highest Waterfalls (feet)
165 - Big Manitou Falls at Pattison State Park, Superior.
127 - Kakabeka Falls at Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, Ontario.
120 - High Falls, straddling Minnesota’s Grand Portage State Park and Ontario’s Pigeon River Provincial Park.
85 - Agawa Falls at Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario.
75 - Sable Falls at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.